Andy Griffith Show Book

The Andy Griffith Show was one of the most successful series in television history. It ranked among the top ten shows in the nation during each of its eight prime-time seasons, from 1960 to 1968. Over forty years later, the 249 episodes still remain some of the most frequently watched syndicated shows on television. In this book, Richard Kelly makes clear to everyone, from the occasional fan to the serious student of television, why The Andy Griffith Show is still so beloved.

Richard Kelly, a native New Yorker, was a graduate student at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, when he became a devoted fan of The Andy Griffith Show. Dr. Kelly wemt on to become an professor emeritus of English at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. His specialty is 19th-century English literature and he has written biographies of Douglas Jerrold, Lewis Carroll, George Du Maurier, and Graham Greene. In 1975, Dr. Kelly decided to depart from his Victorian humor to write a critical study of his favorite television show. In 1981, The Andy Griffith Show was first published.