Posted on 05/06/2012 10:05:14 AM PDT by ConservativeStatement
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — George Lindsey, who spent nearly 30 years as the grinning Goober on "The Andy Griffith Show" and "Hee Haw," has died. He was 83.
Yep. He was good in both.
Along with M*A*S*H the greatest ever, and the advantage I would give The Andy Griffith Show is that the values were true conservative values that made America great. In MASH, the stars were the libs. Frankly, Colonel Flagg and Frank Burns were more American than Hawkeye and BJ (Trapp wasn’t so bad....).
Mayberry was a lot like many small towns in the 40-60’s. Of course I imagine not many were that idyllic, but so much of our heritage and culture was lost in the 60s that we all long for a return to a simpler, less complicated place.
Always got a kick out of seeing him in his pre-Goober roles, when he’d be in little bit parts, usually playing something like a strongarm henchman to some gangster or outlaw. It’s not listed at Imdb.com, but I seem to recall him in an episode of “The New Loretta Young Show,” in which he played a seedy character offering a marijuana cigarette to a young girl at a Greenwich Village coffeehouse!
Anyway, I didn’t initially care too much for the Goober character, but he became better as the years went on, especially by the time of “Mayberry RFD.” I was always a fan of “The Andy Griffith Show,” and watched it regularly in reruns for decades, up until three years ago, when Griffith started shilling for Obamacare. I’ve not watched an episode since.
Yeah, Griffith’s leftism always struck me as odd..especially when one considers his southern rural roots.
In a somewhat related story, Jim Nabors, who has sung “Back Home Again in Indiana” during pre-race ceremonies at the Indy 500 since 1972, will not be singing this year due to scheduled heart surgery.
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/jim-nabors-unable-attend-2012-indy-500-fan-054200496.html
I’m pretty sure his Mayberry name was Goober Beasley; he was Gomer Pyle’s cousin. (I like to visit Mayberry a LOT!)
Rockford, Cannon, 5-0, Kojak, and Perry Mason are my favorite ME-TV shows. Andy Griffith was never a big favorite of mine even as a kid.
Too bad we know what we now do about Andy Griffith and Ron Howard.
Not to put too fine of a point on it, but the values of Andy Griffith and Ron Howard are NOT the values of Andy and Opie Taylor. Griffith has ridden the Sheriff Taylor personna his whole life and yet politically he is as anti-Mayberry as you can get.
I’d never heard of “MeTV” so I looked it up, found an hilarious commercial using that Twilight Zone episode with the little boy sending people to the cornfield.
http://metvnetwork.com/videos.php?videoID=125
My mother gave me Jim Garner’s autobiography to read & I was HORRIFIED to discover he’s another lefty. So sad...
Yes, I remember that. When Gomer left, I didn’t think his replacement would be able to do well at all.
After a few episodes, I liked Goober better.
Actually, I think that knowing his true political orientation actually enhances the enjoyment of his rôle as the amoral drifter Lonesome Rhodes in "A Face in the Crowd."
Regards,
You’d enjoy the Mayberry Days Festival in Mt. Airy, NC, then. There’s a real Snappy Lunch and a real Floyd’s Barbershop, among other landmarks from Andy Griffith’s childhood and young adulthood there. The Snappy Lunch certainly predates the tv series, it’s sort of a dive but the pork chop sandwiches on white bread rule, lol.
Shortly before Jim Nabors left The Andy Griffith Show to do his own show, there was an episode in which Gomer and Goober walk into the Court House, where Gomer introduces his cousin Goober to Andy. Gomer then prods Goober into doing his famous Cary Grant impersonation for Andy - "Judy, Judy, Judy!" (Of course, he didn't sound anything like Cary Grant.) I believe this is the only episode in which Gomer and Goober appeared together.
Goober was ok, the replacement deputy is the one I never liked. Forget his name...
I know that, but personally speaking knowing an artist’s politics, or future politics, is a big reminder that at least in that context its make believe.
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