A few months ago, one Saturday night, I watched a wonderful Andy Griffith Special I found on YouTube with my children. It was a touching revisit to the set just prior to Andy Griffith's death. I highly recommend it if you have not seen it. The visit included the cast, Andy, and Ron Howard. It brought a tear to my eyes watching it. Andy always reminded me of my father. My father was a gentle giant and hero of mine. He was also a police officer. And, he resembled Andy Griffith both in looks and temperament.
When my children were younger, we watched together the Andy Griffith show. I enjoyed watching the show with them and often times we talked about the episodes. Whether people realized it or not, there was always a moral to most stories on the show that allowed for amazing conversations with my children. I have 4 children. 2 that I adopted two from India and Twin boys in 10th grade. During their developmental years, we all watched the show together.
The following Sunday morning, I watched Sunday Morning on CBS. They advertised that Ted Koppel was going to take a sentimental journey to the real Mayberry. The preview was so exciting, I woke my boys up to watch it with me. I couldn't believe it. How amazing was it that I could enjoy to sentimental events of a show we all enjoyed during the same weekend? Jane Pauley even teased me with a teaser that included the song. The song that I even included in my father's funeral video. I told the boys, this is going to be epic! I loved the title of the segment, "Mayberry comes to life." I thought to myself, this was going to be pretty special.
It was special alright. Unfortunately for all the wrong reasons. It started off with Ted Koppel introducing the birthplace of Andy Griffith. He was born in Mount Airy North Carolina. The town is the adopted town that inspired the show. There is a museum curator that joins Ted in a historical conversation. As a former Social Studies teacher, I am liking this start to the segment. Then, Koppel starts his own take within two minutes of the segment and says, "The show captured a reality that never was." I had a sinking feeling that this was going to be more about Ted Koppel's apostatizing wokeness than it was about The Andy Griffith Show. I felt duped. So did my kids. It turned south quickly.
their young son. He asks them why they are there. The couple responds, "My son loves Andy Griffith. He watches it sometimes four hours a day." Koppel goes in for the attack. He says, "Arent you worried his brain will turn to mush!' They justify their parenting by saying, "It's a wonderful comedy that teaches morals." We live in a society where kids are raised playing violent tech games. With such precision, they can pick up a gun for the first time and kill their classmates. Yet, Koppel is worried about the harm this show can do to a child.
(What this family does not know is Koppel's own child was found in an NYC apartment from a day-long drinking binge. I wonder how fair it is to judge parenting when people are not armed with the facts of the possibility of Koppel's own possible parenting failures. Koppel lived a life of a journalist. He most likely did not play a major role in his children's upbringing due to her responsibilities to his career. Yet he attacks a family that watches a wholesome show together and brings their child to Mayberry.)
Koppel continues to meet the local folks. His goal is to challenge the historical context of the show. This is leading up to his context and bias towards the south, more than a historical discussion. The good people of Mt. Airy quickly pick up on his attempts to portray the show as naive. He quickly brings in Race and the Vietnam War as counterintuitive examples to the show's wholesomeness. What bothers me most is he tries to manipulate us with examples of history from the South implying social injustices were ignored by the show. Here is where the seeds of division are planted. This is now a hit piece on southern culture by implying hate was unique to the south and the show ignored it. I am pretty confident the entire country was guilty of hate. Racism whether hidden or in front of us is not different. Koppel wanted to blame the ignorant southerners and they quickly picked up on his bias.
Koppel goes on to interview three African-Americans who moved back to Mount Airy. He asks them to describe life back in 1973. They share a story of a diner in which they could purchase a meal, yet they were not welcome. This is Koppel's "Gotcha Moment." As someone who grew up in the North as a child during 1973 in the liberal state of New York, I can tell you this was the norm. African-American experiences like this were not unique to the south. It happened throughout our country. Segregation as described was an unspoken rule. Being treated as a lesser existed throughout our culture. Koppel continues the conversation the fantasy is unique to Mt. Airy. And then comes the final twist.
Koppel wants to explore the ignorance of the south by turning the conversation to Trump, Biden, and the election. Now, remember, the title of this segment is "Mayberry Comes To Life." Koppel clearly manipulated the audience into thinking this was a nostalgic look back at the show. Jane Pauley teased us with a picture of Andy Griffith with a show tune. Clearly, this was not what happening. The goal of this vignette was to portray the south in a manner that was fitting to liberal narrative. And this last part of the segment really went south.
Koppel decides to ask the museum curator, "Don't you have people that believe that the election was won by Trump?" Implying this was unique to Mt. Airy. The demographics for this narrative are not unique to the south. I live in a poor rural area in Upstate New York. We probably have more signs per capita for Trump than Mt. Airy North Carolina. And they are doozies. F-Bomb Joe Biden can is seen all over our area. Yet Koppel thinks he is on to something. Mayberry is still a fraud. Can you believe it?
Koppel takes a trolley and speaks to the local folks. He engages the crowd about the election. (Where's Andy?) The crowd obliges and said they think the election was rigged. They also doubted the insurrection. It was a well-staged event to prove Koppel's narrative that the south is racist and ignorant. Similar to the North, he could have traveled to a local university or large municipality and found differing opinions. He knows that, but he intended to prove his point.
The most powerful part of this segment was a woman on the Trolley really brought out what Koppel was truly trying to do. She said, "I hope it is not your intent to air this show and imply southerners are a bunch of dumb idiots." That's exactly what this segment was about. I was surprised that was not cut out of the segment. The producers, by leaving this in really gave me a talking point with my own children. That was exactly was the purpose of this broadcast.
The bottom line is parents need to talk to their kids (Young and Old) about the dangers of media bias. Journalists are supposed to be neutral. Clearly, Koppel had strong opinions about the south. He had no intention of discussing anything remotely about the show itself. He wanted to provide his take and whether he realizes it or not, go against the main theme of The Andy Griffith show itself, If we promote a sense of decency and morals as part of any storyline, people will find value in it. Context matters. The show was produced during a time of injustice. However, it tried to provide themes that give us the tools to help us overcome injustice. That's why the show was special.
