West Chester, Ohio - When little Opie Taylor chucked a rock toward the pond on his way to the fishing hole with his Pa, few could have imagined the ripples continuing 65 years later.
The fact 6-year-old Ronny Howard’s toss never actually reached the water in the opening credits of “The Andy Griffith Show” way back in 1960 is immaterial. It’s also one of the stories author Randy Turner is likely to share during the Fitton Center’s Celebrating Self luncheon January 8, 2025, when he discusses Classic TV.
Turner – a West Chester resident – is one of the foremost authorities on “The Andy Griffith Show,” but knows those ripples extend well beyond rural North Carolina and the days of just three television channels. Guests can expect to hear about a lot of programs beyond Andy Griffith’s.
Yes, there are connections to Mayberry on direct spinoffs and sequels like “Gomer Pyle: USMC” and “Mayberry R.F.D.,” but also to shows as diverse “The Dick Van Dyke Show” and “The Big Bang Theory.”
Turner recently published Mayberry Firsts: Volume II, a second collection of essays looking at firsts in Andy Griffith’s television history. According to his website, “it is definitely not a simple checklist of events. Each event is used as a springboard to delve deeper into the series and present background facts about the show in the process.”
His first book – the original Mayberry Firsts - went to print in 2019 following a successful desk calendar of Mayberry facts. In between, Turner also wrote The Mayberry Travel Guide, edited 60 Years of Mayberry and has become a prominent speaker around the country.
Not bad for a guy who said, “When the show was on the air originally, I was in diapers. And honestly, my family was more of a ‘Beverly Hillbillies’ family growing up.”
Turner grew up in Franklin, Ohio, and attended Morehead State University as an undergrad, before going to law school at the University of Cincinnati. He got reacquainted with Andy Griffith in college and grew his passion from there.
“There are people who are trivia experts on the show,” Turner said. “I’m not one of them. I don’t know every episode by heart. I’m more of a fan of the history of the show and how it has lasted all this time.”
The fact it’s a great show helps.“’The Andy Griffith Show’ is one of only three shows that went off the air as the number-one show in the country,” Turner said. “The other two were ‘I Love Lucy’ and ‘Seinfeld.’
“It’s an evergreen show. It was on the air in the ‘60s, but it was meant to feel like the ‘30s when Andy was a kid. They very rarely talked about something topical, which helped it hold up through changing times. The show was so well written and so well acted that people could always relate to it.”
The appointment nature of viewership during its original run was a factor, too.
“Because of the lack of digital technology like we have now, you had to gather around the TV to watch it,” Turner said. “There was a community element to television that we don’t have now. There is more and more content – new and old – but audiences today are more fragmented.
“The programs at the bottom of the Nielsen ratings in the ‘60s would be huge hits today. ‘The Andy Griffith Show’ was still the 60th most-watched show on television in 2021 after having gone off the air in 1968. That’s amazing.”
Tickets to Classic TV are $23 for Fitton Center members, $30 for non-members and are available online right here, by phone at 513-863-8873, ext. 110 or in person at the Fitton Center Box office. Ticket includes a buffet luncheon served by Two Women in a Kitchen.
The Fitton Center for Creative Arts is located at 101 S. Monument Avenue on the Riverfront in downtown Hamilton, Ohio.
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