Andy Griffith: 86'd at 86.

While I am only 26 years old, I still grew up on the classics of the generation before me. Shows like The Honeymooners, I Love Lucy, The Andy Griffith Show, and so on and so forth. Today, America lost one of its greatest television icons of its time, Andy Griffith. The Sheriff of Mayberry, Andy Taylor, and renowned criminal defense attorney, Ben Matlock, was pronounced dead this morning, around 7am, at the age of 86. The cause of death has yet to be identified but he was known to have had heart troubles in the not so distant past. Born in Mt. Airy, North Carolina, Andy lived and died a Carolina man through and through. From his association to the fictional town of Mayberry, North Carolina to his ultimate demise in the same state, he will surely remain in the heart of North Carolina while it's heart remains beating.

I remember watching The Andy Griffith show with my mom as a kid so often because of both the family values of the show as well as its universal sense of humor. Where as shows like Seinfeld captivated a more adult audience, The Andy Griffith show was able to reach out and entertain audiences of all ages. One of my favorite episodes was the one where Opie was scared to go to his school's dance because he didn't know how to dance. So Aunt B and Andy took it upon themselves to show him a thing or two about movin his feet. Later, at the dance, Andy (serving as a chaperone) gets out on the floor to break the ice and starts dancing with one of the teachers. This makes little Opie feel more at ease and next thing you know he's out there havin a good ol' time cuttin a rug along with the rest of his classmates and even gets some time in with a girl he's got a crush on. Classic Andy Griffith material right there.

Come to think of it my mom even had the theme song as her ringtone!

As for Matlock, well that was just a bit boring for me. But it was on air for 9 years! So he musta been doin somethin right!

Here's some pics I thought did a pretty good job of summing up Andy Griffith in my eyes...

                                                                          

RIP Andy Griffith

 June 1, 1926 – July 3, 2012