Ok readers, how many of you love to watch TV Land instead of the reality TV shows of today? I’ll take Andy and Barney over Bridgette’ and Flava Flav any day of the week. I mean really, didn’t you know enough about Barney and Thelma Lou or Andy and Helen without getting all the private details. You know you are a TV Land addict when you can watch a 48 hour Andy & Barney Marathon and record the whole thing to boot! TV has sure changed for the worse I think. Thank goodness for channels like TV Land and American Movie Classics.
It seems that producers of these terrible shows would wake up and see the light. We have shows like the Brady Bunch that had a five year run on prime time. That show has never been off the air in 30 years! I Love Lucy, Bonanza, Happy Days, Andy Griffith Show, Dick Van Dyke, Leave It To Beaver, Ozzie and Harriet, (NOT Ozzie and Sharon), Lassie, Super Man, Rin Tin Tin, Mickey Mouse Club, Captain Kangaroo, Mr. Ed, The Munsters, Dennis the Menace, Father Knows Best, The Red Skelton Show, The Bill Cosby Show, Burns & Allan, The Adams Family, Ma & Pa Kettle, Francis the Talking Mule, The Three Stooges, this is what I call REAL TV! And this is just to name a few. I know that I have missed someone’s favorite; I apologize in advance for my short-comi
ngs. If it is in black and white you better stop and check it out, that is my philosophy on channel surfing!
Of course anyone that knows me knows that The Walton’s is my all time favorite with Andy and Barney coming in at a close second. I have every episode of the Waltons on tape and I can tell you just from the first scene the name of the show and what it is about. They have a huge fan club for this show as well as the Andy Griffith Show. In fact one of the things that I hope to do this year is to take what I like to call my TV Land Vacation Cruise. I will gather up as many friends as possible and take off headed to Skyler, West Virginia to the Walton’s Museum. Skyler is the home of Earl Hammner the creator of The Waltons. From there as we travel the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains and we will head to Mt. Airy, North Carolina to Mayberry Days and the home of Andy Griffith. Every year in September they have a huge cele
bration of the show complete with look-a-like contest, parade, tons of fun and a few of the cast members on hand to sign autographs. This small town also still has a drive-in movie theater! Guess what movie they play during the Mayberry Days? They play one of my all time favorite movies, “No Time for Sergeants.” If you have never seen this one you’ve got to find it somewhere. It is one of the earliest shows with both Andy and Don together. This year I hope to be a part of it. Check it out on the net they have a great site http://www.visitmayberry.com/ . We will end our tour at the beautiful Biltmore Estate. I’m sure to do a story on this great adventure for sure!
One of the things that are great now is the fact that somebody wised up to what the public wanted! You can get all your favorite classic shows on DVD by each season! This should be another sign to the industry, I would think. These shows are snatched off the shelves as soon as they are put out. People are starving for good wholesome TV. If you have kids you want them to have the opportunity to see what real TV is all about. As my cousins Craig’s son said once, “back in the Black and White days.” I tend to gravitate toward the Black & White days, in more ways than one. I think that is why I love antiques and the old cars. You can be transported back in time with an old car. I hope that my 1928
A Model Roadster will be complete by then. I just may have to drag it along behind. Oh what a thrill it would be for me, to be able to drive it across the Blue Ridge Parkway to Walton’s Mountain, Virginia and down Mayberry’s main street!
It seems that producers of these terrible shows would wake up and see the light. We have shows like the Brady Bunch that had a five year run on prime time. That show has never been off the air in 30 years! I Love Lucy, Bonanza, Happy Days, Andy Griffith Show, Dick Van Dyke, Leave It To Beaver, Ozzie and Harriet, (NOT Ozzie and Sharon), Lassie, Super Man, Rin Tin Tin, Mickey Mouse Club, Captain Kangaroo, Mr. Ed, The Munsters, Dennis the Menace, Father Knows Best, The Red Skelton Show, The Bill Cosby Show, Burns & Allan, The Adams Family, Ma & Pa Kettle, Francis the Talking Mule, The Three Stooges, this is what I call REAL TV! And this is just to name a few. I know that I have missed someone’s favorite; I apologize in advance for my short-comi
ngs. If it is in black and white you better stop and check it out, that is my philosophy on channel surfing!Of course anyone that knows me knows that The Walton’s is my all time favorite with Andy and Barney coming in at a close second. I have every episode of the Waltons on tape and I can tell you just from the first scene the name of the show and what it is about. They have a huge fan club for this show as well as the Andy Griffith Show. In fact one of the things that I hope to do this year is to take what I like to call my TV Land Vacation Cruise. I will gather up as many friends as possible and take off headed to Skyler, West Virginia to the Walton’s Museum. Skyler is the home of Earl Hammner the creator of The Waltons. From there as we travel the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains and we will head to Mt. Airy, North Carolina to Mayberry Days and the home of Andy Griffith. Every year in September they have a huge cele
bration of the show complete with look-a-like contest, parade, tons of fun and a few of the cast members on hand to sign autographs. This small town also still has a drive-in movie theater! Guess what movie they play during the Mayberry Days? They play one of my all time favorite movies, “No Time for Sergeants.” If you have never seen this one you’ve got to find it somewhere. It is one of the earliest shows with both Andy and Don together. This year I hope to be a part of it. Check it out on the net they have a great site http://www.visitmayberry.com/ . We will end our tour at the beautiful Biltmore Estate. I’m sure to do a story on this great adventure for sure!One of the things that are great now is the fact that somebody wised up to what the public wanted! You can get all your favorite classic shows on DVD by each season! This should be another sign to the industry, I would think. These shows are snatched off the shelves as soon as they are put out. People are starving for good wholesome TV. If you have kids you want them to have the opportunity to see what real TV is all about. As my cousins Craig’s son said once, “back in the Black and White days.” I tend to gravitate toward the Black & White days, in more ways than one. I think that is why I love antiques and the old cars. You can be transported back in time with an old car. I hope that my 1928
A Model Roadster will be complete by then. I just may have to drag it along behind. Oh what a thrill it would be for me, to be able to drive it across the Blue Ridge Parkway to Walton’s Mountain, Virginia and down Mayberry’s main street! 
