I post this at the risk of being trite. After all, what else could possibly be written about The Andy Griffith Show? It’s not like I’m one of this show’s megafans, able to quote entire episodes. But I can tell you about the secret lyrics to the famous whistled theme. And I can tell you what happens to the rock Opie always throws at the end of the show’s opening.
The video’s a little grainy, but you can still make it out clearly: The rock hits the pond and the splash becomes…the Post Cereals logo!
In the 1950s and into the 1960s, most TV shows had a single sponsor, and the show’s actors often appeared in the sponsor’s commercials. Even though the single-sponsor practice had pretty much vanished by the end of the 1960s, General Foods was the show’s only sponsor during its entire 1960-1968 run. Andy and the gang sold not only Grape-Nuts, but Sanka and Jell-O too – all General Foods products.
Back to the show’s famous whistled theme. When I was a freshman in college, in the name of togetherness I guess, most of the guys on my dorm floor went to dinner together. When we were feeling silly on our way across campus to the dining hall, which was often, we whistled the theme from The Andy Griffith Show. It sure attracted attention! If we had known that the song had lyrics, I hope that we would have had the good sense to stick to whistling.
