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Posted: 2/1/2023 2:10:24 PM EDT
[#1]
Mayberry was an exaggeration of the virtues of small town living, but was accurate in portraying the values of America at that time. Growing up in the early 60s in a big dirty NE city I still remember buses with green vinyl seats that were not vandalized. Buildings did not have any graffiti. The Blvd had public bathrooms. Men wore leather shoes and hats, and woman mostly wore skirts. Plastic flip flops were called thongs and mostly only worn at the beach. Kids wore "polo shirts" that didn't have woke messages or anything obscene, just stripes. The "town drunk" was common, but never even observed anyone in the street appearing to have a substance problem which was something that was depicted mostly in the movies. That all started later in the later 60s, became rampant in the 70s , and an epidemic in the 80s.
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Posted: 2/1/2023 2:15:58 PM EDT
[#2]
MGTOW thread? They should remake it, but put it on a upper middle FL Keys marina with everyone living on their sporty and meet at the barside grille for shenanigans.
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Posted: 2/1/2023 2:16:07 PM EDT
[#3]
Quote HistoryQuoted: The reason it seems so bizarre is that it depicts common courtesy, respect, decent manners and personal responsibility. foreign concepts to most of GD |
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Posted: 2/1/2023 2:16:17 PM EDT
[#4]
As someone who has always lived and worked in small towns, there is a lot of the show that is familiar to me. Especially the parts about crazy town folk who stand out as unique individuals.
I don't know about cops not carrying guns, but when I, my sister and brother were younger we did not even have keys to home because my parents always left the doors unlocked. So when we'd get off the school bus every afternoon our dog would be at the bus stop waiting for us (not chained or fenced up) and we would just walk to the house and go in. I have unintentionally left my door unlocked where I live now, but I sure do not feel comfortable doing that. |
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Posted: 2/1/2023 2:27:33 PM EDT
[#5]
Its fiction.
Growing up, many of us were unaware of what was going on around us. Alcoholism, spousal abuse, prescription drug abuse, adultery, racism, homosexuality, teen pregnancy, whatever. The show appeals to our child like and romantic view of the past. Like American Graffiti/Happy Days. Its this idealized view. Same, same with most westerns. They show us Little House on the Prairie, not white woman savagely raped by drunk drifters, or incest on the farm. |
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Posted: 2/1/2023 2:29:35 PM EDT
[#6]
Quote HistoryQuoted: The secret to everyone’s happiness on The Andy Griffith Show is no one was married. All of the main characters were single and they were all happy. The only married character was Otis and he was the town drunk.  Attached File |
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Posted: 2/1/2023 2:32:03 PM EDT
[#7]
Meh, todays motherfuckers want to destroy every aspect of American life from the Revolution up to the current state we find themselves in. Some motherfuckers need to eat a bag of commie dicks!
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Posted: 2/1/2023 2:37:15 PM EDT
[#8]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I'm hardly a pinnacle of political correctness, but I couldn't help but notice, even as a west coast cheap shot at flyover, there was a curious absence of black people in a South Carolina town. Quote HistoryQuoted: I'm hardly a pinnacle of political correctness, but I couldn't help but notice, even as a west coast cheap shot at flyover, there was a curious absence of black people in a South Carolina town. It’s about a small town in NC, not SC. Quoted: My Uncle and grandparents leave their house unlocked in smalltown Iowa. We don't knock, we just enter. We don’t lock our doors 90% of the time. Home or gone away. My neighbor told me he’s never locked his doors since he built the house in 1999. We are very rural on a lake way out in the country. Only things getting stolen are what you leave on your dock. Meth heads apparently go fishing. Friend had all his tackle stolen last year off his dock. |
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Posted: 2/1/2023 2:40:44 PM EDT
[#9]
Quote HistoryQuoted:  Shit. Never thought about it that way. /media/mediaFiles/sharedAlbum/hes_right_you_know-328.jpg Quote HistoryQuoted: Quoted: The secret to everyone's happiness on The Andy Griffith Show is no one was married. All of the main characters were single and they were all happy. The only married character was Otis and he was the town drunk. Shit. Never thought about it that way. /media/mediaFiles/sharedAlbum/hes_right_you_know-328.jpg Rafee Hollister was married. |
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Posted: 2/1/2023 2:42:35 PM EDT
[#10]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I'm hardly a pinnacle of political correctness, but I couldn't help but notice, even as a west coast cheap shot at flyover, there was a curious absence of black people in a South Carolina town. When the series started there weren't many black folks on any TV shows. And it's set in North Carolina, not South Carolina but yes, depending on where you went and a lot of towns were divided (the common trope being "other side of the tracks). There still are areas that are mostly white or black; people tend to segregate themselves one way or another and it's not always racism. 
