11 Surprising Things You Never Knew About The Andy Griffith Show

If you pay close attention, you’ll notice that a wide range of middle names are givento Barney throughout the show. In one instance, it’sOliver, and in another episode, it’s Milton. And even in one situation, you notice that the initial “P” is used to imply Barney’s undecided name. All three of these couldn’t be further away from oneanother!

When you watch the theme song reel in the beginning, Andy and his son, Opie, walk to the end of the water. This is where Andy gives his son a nod of approval when he throws a rock into the lake (which has a secret of it’s own that you’ll find out later), but this simple gesture means much more than what meets the eye.

Griffith’s actual father would shake his head in the same manner when he showed approval of something that he did.

In the beginning of Season 1, Andy would often refer to his partner in crime as “cousin Barney.” However, you’ll notice that as the season goes on, this habit stops and they are never referred to being related again.

Barney often calls Andy “Ange” on the show as his nickname, but what’s really interesting is that Knotts also called Griffith that in real life. Just combine “Andy” and “Griffith!”

Francis Beaver, who played Aunt Bee within the show, had a pretty good fictional relationship with Griffith on-screen, but off-screen was another story. Rumors have it that Beaver couldn’t stand working with Griffith, but this isn’t uncommon for actors and actresses to not get along. They just have to act, and luckily, they’re good at that!

In the show, Andy often limited Barney to just one single bullet in his gun, due to the fact that he was careless with the weapon. So Knotts would often receive single bullets in the mail as a sign of love from his fans.

When The Andy Griffith Showsaid goodbye with it’s final season, it wasn’t because they weren’t performing well: In fact, the show as at #1 when they closed the curtain. There are only two other shows who have done this in the history of television: I Love Lucy and Seinfeld, according to Neotorama.com.

Andy was known to be more reserved compared to Barney, who was a goofball half the time (or more). However, fans will find it interesting that their off-screen personalities were quite different than what people saw on the show. Yes, that means that Knotts was actually a pretty serious guy imagine that!

When most of the actors and actresses started working in the very first episode, most didn’t have a secure contract that guaranteed they were staying for at least the first season. But after seeing the great chemistry between characters Andy and Barney, the director made sure to lock Knotts into a contract.

In the intro, Andy’s son, Opie, flings a rock into the nearby water. However, this was not Opie’s doing at all: The six-year-old boy tried numerous times to fling the rock far enough, but it always fell short. So the crew decided to pretend, and when Opie made the motion of throwing the rock, someone backstage threw another that made it look like it was the same action.

When the team thought the show was over after the fifth season, Knotts went off and found work almost instantly. But when Andy agreed to return for a sixth season, Knotts would do the same but under one condition. He wanted part ownership of the show, but when Griffith declined, so did Knottsin regard to returning to the show as Barney.

Did we miss any behind-the-scenes secrets that you know about The Andy Griffith Show? Let us know in the comments below, and pleaseSHARE this with your family and friends!