Crazy Secrets You Didn’t Know About The Andy Griffith Show. Bonus: What The Stars Look Like Today!

A Real Jokester

Andy was really into playing pranks on his co-stars. He targeted Don Knotts most of all. Don’s real first name was actually Jesse (which he hated) and Andy loved to tease him about it by calling him “Jess.” This was opposite to the dynamic of the show, however, of which Griffith has said, “By the second episode, I knew that Don should be funny and I should play straight.”

If The Shoe Fits

The cast pranked Andy right back, once stealing his shoes. He had to wear his big Sheriff boots home from the studio that day. The good-natured humor from the cast carried over into the tv episodes of The Andy Griffith Show, like in the “Runaway Kid” episode where Opie and his friends pranked Sheriff Taylor by moving his car in front of a fire hydrant, so he would get a ticket.