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Posted: 2/1/2023 2:45:23 PM EDT
[#11]
Our small town in the 60s was pretty straight laced and conservative, pretty much white bread Americana, at least on the surface.
We had our well known whorehouse, and there were a few heroin addicts even in those days, not to mention alcoholism and poverty, and an occasional murder. |
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Posted: 2/1/2023 2:45:35 PM EDT
[#12]
Our small town in the 60s was pretty straight laced and conservative, pretty much white bread Americana, at least on the surface.
We had our well known whorehouse, and there were a few heroin addicts even in those days, not to mention alcoholism and poverty, and an occasional murder. |
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Posted: 2/1/2023 2:48:15 PM EDT
[#13]
Quote HistoryQuoted: What modern people call a "lie" is what people used to understand was an "ideal." We used to aspire to be better. It was just a universal cultural norm. There was a general consensus about how to speak to a higher standard, dress to a higher standard, behave to a higher standard. Now, "keeping it real" is the new dominant cultural consensus. It's a race to the bottom. That show would have to have Andy as corrupt, Barney as a bigot, etc. so critics could commend it for its "gritty realism." This is the best post I've ever seen you make. |
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Posted: 2/1/2023 2:50:01 PM EDT
[#14]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Do you not believe that there were ever helpful, tight knit communities in the USA? I know places where people don't lock their doors to this day. Not everywhere is full of angry shitheads and meth addicts. Truth, |
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Posted: 2/1/2023 2:50:03 PM EDT
[#15]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I mean...it was filmed in Southern California.  Back then not much was out there Where we live, when it was land, we had westerns filmed there |
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Posted: 2/1/2023 2:53:55 PM EDT
[#16]
The small towns in pre Disney Central Florida were all pretty much like Mayberry.
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Posted: 2/1/2023 2:58:55 PM EDT
[#17]
Most entertainment exaggerates, why worry about Mayberry?
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Posted: 2/1/2023 2:59:12 PM EDT
[#18]
Quote HistoryQuoted: This is the best post I've ever seen you make. Quote HistoryQuoted: Quoted: What modern people call a "lie" is what people used to understand was an "ideal." We used to aspire to be better. It was just a universal cultural norm. There was a general consensus about how to speak to a higher standard, dress to a higher standard, behave to a higher standard. Now, "keeping it real" is the new dominant cultural consensus. It's a race to the bottom. That show would have to have Andy as corrupt, Barney as a bigot, etc. so critics could commend it for its "gritty realism." This is the best post I've ever seen you make. 
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Posted: 2/1/2023 2:59:50 PM EDT
[#19]
Mayberry is the fictionalized doppelgänger of Mount Airy, NC. Interestingly, there is the town of Mayberry, VA, in Patrick County, about 20 miles north of Mount Airy.
