A Classic Sitcom Character Was Only Created to Sell Breakfast Cereal
The Andy Griffith Show is considered to be one of the most wholesome, beloved sitcoms in television history — unless, of course, you subscribe to the theory that Sheriff Andy Taylor secretly murdered his wife.
But, oddly enough, the classic series owes its existence to the demands of a conservative breakfast cereal company.
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Before appearing in his own show, Andy Griffith’s lovable sheriff character first popped up in an episode of The Danny Thomas Show (formerly Make Room for Daddy), a sitcom starring the nightclub comic as a fictional version of himself. Griffith was written into an episode after producer Sheldon Leonard caught Griffith in the Broadway show No Time for Sergeants.
In the episode, appropriately titled “Danny Meets Andy Griffith,” Thomas’ character Danny Williams and his family are driving through the quaint town of Mayberry, when he’s pulled over and arrested by Sheriff Taylor for running a stop sign. For this minor offense, Danny is jailed for several days because, somewhat troublingly, Andy also happens to be the town judge and the editor of the local newspaper. It’s basically the same plot as the creepy Dan Aykroyd comedy Nothing But Trouble, except Andy Griffith isn’t wearing a prosthetic dick-nose.
Clearly the episode was designed to be a backdoor pilot for The Andy Griffith Show. It even featured a scene introducing us to Andy’s adorable son Opie, played by the future director of EdTV. But it likely wouldn’t have existed if not for one overly uptight sponsor: Post.
According to the cereal company, Grape-Nuts wanted to sponsor an episode of The Danny Thomas Show, but the squares in charge were a little concerned that the show’s “urban” and “discordant” family would conflict with the brand’s “wholesome family image.” After all, this is the same cereal that was once marketed as a cure for alcoholism.
This would explain why the plot of the episode is all about how the big city elitist Thomas gets put in his place by the folksy Griffith, in a town free from nightclubs or any hint at depravity. Clearly the sponsors were pleased, because once The Andy Griffith Show got the go-ahead, the characters were enlisted to hawk Grape-Nuts in several commercial spots. One found Andy and Barney Fife exercising in the police station between unconstitutional arrests.
Another, more bizarrely, involved Andy and Barney ordering Grape-Nuts in a snooty French restaurant.
Since this was the 1950s, we should probably just be thankful that none of the ads had Andy and Barney encouraging Opie to smoke an entire carton of Lucky Strikes.
