Good Ol’ Mayberry: Behind The Scenes Info, Shocking Scandals, And More

A Tribute to His Dad

In the opening credits, when Andy and Opie are walking together, Andy gives Opie a head shake, Andy took this from his own father. Andy Griffith’s real father would shake his head to gesture nice work or good job. Andy felt like this was a really heartfelt tribute to his own father. Another interesting Andy fact is that Andy Griffith was a southern gospel singer. He even showcased the talent in several of his roles.

Want some more Andy trivia? Andy Griffith had to sue another man by the same name back in 2006. The man actually changed his name to Andy Griffith to try to win an election to become a sheriff in Wisconsin. Andy sued him for using the name in violation of the Andy Griffith trademark.

Random References in Popular Culture

A long time and many galaxies ago, Star Trek was starting out as new and very poorly funded show. They were so underfunded that they actually used the set of Mayberry to film various scenes. If you look closely you will recognize Mayberry in the episodes Miri and City on the Edge of Forever.

You can see the Mayberry Courthouse, Walkers Drugstore, and Floyd’s Barber Shop during the scenes when Captain Kirk is walking with Edith Keeler. Another interesting pop culture fact is that the iconic grunge musician Kurt Cobain wrote a song called Floyd the Barber which came out on the Nirvana album Bleach. In typical Kurt fashion, the song has a rather dark story. In it, all of the residents of Mayberry including Floyd the Barber are trying to murder Kurt Cobain.