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Posted: 2/1/2023 3:05:46 PM EDT
[#20]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I drive through there all the time, and that town sure isn't like that now. C’mon man! My Airy is right up the road from me and is as idyllic as……lol….yeah right. Sadly it’s gotten even worse over the last 10 years. Sad but I think the last time I was there was when I bought my truck and had to pick up the title. Just up the road and we never go there anymore. Not really any decent place to eat left there. |
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Posted: 2/1/2023 3:06:14 PM EDT
[#21]
Quote HistoryQuoted: My Uncle and grandparents leave their house unlocked in smalltown Iowa. We don't knock, we just enter. Depends on which small town they live in. There are more than a few in Iowa I wouldn't dream of doing that. |
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Posted: 2/1/2023 3:08:25 PM EDT
[#22]
Quote HistoryQuoted: 30 minute drive from my house. Same here but been years since I’ve bothered to drive up 52 thru there. |
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Posted: 2/1/2023 3:09:34 PM EDT
[#23]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Archie Bunker. Quote HistoryQuoted: Quoted: When has any sitcom been realistic? Archie Bunker. All in the Family was the first thought that came to my mind. Married with Children was the second. |
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Posted: 2/1/2023 3:11:57 PM EDT
[#24]
Wait, you mean to tell me that a TV SHOW did not accurately portray real life in a realistic manner?
SHOCKING I TELL YOU!!!! The difference is that show showed things as idyllic, and better than they are IRL while all the shit today makes things look worse, with boogeymen of racist, misogynist, idiot, white males around every corner, . |
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Posted: 2/1/2023 3:13:19 PM EDT
[#25]
Quote HistoryQuoted: What modern people call a "lie" is what people used to understand was an "ideal." We used to aspire to be better. It was just a universal cultural norm. There was a general consensus about how to speak to a higher standard, dress to a higher standard, behave to a higher standard. Now, "keeping it real" is the new dominant cultural consensus. It's a race to the bottom. That show would have to have Andy as corrupt, Barney as a bigot, etc. so critics could commend it for its "gritty realism." true story: in a intro/anthropology freshman college class, the professor was talking about how everyone aspires to a higher class. this black girl there was *adamant* that wasnt the case. while I guess she was right after all, I wondered what she was even doing in college. |
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Posted: 2/1/2023 3:14:52 PM EDT
[#26]
Yes, it was real.
Very similar to small town New England. Until the mid 1970s, no one locked their doors. If you parked your car on Main Street, you could leave your keys in your car, you could even leave your wallet on the dash without worry. The police Chief in the next town over didn't wear a uniform or carry a weapon, just a radio slung on a strap over his shoulder. He did keep a shotgun in the cruiser, but I never heard of him having to take it out. Sure, there were a few bad actors as in any group of humans, but everyone knew who they were and what their problem was. We even had Andy Budweiser, the town's version of Otis. It was a very nice way to live, far simpler and more innocent than today. |
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Posted: 2/1/2023 3:15:38 PM EDT
[#27]
America was a better place when it was still a majority white country. There, I said it.
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Posted: 2/1/2023 3:16:36 PM EDT
[#28]
Quoted: Andy Griffith is a show that supposedly shows life in small town America in the 1950s and 1960s. The helpful neighb ors, police that don't even carry or need a gun, and communities that work together and take care of each other. Was this all a lie or was it really how it was in the 1950s and 1960s? Do people just want to believe thatw as what life was like even though it wasn't anything like that? Definitely some embellishment. |
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Posted: 2/1/2023 3:23:16 PM EDT
[#29]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I don't know, but I do love the pork chop sandwich from The Snappy Lunch.  Tried it last time I was in town. Meh. |
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Posted: 2/1/2023 3:24:02 PM EDT
[#30]
Was Sanford & Son a 'lie'? Good Times?
They are TV shows. A slice of reality, dudded up. Small towns had their problems that exceeded bad pickle recipes, but they were pretty good places to grow up in. And live in, for the most part. |
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Posted: 2/1/2023 3:24:29 PM EDT
[#31]
Quote HistoryQuoted: When has any sitcom been realistic? According to a lot of folks in the medical field, Scrubs. Oddly enough. |
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Posted: 2/1/2023 3:25:20 PM EDT
[#32]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Do you not believe that there were ever helpful, tight knit communities in the USA? I know places where people don't lock their doors to this day. Not everywhere is full of angry shitheads and meth addicts. You probably want to stay out of the PNW - west of the Cascades. My little town in Western Washington was nicknamed "Methtown, USA" by Rolling Stone mag. |
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Posted: 2/1/2023 3:29:21 PM EDT
[#33]
Top TV shows:
1960s - Andy Griffith Show 2020s - Jerry Springer Show |
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Posted: 2/1/2023 3:29:53 PM EDT
[#34]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Do you not believe that there were ever helpful, tight knit communities in the USA? I know places where people don't lock their doors to this day. Not everywhere is full of angry shitheads and meth addicts.  Attached File |
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Posted: 2/1/2023 3:30:26 PM EDT
[#35]
Quoted: Andy Griffith is a show that supposedly shows life in small town America in the 1950s and 1960s. The helpful neighb ors, police that don't even carry or need a gun, and communities that work together and take care of each other. You might not believe it, but my little town in NW Ohio is still like that - a tight-knit, caring community where we still believe in, and live out, those traditional values. Most of our families are descended from the German Catholic families that settled this area in the 1830s. I grew up here, raised my family here, will die here, and will be buried in the same cemetery as my father, grandfather, great-grandfather and great-great-grandfather. I remember watching that show when I was younger and realizing it was just like home. 
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Posted: 2/1/2023 3:33:32 PM EDT
[#36]
Dad is a fan and he's from NC/GA mountains. Said the show is a bit idealised but wasn't as far off as you would think (he was born in the 1930s). Small towns were far more vibrant than they are today. People dressed reasonably well, and people had a high degree of trust between one another. If you needed help, someone would help you. If you gave your word, people trusted that.
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Posted: 2/1/2023 3:36:32 PM EDT
[#37]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I think a lot of small towns are still like that. Most of Mayberrys problems came to town with city people. |
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Posted: 2/1/2023 3:36:40 PM EDT
[#38]
Even in the 1970s, my hometown in Florida was still MUCH like that but it was changing.
You did what the local cops said because, well, they were the cops. However, the local cops also knew that they had to live in that community, their kids had to got to school, their wives had to shop in the local stores. Being an asshole (for anybody) came with real social fallout. Today, society is mostly anonymous and everyone is too busy “keeping it real” to worry about being part of a functional community. Everybody feels they are some kind of hero or some kind of victim (or some combination thereof) and expects to be treated as such. |
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Posted: 2/1/2023 3:42:20 PM EDT
[#39]
Simple-minded show for simple-minded viewers = Junk
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Posted: 2/1/2023 3:43:08 PM EDT
[#40]
Quote HistoryQuoted: America was a better place when it was still a majority white country. There, I said it.  |
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Posted: 2/1/2023 3:43:38 PM EDT
[#41]
Andy was a gun grabbing sheriff. He and Barney made a mockery of rural law enforcement agencies, and depicted state agencies as jack booted thugs.
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Posted: 2/1/2023 3:45:40 PM EDT
[#42]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Went to Jr High and Sr High in a small north central WI farm town. In the late 50's and early 60's Mayberry values were pretty much our town's values. Small Ohio town back then. Wasn't quite identical, but a lot more similar than different, especially compared to today's clown world. The greatest generation shouldn't have procreated. The hippies should have been exterminated. |
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Posted: 2/1/2023 3:47:56 PM EDT
[#43]
I grew up in the 50's and 60's in a small south Georgia town.
The show pretty much nails it. A waaaaayyyyy more relaxed time. I would give up all the modern tech to be back in that place. |
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Posted: 2/1/2023 3:48:24 PM EDT
[#44]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Mayberry was an exaggeration of the virtues of small town living, but was accurate in portraying the values of America at that time. snip snip Correct. Growing up we didn't even have a lock on our door. |
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Posted: 2/1/2023 3:54:00 PM EDT
[#45]
Yes it was a lie.
