The original post: /r/television by /u/Humble-Airport4295 on 2025-01-27 23:09:56.
The 1960s. CBS aired two juggernauts for almost a decade apiece, garnering #1 ratings and high viewership. These hold up after 6 decades and we still discuss them in reruns, now in the 5th generation of viewers.
Both Beverly Hillbillies and Andy Griffith were at their best the first 5 seasons. BH had its first five remastered on DVD, 3 in black in white before the Clampetts moved to England and abroad to escape jokes around the Vietnam War. Overall, it sort of holds up I guess, considering they seamlessly upheld 5 or 10-episode story arcs revolving around Manhattan, Frogmen, returning to the Ozarks…
But Andy Griffith had Don Knotts for 5 black and white seasons. He was the lifeline of the show, and those episodes are classics only because of Don Knotts. He was truly a comic genius (guest starring in Mad, Mad, Mad World in 1963). The color episodes (90 of them!) introduced new characters (Warren, Howard Sprague, Goober) and let’s not forget Floyd the Barber had more screen time. Yes, you’re gonna want me to say that Gomer Pyle was in addition to Barnie Fife the reason we all tuned in, and yes. But Jim Nabors drove 5 successful seasons of USMC knocking Jack Benny off the air.
Both have held up, but I cast my vote in favor of Andy Griffith.