101 Best Written TV Series

Aired: CBS, 1960-1968

Writing in the San Francisco Chronicle upon the death of Andy Griffith, David Wiegand pointed out that Sheriff Andy and the good folks of Mayberry, N.C., found wide appeal in primetime in an era when "the sexual revolution, the divisiveness of the Vietnam War and the general rejection of traditional values' by younger Americans had an impact on TV. Some sitcoms tried to adapt to the cultural changes and ended up looking ridiculous for trying. Others simply threw in the towel." Aaron Ruben, one of the show's longtime producers, told the Archive of American Television that the show struck a chord because it conjured "a grown-ups' Oz." Ruben and Sheldon Leonard are credited as the show's driving creative forces, as well as Danny Thomas. Thomas was already a sitcom star thanks to Make Room for Daddy, and it was his production company that developed the Griffith series.

Credited Writers

David Adler
R.S. Allen
Ronald Axe
Art Baer
Earl Barret
Richard Bensfield
Barry Blitzer
Sam Bobrick
Joseph Bonaduce
Ray Brenner
James L. Brooks
Harvey Bullock
Lawrence J. Cohen
Paul David
Robert C. Dennis
Stan Dreben
Iz Elinson
Jack Elinson
David Evans
Fred S. Fox
Benedict Freedman
Bill Freedman
Fred Freeman
Ron Friedman
James Fritzell
Ben Gershman
Perry Grant
Everett Greenbaum
John L. Greene
Budd Grossman
Paul Henning
Bruce Howard
Rance Howard
Bill Idelson
Seaman Jacobs
Ben Joelson
Roland MacLane
Sid Mandel
Arnold Margolin
Laurence Marks
Pat McCormick
Howard Merrill
Michael Morris
Sid Morse
John Fenton Murray
Jim Parker
Richard M. Powell
Jack Raymond
Les Roberts
Bob Ross
Aaron Ruben
R. Allen Saffian
Henry Sharp
Phillip Shuken
Leo Solomon
Arthur Stander
Ben Starr
Charles Stewart
Frank Tarloff
Doug Tibbles
Pauline Townsend
Paul Wayne
John Whedon
Kent Wilson