The Andy Griffith Show – The Complete Seventh Season
Picture: C+
Sound: C+ Extras: D Show: B-
The Andy Griffith Show - The Complete
Seventh Season is surprisingly solid considering how long the show had been
on, the loss of the late, great Don Knotts killed story potential (though he
actually did another guest round as Fife) and that Ron Howard had not worn thin
in his Opie role. This is remarkable for
any younger actor, something Howard never got enough credit for.
This was only the second season in color, but it plays as
very fresh, though we are more than familiar with all by now. Opie starts to grow up even more into puberty
and the series produced thirty half-hours, which is amazing because most shows
are lucky they get 20 – 22 shows in for a season no matter what their length.
So if the show is simple and predictable, why was and is
it still so popular? No doubt one reason
is that color gave it a new life and fans who were just getting their first
color TVs had something they could really enjoy that they were solidly familiar
with. As for later syndication, cable
and DVD, the teleplay writing was smart and safe, reliable and always had
intelligent enough dialogue. The actors
did not try too hard doing the comedy and the writers wrote characters that
tipped between realistic and TV safe, maybe even slightly stereotypical. That was TV and the situation comedy at the
time, with the 1966 – 1967 season like a calm before a storm of change, while
this era of the sitcom would soon come to an end.
The full frame 1.33 X 1 color image is again a very
pleasant surprise, and though it has some fine detail issues, the color is very
wide ranging and just rich enough that the transfers here are impressive and
will even be a revelation for some. The
Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono feels small again at times, but is usually pretty good,
give or take some instances of harshness here and there. Again, there are no extras, but some color
ads Griffith did for General Mills are in the vaults and it would be nice to
see them on the next set, especially since that would be his last season.
- Nicholas Sheffo
