The Andy Griffith Show – The Complete Fifth Season

 

Picture: C+     Sound: C+     Extras: D     Show: B-

 

 

Continuing our look at every odd-numbered season of The Andy Griffith Show with The Complete Fifth Season, we have reached the point where Don Knotts’ Barney Fife is leaving Mayberry for good.  Looking it these shows for the first time in this grouping, Knotts left while he was ahead.  32 more episodes comprise this season, contained over 5 more DVDs, but listing the titles are even repetitious, so we are skipping those.

 

Though still professional and with more money on the screen than it first seemed, including in guests like Don Rickles, but the show had become too familiar.  Some comedies would have stopped at this point, but this one did not.  It was just too much of a hit and Griffith wanted to go on no matter what.  There is the feeling that the show was becoming very routine though, and only completists and fans will want to get this set.  It was the end of an era, if not the show and Knotts went on to some big screen movie hits.  The spin-offs linked to the show also continued and this series had not even gone to full color yet.  It makes you wonder how the next seasons really held up.

 

The full frame 1.33 X 1 monochrome image is somewhat varied throughout, with the earliest shows looking a bit softer than the later shows.  It looks like the show was generally shot on 35mm film, but some of it looks almost like 16mm in the early episodes, yet that could just be the age of the materials used.  The stocks involved could also be a factor.  Still not as crisp and clear as The Honeymooners set Paramount issued of the 39 original filmed shows, which were shot seven to eight years prior to this, while some shows have artifacts on end credits or out of nowhere.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono feels small, but only at times in this case.  And there are sadly no extras like the fun ones on the Complete Third Season set.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo