For Andy Griffith, statue 'beats anything'

By SARAH LINDENFELD HALL, News & Observer of Raleigh, N.C.

RALEIGH, N.C. (October 29, 4:51 a.m. PST) - Sheriff Andy Taylor never had much fun in big-city Raleigh. But Andy Griffith, the actor who played him on the enduring television show, looked Tuesday as if there was no place he'd rather be.

On a chilly, misty early morning, more than 400 people gathered at Pullen Park in Central Raleigh and cheered as Griffith helped unveil a bronze, life-size statue that depicts the scene from the opening credits of "The Andy Griffith Show": Sheriff Taylor and his son Opie walking hand-in-hand to the fishin' hole.

The event was part tribute to a simpler time and part ambitious marketing campaign by cable network TV Land, which broadcasts reruns daily and gave the city the statue for free.

"It's not as purty as a woman with a child, but for a man with a child, it's all right," said Griffith, grinning after the light blue curtain hiding the statue fell. "That beats anything."

The statue depicts the first scene ever shot in the series, which ran from 1960 to 1968 and has never left the air. With 27 million viewers a month, the show is the highest-rated on TV Land, said Larry Jones, executive vice president and general manager of TV Land and Nick at Nite.

Its wholesome storylines set in quintessential small-town Mayberry and its memorable characters such as the zany Deputy Barney Fife, adorable Opie and always patient Sheriff Taylor spawned a massive following. People traveled from out of town and even from other states for the ceremony.

"It's something we can both watch together," said Thomas Smith, a 42-year-old sales engineer from Holly Springs who brought his 8-year-old son Chandler. "There's not too many shows you can do that with your son."

Griffith, 77, grew up in Mount Airy and now lives in Manteo. As a young man, he made an early step in his career in Raleigh when he delivered his first humorous monologue about a mile from Pullen Park at Raleigh Little Theatre. Then a Goldsboro High School music teacher, he based the piece on a song called "Please Mr. Sun."

"I got laughs," he said. "I went back to Goldsboro and said, 'I think I'm on to something'."

Before long, in the 1950s, he was making people laugh on regular appearances on "The Ed Sullivan Show" and "The Steve Allen Show" and appearing on Broadway and in film. A special episode on "The Danny Thomas Show" where Griffith stopped Thomas for speeding served as the pilot for Griffith's own show. He has released 13 albums and played the title character on another long-running television show: "Matlock."

The Andy Griffith statue is the third such monument that TV Land has installed. In 2000, it put Ralph Kramden from "The Honeymooners" in New York. In 2002, it placed Mary Richards from "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" in Minneapolis.

In Minneapolis, critics argued that so much time and effort would be better spent memorializing a real person, not a fictional one. City officials there now say it has sparked more interest in city monuments.

Raleigh embraced its statue. TV Land officials said they put the statue here because the show represented life in North Carolina and they wanted the statue to sit in its capital. Arts and parks officials helped select the Pullen Park site; the City Council gave its blessing in January. TV Land promises to maintain it for free.

Ivan Schwartz, director of StudioEIS in Brooklyn, N.Y., that designed the Mayberry statue, views it as an American icon.

"This is a kind of projection of people's desire that a simpler time exists," said Schwartz, whose firm's projects are around the world.