It projected America as the producers wanted Americans to view itself. There were other shows that depicted the ideal American middle class family where only the father worked, the mother stayed at home raising the kids in a very nice middle class home. Leave it to Beaver, Dennis the Menace come to mind. Someone already mentioned single parent families and there were a lot of shows in the '50s and especially the '60s showing how happy and functional they were. This would include The Rifleman, The Beverly Hill Billies, Flipper, Bonanza, My Three Sons, etc. Today its not single parent family inasmuch its grooming for kids to be ghey. Modern TV shows tend to have young folks who have a nice apartment filled with the most modern of sh*t. No college loan or struggling to make credit card payments. Actually I don't know what modern shows have since I haven't watched TV in decades.
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Posted: 2/1/2023 3:54:31 PM EDT
[#46]
Quote HistoryQuoted: As someone who has always lived and worked in small towns, there is a lot of the show that is familiar to me. Especially the parts about crazy town folk who stand out as unique individuals. Quote HistoryQuoted: As someone who has always lived and worked in small towns, there is a lot of the show that is familiar to me. Especially the parts about crazy town folk who stand out as unique individuals. Yep. I think it has to do with people growing up without tv and lots of close associations, and they end up being different. We had a guy named Slim who was a germaphobe and WW1 vet (sorta, he got kicked out before he was shipped overseas). He also was prone to groping women and often ended up with shiners as a result. Quoted: I don't know about cops not carrying guns, but when I, my sister and brother were younger we did not even have keys to home because my parents always left the doors unlocked. So when we'd get off the school bus every afternoon our dog would be at the bus stop waiting for us (not chained or fenced up) and we would just walk to the house and go in. I have unintentionally left my door unlocked where I live now, but I sure do not feel comfortable doing that. We didn't have locks. In the American West in the 1800s LEOs often went unarmed. When the Daltons raided Coffeyville the local LEO had to borrow a gun from the hardware store. |
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Posted: 2/1/2023 3:55:40 PM EDT
[#47]
Quote HistoryQuoted: When has any sitcom been realistic? This. Caricature is the essence of sitcom. |
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Posted: 2/1/2023 4:00:02 PM EDT
[#48]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Andy was a gun grabbing sheriff. He and Barney made a mockery of rural law enforcement agencies, and depicted state agencies as jack booted thugs. All the TV shows had a certain left slant if you pay attention. |
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Posted: 2/1/2023 4:08:01 PM EDT
[#49]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Yes it was a lie. It projected America as the producers wanted Americans to view itself. There were other shows that depicted the ideal American middle class family where only the father worked, the mother stayed at home raising the kids in a very nice middle class home. Leave it to Beaver, Dennis the Menace come to mind. Quote HistoryQuoted: Yes it was a lie. It projected America as the producers wanted Americans to view itself. There were other shows that depicted the ideal American middle class family where only the father worked, the mother stayed at home raising the kids in a very nice middle class home. Leave it to Beaver, Dennis the Menace come to mind. It wasn't far off from the 60s/70s I experienced. Quoted:Someone already mentioned single parent families and there were a lot of shows in the '50s and especially the '60s showing how happy and functional they were. This would include The Rifleman, The Beverly Hill Billies, Flipper, Bonanza, My Three Sons, etc. Today its not single parent family inasmuch its grooming for kids to be ghey. The Rifleman, The Beverly Hill Billies, and Bonanza were vehicles for specific types of stories and didn't need to depict a complete family. And having a complete family could restrict storylines. |
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Posted: 2/1/2023 4:09:22 PM EDT
[#50]
Quote HistoryQuoted: The secret to everyone’s happiness on The Andy Griffith Show is no one was married. All of the main characters were single and they were all happy. The only married character was Otis and he was the town drunk. Attached FileNever dawned on me until you type that
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