Dixon and Victor, thanks for chiming in and adding your thoughts about Andy's change of temperament in the color episodes. I think you both make some very good points.
Dixon, I hadn't thought before about the "exasperated dad/husband/boss" theme that was present in a number of situation comedies at the time, but that may have influenced the direction that Andy's character took. And you're right that "Barney's absence re-scrambled the chemistry of the whole show." Without Barney, Andy had no real sidekick, not in the same sense that Barney was a friend, confidant, and peer of Andy. It's as though in the later years, all the other characters in the show became a bit more--how shall I put it?--juvenile, in a sense. That is, it sometimes felt as though Andy was the patriarch of the town, the "dad" to all the "kids" who lived there. That's perhaps being a bit extreme because it wasn't always like that, but too often Andy was expected to be the problem solver and had to deal with the pettiness of some of the other characters, as though the whole town were dependent on him, and that kind of burden (in a real-life person, anyway) would lead to some gr umpiness and anger, I'm sure. It is true that the color episodes are more comparable to other situation comedies of the day, as opposed to the black and white episodes. Victor, your point about more one-shot writers being involved in the color years had to have made a difference. Yes, in the first five years, there were several writers who did many episodes (Harvey Bullock, Everett Greenbaum, etc.), which gave a greater sense of continuity, I think. Aaron Ruben leaving the show after five years, as Dixon mentioned, was probably a big part of that, too. My guess is that, aside from Andy himself, Aaron was much of the glue that held the series together through the black and white years. The shows do take on a more formulaic feel after he left. This is not meant to be a criticism of the color years but an examination of why the color years are different from the first five seasons. I know there are many who will go so far as to say they don't even watch the show past the fifth season, but I still appreciate the last three seasons. TAGS was a great show to the end, but the black and white years were certainly the heyday of the program, and I don't think any other show in TV history can top the quality of production, acting, writing, casting, and character interaction of TAGS in its first five years. Thelma Lou (Janet) _______________________________________________ WBMUTBB mailing list [email protected] http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
