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978-0-89587-218-0
0-89587-218-8
$16.95 paperback
6" x 9"
507 pages black-and-white photographs, index
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On October 3, 1960, The
Andy Griffith Show began its eight-year reign as one of the top-ten
television shows in the country. Now, almost 40 years later, the
original 249 episodes still remain among the most frequently watched
syndicated shows on television, running in over 100 markets and airing
four times a day nationwide.
In 1991, Neal Brower began to
write a regular column called "Professor Brower's Class" in The
Bullet, the newsletter for the show's fan club, The Andy Griffith
Show Rerun Watchers Club. The Bullet, which is published
three times a year, is distributed to approximately 15,000 members of
the 1,000 worldwide chapters.
In his column, Brower focuses
on one of the show's episodes. Through interviews with writers,
directors, producers, actors, and other people associated with the show,
Brower offers insights into the scriptwriting, production, photography,
casting, and musical scoring.
Although Brower's first few
columns consisted primarily of his personal observations and comments
about the episode, the column now concentrates on letting the
participants tell the Mayberry story.
Brower realized that the pace
of writing only three episodes a year was too slow a process. The
stories that he was discovering needed to be told before the memories
faded. This book resulted from the need to tell the story in a more
timely format.
In the first volume of a
projected three-volume series, Brower focuses on the 79 episodes written
by Harvey Bullock, Everett Greenbaum, Sam Bobrick, and their partners.
These writers were responsible for such popular episodes as "Opie
the Birdman," "Mr. McBeevee," "My Fair Ernest T.
Bass," "The Pickle Story," "A Date for Gomer,"
and "The Darlings Are Coming."
When asked if he would help
with this project, writer Everett Greenbaum responded, "Neal, I
will be glad to answer your questions because I feel it is important to
keep the memories alive."
Thanks to Everett and all who
shared their observations, Mayberry 101 now preserves a
behind-the-scenes peak at the Mayberry story.
about the author
Neal Brower, a United Methodist minister, teaches a ten-week course
about The Andy Griffith Show at community colleges throughout
North Carolina. Since 1988, he has taught the course over twenty times
at six colleges. He is a native of Asheboro, North Carolina.
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