European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 1, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse S Tony Mcmillan left watches his videotapes As Andy tussles with some people Goober says a hey every single Dayron Jensen Statt writer Tony Mcmillan just could t Bear to say Good Bye to his friends when he transferred to Europe. So he brought them along. And three or four times week the air Force Captain gets together with them for a few laughs. The friends Are Andy Taylor the local sheriff Barney Fife Taylor s trusted Deputy Opie the sheriff s son Gomer Pyle the local Mechanic Floyd the town Barber and All of the other delightful citizens of Mayberry. F these friends Are of course the characters from the Andy Griffith show which premiered 30 years ago and is almost As popular today As it was during its eight year run. Mcmillan has about 150 of the episodes on videotape. A they re still Good even if you Waich them Over and Over a a says Mcmillan. Mcmillan a plot with the 37th tac Airlift so at Rhein main a. West Germany in t the Only one who thinks so. The official fan club for the show a the Andy Griffith show rerun watchers club tags rec a a has More than 20,000 members in 50 states and More than a dozen foreign countries including Bolivia saudi Arabia and Grenada. A fan in Nashville tenn., where the club is based can watch the show three times daily on television says Jim Clark president and founder of tags rec. Thanks to Cable television that a True of a lot of areas in the states the show has also been the subject of several books and a reunion movie in 1986, return to Mayberry stands As one of the most watched television movies of All time. When Frances Bavier who played Andy s aunt Bee died recently the Sale of her estate attracted More than 2,000 people Many of them just wanting a Momento from their favorite a a. A an appearance in Nashville recently by George Lindsey who played Goober Drew hundreds of fans. Quot it was like the says Clark How do you explain this phenomenon Clark and Mcmillan say the shows characters Are the reason for its enduring Appeal. Quot it Wasny to just one liners or jokes Quot says Clark the jokes Quot had to be character related Quot for example in one episode Floyd is giving Andy a haircut when a shyster lawyer comes in to announce he is filing a lawsuit against the sheriffs department Andy and the lawyer Exchange heated words. When the lawyer leaves Floyd says with great feeling Quot what a Nice Mao Quot funny it is when spaced out Floyd says it. Quot its quite opposite of the line line laugh that you get in new shows Quot says Mcmillan the humor comes he adds from the in character an tics of the actors. Barney accidentally locks himself in he jail about two episodes out of five. But the gag never gets tiresome because it is so so. So Bat. Ney. Quot it seems Tike you know somebody like each of the characters Quot says Mcmillan who has books to shirts and photographs to go along with hts collection of videotapes. In his Book the Andy Griffith show author Richard Kelly says the show s creators were Well aware of the advantages of letting the humor grow from the characters writing conference discussions revolved around How a certain character would react to a Given situation not How to get the most jokes into the script he wrote because of his club Clark has met several cast members. They Are surprised he says that the show is still As popular As it is but then again they re not that surprised Quot they knew that they were doing Good work when they did information about Clark s club is available a it t a i Hwy. It music Sij Raffl East. Sulla 146. A Simla. In Hio i sunday july 1, 1990 c Page 3
