Weaver’s Newsletter
An Online newsletter of
“The Andy Griffith Show” Rerun Watchers Club (TAGSRWC)

**** Merchandise Update ****

Browse the full selection of books, apparel, DVDs, artwork, collectibles, items for your vehicle, and much more online at Weaver’s (www.weaversdepartmentstore.com).

There are lots of great vintage and rare things, too. First one thing and then another. Plus there are many things on sale right now or at new, permanently lower prices.

We appreciate your shopping at Weaver’s, especially because Weaver’s sales are the main thing that helps TAGSRWC be able to support Mayberry Days and other Mayberry-connected events and charitable efforts throughout the year. We appreciate it!

Featured This Month at Weaver’s:

Miss Crump’s Summer Reading Recommendations

We carry most of the Mayberry and Mayberry-related books that have been published. Some have been out of print for years, but we still have some copies. Whether your interest is history or trivia, biography or cooking, we’ve got the Mayberry book for you or a friend.

Here are three special books we’re featuring this month:

Everybody on the Truck-The Story of the Dillards by Lee Grant Autographed by the Original Dillards! This book is out of print and RARE. Even more rare is that this copy is autographed by all four of the Original Dillards: Doug Dillard, Rodney Dillard, Mitch Jayne and Dean Webb. That makes this a truly special collector’s item, besides being a really interesting book. This 168-page history of the Dillards is filled with great information about the Darling bluegrass group–with a substantial portion devoted to their time in Mayberry. Lots of firsthand comments from the original Dillards and from Maggie Peterson and Denver Pyle, who also wrote the Foreword. Dozens of rare photos. Includes the never before published words to songs that made Charlene cry, which are sure to make you laugh. In a word, Outstanding! NOTE: All proceeds from the sale of this copy go toward TAGSRWC’s/Weaver’s annual commitment of financial support of the Mayberry Days festival in Mount Airy, N.C.

A Guide to Television’s Mayberry R.F.D. by Dale Robinson & David Fernandes $29.00 The second terrific Mayberry book by David Fernandes and Dale Robinson (authors of The Definitive Andy Griffith Show Reference), is 225 fact-filled pages of fun reading for any fan of Mayberry. Now available in softcover, this is the first book devoted entirely to the “R.F.D.” years of Mayberry. It provides detailed, episode-by-episode information about everything you might ever want to know about what happens in “Mayberry R.F.D.” It has extensive notes about the show’s cast, crew and guest stars, plus there’s a beautiful foreword by Arlene Golonka. We sadly lost great Mayberry friends David and then his cousin Dale far too soon in the last few years, but this book and their Definitive Andy Griffith Show Reference are lasting legacies of their special brand of detailed scholarship and their love of Mayberry.

Goober in a Nutshell

by George Lindsey
Foreword by Ernest Borgnine

This 1995 autobiography by George Lindsey has been out of print for a few years, but George’s family has graciously provided us with a few copies, which George had kept safe all these years, to use as fundraisers for some charitable causes that meant a lot to George.

The copies we have are still pristine, carefully preserved by George since publication. The 210-page paperback covers highlights of George’s fascinating life from childhood in rural Alabama to New York and Hollywood to Mayberry and Kornfield Kounty. It’s filled with wonderful photos and many adventures, both hilarious and poignant.

All proceeds from the sale of this book go toward TAGSRWC’s support of the George Lindsey UNA Film Festival in Florence, Ala.

Choice of either plain ($15) or a special autographed copy ($100).

What’s that? Tired of reading and want to just sit back and watch life in Mayberry?

For pure Mayberry, you can’t beat the actual episodes themselves!

And look no further. All 249 TAGS episodes on DVD, plus the “Danny Thomas” pilot, Return to Mayberry movie, bunches of original commercials and more–now only $119 at Weaver’s (originally $249!). Hey everybody, that’s about 50 cents an episode to own the best TV show ever in its entirety, plus the extras!

Murder in Coweta County DVD

$16.00

This popular and critically acclaimed 1983 made-for-TV movie stars Andy Griffith as the wealthy John Wallace and Johnny Cash as Sheriff Lemar Potts of Coweta County. It’s riveting to watch the two entertainment icons as adversaries in this fascinating film, which is based on real events in Georgia.

June Carter Cash is also featured among the fine cast of character actors. And of special interest in a pivotal role is Cindi Knight, who became Mrs. Andy Griffith about six weeks after this movie was first broadcast.

For years this film has been extremely difficult to find, except overseas and on old VHS tapes. In time for its 30th Anniversary this year, we’re pleased to be able to offer it on DVD!

