Crazy Secrets You Didn’t Know About The Andy Griffith Show

Crazy Onset Pranks

Interestingly, mild-mannered Andy Griffith was really into playing pranks on his co-stars. He targeted Don Knotts most of all but he wasn’t the only one on set to get caught up in Andy’s pranks. However, just because Andy was often the instigator doesn’t mean the rest of the cast didn’t get involved.

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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.” 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.