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Show t Jm v - .v r : fc , ' ' i - ? f ' ? .-- ' i M Sir A "' i ; headmaster griffith says: fA lva ' u ,, ' ' - ' pa & iDwr " h mr ODnae ' w ', ? ;., w - ! : ' , , 'V yi' : cann , by Cynlliia Lowry . -- V ;:- -1 W' ' ' V T he star was a valuable n television property. The new series was molded to his personality, his early interests, even his educational background. The basic idea was relevant, the word with which Hollywood and the networks were madly in love all summer. Id been ymnS ; ),4 Xst K A :n: s in my mind since the see ond Headmaster, show, time-prove- actor said. I felt could sure I act, pretty but I was saying things that made me uncomforthe k table. In spite of my background music major at the University of North Carolina and three years as a high school teacher I just knew I didnt fit into the academic world not on television, anyway. A ''Sw ' had its Headmaster CBS premiere show in September and quietly died. What is it like to preside over ones own professional but hopefully tem- " . v, block. said Andy PAINFUL, Griffith, looking grim and resolute. Thats it: painful. It all seems clear now, looking back over those 12 Headprograms, that not master could possibly ; ,;i have worked. But since hindsight never pays off, Andy is not pointing any fingers of guilt and, beyond an occasional mea culpa, is looking ahead. In a unique and fast Griffith junked the unhappy property and came up with a completely new show which had its early January premiere without raising a beat. The New Andy Griffith Show brings back ihe drawling Southern character who has been around network television for vears, turn-aroun- 1 1 w d. un-happ- v, Headmaster We . were preaching, he And if you continued. preach, you cant entertain or at least I cant. We were trying to compare comedy with drama and we had shows about suicide and drugs. Every now and then, Id say, Hey, weve gotta do some comedy . . . I talked with Walter Cronkite it was one of those promotional things that we did when the affiliates met before the season started. And Walter said something then that stuck, way in the back of my mind, and I suppose I didnt want to admit it. I told him what we were goand that one of ing to do the big school problems today is suicide. HE JUST said Suicide isnt very funny. Well, my to com- - I 9 ..MNsa t liis x AA . . V' plete in the original batch of 13 programs, Griffith, who had been stewing most of the night, called his producer, Aaron Ruben. I asked him if we should struggle through another show or eat the script, Griffith recalled. He suggested eating it. Then we sister-in-la- :: A while Marty McCall, left, and w, Freddie Silverman called CBS programming vice New in York and president asked him if the network wanted us to try to bend the old show into a new shape or to start a whole new one. We had the answer-new show in two were ready to we and days, shoot the first episode in Griffith took over mand of the new project. He directed his staff to get him Lee Meriwether, a former Miss America, to Pi a y his wife he had worked with her before and com- by Jack Gaver United Press Interantional COMMENTS, caustic and otherwise, on network programming this season : If I see another variety special on which the guests are the perennial Jack Benny, Bob Hope, Sammy Davis Jr., Lucille Ball, and so many others you I will . . . know them well I'll simply turn off the set. Well, For my money, NBC mint'd The Virginian by the changes put in this season. Whatever the excuse for his presence, Stewart Granger, good actor though he is, doesnt belong, and the changing of the title to The Men of Shiloh is no improvement. Bring back John McIntyre. ILL NEVER understand why Rowan and Martins i ' x 4 Lori Kiithcrford, center front, are his children. Show replaces; the canceled Headmaster. behind the tube kJOM E 'X 4 :, fe; 4 10. IT WAS, of course, much more than Andys discomfort that was the stumbling porary demise? J A'f to. s bag is comedy and I was just out of my element. Headmaster drew poor notices and low ratings and was on a straight track downhill; I was CBS was unhappy. On a Saturday in October, with one more episode of i l ,vrV'Pfcvx Anrly Griffith has a new family for his new TV show. Lee Meriwether, upper right, plays his wife; Ann Morgan Guilbert, lower right, is uncomfortable .rvv:-- :W - Wi'iriw(ii?M(i(tfiiiiitf Associated Press Writer 'V ,' I .'I r -v ' ; '4 viiiwSis: V , ..: V ( Vc?;? K A V-- .'v.a-- , k 5? t'Vww ' , ,v - c Bee 0D5naanfiaaB ' V&. , .?: Jt "'W ll ' J. . A A'V :. ' ;V;sA: ?; . a " 4 .V...:V B; 7 - - w S. . v 'ft - y - A, ' uSsA? v. . Ujvv: v A z, ' f V y Ayr : - . 's4A A ' ' ' h as stayed Laugh-I- n around this long. What is it three seasons? If it is back on NBC for another season next fall . . . Well, it wont be the first time Ive been a minority of one. However much you may like Jackie Gleason, CBS has done itself and the ?ch median no special favor aside from making money by its mid season programming of reruns of one-hoThe Honcymooners musical shows. The idea seems to be that this is a deal leading to a new Gleason series next fall. The new series should have begun last fall. ur In addition to her own weekly series, Julia, on NEC, Diahann Carroll will (Continued on page 12) liked her style. Another personal selection was Ann Morgan Guilbert, formerly of the Dick Van Dyke to play his sister-in-laShow, GRIFFITH himself appears as pretty much the same man viewers knew through the eight years of Andy Griffith except this time he is happily married, the father of two, and the mayor of a small southern town. And now I feel comforI keep table. he said. I got about note a thinking from Paul Hartman. He asked me to please dont preach because not many performers know comedy. Of course, there is still the old Show, a good chance that Hie Now Andy Griffith Show will fall by the wayside and Andy is prepared for that possibility, but not without a battle. Ive been defeated by things from time to time all my life, he said rather grimly. But I think Ive got a driving force, maybe a driving hunger. I REMEMBER one time in college I found I had to move from my room in the basement of a house to a dormitory, and move fast. I couldnt figure out how I was going to get my stuff out when I just had one suitcase. Well, I threw some things in that, and then put everything else in a sheet. I strapped the suitcase on my bicycle, and held the sheet In my hand and I just rode everything over to the old dormitory. Whatever else I lack, . I think I have a knowledge of when to move and how. Many a series has tried making repairs, changing format or moving in new directions in when things were rot going well. Griffiths clean-cu- t decision to junk the old and start fresh is without precedent. mid-seaso- IF IT WORKS , The Salt Lake Tribune, Sunday, n January 31, Griffith frankly doesnt have a firm conviction he has plans made for next season. I d like to start early in March on the new season, he said. Id like to have time to develop good comedy scripts. -- ; 1971 4, 'i o |