Complete Season 8 of Matlock on DVD

New on DVD and on Sale this Spring!
$50.00 $44.00

The special guest stars in this season include: Milton Berle, Arlene Golonka (Mayberry’s Millie), Joel Grey, George Peppard and Warren Frost.

The list price for this set is $50, but we’ve got it for just $44.00.

4-Movie Collection of Don Knotts Disney Classics

on DVD

New Release in November 2012!
$19.00

Together for the first time on one DVD set are four hilarious movies Don Knotts made for Disney! And at a really fantastic price!

The movies are:
* Apple Dumpling Gang
* Apple Dumpling Rides Again
* Gus
* Hot Lead & Cold Feet

Three of the movies also star Tim Conway. And there’s a Who’s Who of favorite Hollywood character actors and Western sidekicks. And even legendary Baltimore Colts quarterback Johnny Unitas, along with a football-kickin’ mule!

These are funny and wholesome films for the whole family. And all for less than $5 per flick!

Get Your Cool Summer T-Shirts!!!

Weaver’s has more than two dozen officially licensed Mayberry T-shirt designs. Some are vintage designs that are no longer in production and hard to find anywhere else. We also have a handful of shirts of other TV classics and some vintage embroidered “Andy Griffith Show” logo sport shirts and even a few Snappy Lunch sports shirts.

All of our preshrunk heavyweight 100% cotton T-shirts are just $18.00. And the sport shirts are nicely priced, too. Most of the T-shirts are available in Sizes Medium, Large, XL and 2X, and a few styles also come in 3X. Several also come in small. (The size selection is not as large for the out-of-production vintage shirts.)

Have fun showing your Mayberry spirit with one of these fun-tastic shirts today!

Just a few of our many Mayberry T-shirt designs.
All still only $18.00 each!

Find all of these items and much, much more at www.weaversdepartmentstore.com, or just click on the Weaver’s button at the top of the page whenever you’re visiting www.imayberry.com.

 

**** News of Cast & Crew ****

Andy Griffith made news when he was inexplicably left out of the In Memoriam segment during the Oscars ceremony. The omission caused a tremendous outcry from his peers and fans and the media. Many were left wondering why the show’s producers found No Time for one more distinguished Face in the Crowd. In protest, the NBC affiliate in Cleveland (WKYC) even preempted a couple of nights of NBC prime-time programming to show episodes of “Matlock.”

Ron Howard was inducted into the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame in a ceremony March 11 at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles. He was inducted by friend and “Arrested Development” co-star Will Arnett.

Here’s a video of Arnett’s humorous induction remarks (including cutaways to Ron and father Rance Howard in the audience). Ron was joined as a new inductee by legendary newsman Bob Schieffer, Al Michaels, Leslie Moonves, Dick Wolf and Philo T. Farnsworth.

Ron also participated in an Alzheimer’s fundraiser at Sardi’s in New York City earlier this month. Here’s a short video interview with Ron on the “purple carpet” at the fundraiser,

And while Ron’s next feature film, Rush, speeds along in post-production for its release in September, he and daughter Bryce Dallas Howard continue to have key involvement with Canon USA’s Project Imaginat10n, which is producing 10 short films based on photos that were selected by Bryce and Ron and eventually a larger panel of judges. The completed films are set to be screened at a film festival later this year.

It has also been announced that Ron will direct the film adaptation of In the Heart of the Seas, a tragic story of the Essex, a whaling ship destroyed by a whale in 1820. With Chris Hemsworth in a starring role. Ron has been spotted casually scouting possible filming locations in the Northeast and elsewhere.

The 16th Annual George Lindsey UNA Film Festival, the first since George died last May, was another big success and a positive sign that the festival will continue to thrive, as George had hoped. Daughter Camden was able to attend and represent the Lindsey family.

Earlier this month, George’s hometown of Jasper, Ala., officially dedicated a ball field in a city park in George’s honor. Here’s a link to a local newspaper story.

Betty Lynn greeted fans at the Andy Griffith Museum on April 13, and will be back on April 19. (Look for her at the Museum the third Friday afternoon of just about every month, with occasional special appearances other dates.)

Joy Ellison (multiple Mayberry roles) continues in her successful career as one of the top dialect coaches in Hollywood. Her recent projects include Life of Pi and episodes of “Mad Men,” as well as A Night in Old Mexico, which stars Robert Duvall and is expected to be released in theaters later this year. She’s currently working on a TV pilot called “Super Clyde,” starring redheaded Harry Potter star Rupert Grint.

