The Good

I don't care what anybody says, this TV show is great and I hope it never goes off the air.

The Bad

This is the final season and there's NO special features.

"Yahhhhhh.... boy!"

Decades before Flavah Flav co-opted that phrase, lawman Andy Taylor (Andy Griffith) used to punctuated his points and ideas with that same line. The Andy Griffith Show: The Complete Final Season is a sad goodbye to one of TVs most enduring treasures. It came on the air in 1960, ran until 1968, and according to Mr. Griffith himself "it's never been off the air since." This final season packs 30 episodes onto 5 discs and while some of the plots were a tad implausible ("Aunt Bee, The Juror" or "Barney Hosts A Summit Meeting," anyone?), this show ran as long as it did and really never lost anything because, from a subject matter standpoint, it never changed things up that drastically. It wasn't like the social shows of the 1970s that started off angry and then became the very kind of show it didn't want to be.

The main characters in this final season were Andy, Opie (Ron Howard), Aunt Bee (Francis Bavier), Goober (George Lindsey), and Howard Sprauge (Jack Dodson) among others. Every one of these episodes was filled with a lesson of some sort. "Opie's First Love" showed viewers that even young kids feel adult emotions. "Helen's Past" is a very interesting show especially for those who don't think it ever dealt with any serious issues. "Sam for Town Council" is a highly interesting show that examined local politics. The 30th episode titled "Mayberry RFD" would actually be a continuation of this show under a new name, only you had Ken Barry as the star of that series. It would run for three seasons.

Features

No Extras came with this DVD.

Video

Full Screen Format. I love the look of these shows. In black and white or color this show works really nicely for me. There is a richness to the textures on these DVDs that makes this show play unlike any other. It probably has something to do with color being so new to the medium, but I have always loved the solid tones displayed here. Both on TV and on DVD these episodes stand out in a way that even the most technically superior shows cannot.

Audio

Dolby Digital: English Mono. The audio across all 5 discs was really good. Truthfully, as much as I fawn over this show, I can't really say how good or bad it is mainly because all the audio on these TV on DVD releases sound fine to me. I didn't have any problems hearing anything that the actors were saying, and considering that there is over 12 hours of content on these discs, that is really a compliment. Judge for yourself, but the audio on these 5 discs sounded good to me.

Package

Opie and Andy surround Goober and they all have great big smiles on this front cover. The sharpness that you see in this image is basically how this show looks in this set. The back features two small shots of Andy and Goober, a description of what this show is about, a listing of all the episodes on each disc, and some technical specs. They have stored all 5 discs in three slim cases, with different colors and covers for each one. The back portions tell us more about the show, and aside from me being upset that there aren't any bells and whistles, this set pretty much gives you everything you need.

Final Word

I love this show. I think The Andy Griffith Show might be among my top three favorites with it definitely placing in the top five. It is rich with good values and interesting stories, that I don't think are exclusive to any particular group of people. I think that the character of Andy Taylor really stood for something, and it seems like slowly, the pendulum is turning back in favor of shows like this. While I know that it's view of light humor is supposedly out of style, I think that's merely a case of the content police trying to ram shows that humiliate and debase people down our throats. Slowly, one can see that people are longing for well told tales with lovable characters and heart.

The fact that The Andy Griffith Show: The Complete Final Season went as far as it did on TV and on DVD (many sets don't get completed), certainly says that the message, stories and themes that this show offers is something that people not only want, it's something they need.

The Andy Griffith Show was released .