Mayberry Country Boys band member and Dobro legend LeRoy Mack McNees has a new CD out called Stories. It has lots of great tunes that will be familiar to Mayberry Days fans and many others, plus some songs that are sure to become favorites. One track is “The Andy Griffith Show Medley.” You can get a copy and check out other of LeRoy’s CDs and news at www.leroymack.com.

And, if you’ve received this picture in an e-mail claiming that it’s a young Frances Bavier (aka Aunt Bee), it’s NOT. What it is, is a hoax.

Instead, the lady is model/actress Gloria DeHaven. So now, if you receive this hoax, you’ll know not to pass it on to your friends, thereby perpetuating the hoax. And you might also want to let whoever sent the hoax to you know that they’ve been pranked, too.

If you want to learn more about the hoax and Mayberry’s efforts to nip it in the bud, check out Allan Newsome’s “Two Chairs, No Waiting” podcast, Episode 227.

We’re sad to report that Robert Nichols, who played the Relief Bus Driver in “Taylors in Hollywood” (Episode 167), died of heart failure at his home in Occidental, Calif., on March 21. He was 88 years old.

Robert Nichols was born in Oakland, Calif., on July 20, 1924 (the day before Don Knotts). He began performing in high school and continued to do so in the Army Special Services during World War II. He later earned a scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. He went on to become a familiar face, if not always a name, in a distinguished career as an accomplished actor, singer and dancer on both stage and screen during his performing career of more than five decades.

He was a scene-stealer in 1952’s Sally and St. Anne, which also featured Frances Bavier. Here’s a YouTube clip of Robert dancing “Gomer-style” in that film. In about a year ago to TAGSRWC’s Paul Gilkes, Robert wrote about his other Mayberry connections. “I gave Ruta Lee her first professional job in a musical called Great to Be Alive. She was adorable. And I also directed Joyce Jameson [Fun Girl Skippy] in a musical, Baby Face O’Flynn, in which she was terrific.”

For Mayberry fans, he’ll always be the friendly Hollywood bus driver who made sure the visiting Taylors got to see some movie stars’ homes. Read his full obituary here.

Editor’s Note: Thanks to our eagle-eye stringer Brent Seguine for spotting this news about Robert Nichols.

***

**** Mayberry on the Web ****

The iMayberry Community
This is the latest Web activity hosted by TAGSRWC and organized and overseen by webmaster Allan “Floyd” Newsome. It’s called iMayberry Community. You can check it out and sign up for free at: http://imayberrycommunity.com/.

The iMayberry Community has been getting a great response. About 600 fans have already signed up (it’s free). It complements our other online activities, including our main www.imayberry.com page, podcasts, Facebook page, online newsletters (such as The eBullet!), weaversdepartmentstore.com and chat rooms. Combined with TAGSRWC chapters and the various Mayberry events for all fans (from Mayberry Days to ocean cruises), not to mention enjoying the sites of Mount Airy year-round, the world of Mayberry fun keeps expanding.

And best of all, it’s all rooted in watching the show itself. Whether through DVDs, local stations or TV Land, loving to watch the show continues to be the energy that feeds all the other Mayberry fun and activities that we enjoy. What a wonderful thing Andy Griffith and his talented team of actors, musicians, writers and crew people created 53 years ago–for us and generations to come!

Two Chairs, No Waiting is our weekly podcast of TAGS news, interviews and pretty much whatever happens to be going on in and around Mayberry. It’s hosted by Allan Newsome. There’s a new episode every Tuesday (and you can tune in and participate during tapings on Monday evenings). Past episodes are in an online Archives in case you want to listen to or view episodes you’ve missed. (As of this week, there have been 232 episodes since 2008.)

There’s a lot of really great info and discussions that you simply won’t find anywhere else, including rare interviews (vintage and new) with cast and crew members of TAGS, and others, including recent episodes with Ernest Borgnine talking about George Lindsey. If you’ve got sound on your computer or have an iPod or android or similar device, you can easily tune in live or download these podcasts.

Also, check out the podcast area of our www.imayberry.com site for info about a Mayberry Bible Study Podcast, also hosted by Allan.

And there’s a Brother Figure podcast to Two Chairs, No Waiting. It’s hosted by longtime TAGSRWC member Kevin Burke, who does a super job of describing and discussing individual episodes. It’s called Burke on Mayberry. Check it out.

 

TAGSRWC’s official page on Facebook now has more than 36,000 friends! You can find us at www.facebook.com/tagsrwc. There’s a variety of comments about Mayberry, and a lively stream of fans’ favorite TAGS lines. And our Facebook page is also one of the first places we post announcements and breaking news about TAGS. If you haven’t already dropped by the page, we hope you’ll check it out sometime when you have the chance. We invite you to become a TAGSRWC Facebook Friend!

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