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The Darlings are a fictional family of musically inclined hillbillies in the American TV sitcom The Andy Griffith Show .
| | This article needs additional citations for verification .(October 2013) |
The Darlings are a fictional family of musically inclined hillbillies in the American TV sitcom The Andy Griffith Show .
The Darlings (usually pronounced "Darlin's") lived in a mountain shack somewhere in the mountains neighboring Mayberry. The good-natured, but trouble-making Appalachian clan, led by patriarch Briscoe Darling (Denver Pyle) usually came into town when they had some sort of problem that Sheriff Andy Taylor had to resolve. Briscoe was the widowed father of five grown children (four sons and one daughter) who all lived together, and each had a different musical talent. All together, the members of the family formed a bluegrass band. They had their own set of values and rules and had little concern for matters that went on outside of their family. Due to their secluded lifestyle, their lack of social grace, and their superstitious belief in mountain lore, they were perceived by the people of Mayberry as being somewhat backward and ignorant. Their arrival in town usually meant trouble for Sheriff Taylor and Deputy Barney Fife, despite their friendly relationship with the family.
The Darlings made their first appearance on The Andy Griffith Show in episode #88, "The Darlings Are Coming". In their second appearance, episode #94, "Mountain Wedding", Andy and Barney must pay a visit to the Darlings' home to rid the family of Ernest T. Bass, a pesky neighbor with an affinity for rock throwing, who was intent on marrying Briscoe's daughter Charlene. [1] Andy asked Briscoe if he and "the boys" couldn't take care of Ernest themselves, to which Briscoe laconically replied, "Well, we thought about killin' 'im... Kinda hated to go that far." Their appearance on the show was always supplemented by a song (provided by bluegrass band The Dillards, who played the Darling boys), usually with Andy accompanying them on guitar.
Briscoe is the patriarch of the family, and was played by Denver Pyle. He describes himself as "Briscoe Darling, tiller of soil, feller of trees". [2] : 107-108 Known for his gruff demeanor and poor manners, Briscoe would often make blunt or unintentionally offensive remarks due to his social ignorance. He wore a floppy hat and overalls to complement his scruffy appearance. He was also the leader of the family band, in which he played a ceramic jug (which he used to keep time by blowing across the opening). He once attempted to court Andy's Aunt Bee by kidnapping her, but called off the "engagement" when she tried to reform him.
Briscoe's only daughter, Charlene (Maggie Peterson) is an attractive but naïve young, blonde woman who often causes trouble for Sheriff Taylor and his family with her flirtatious behavior and her belief in mountain lore. She is also the original object of desire for Ernest T. Bass. She loves her husband, "Dud", but divorced him in a covert mountain ceremony because he looked at another woman. In that ceremony, she is also betrothed to Sheriff Taylor in which Andy unknowingly took part. The betrothal is later halted through the efforts of Deputy Fife's research into the customs of mountain marriage protocol, through an elaborate staging of a horse and rider passing by the couple. Charlene later has a baby daughter named "Andelina", whom she tried to betroth to Andy's son Opie, as was customary in her family. She occasionally sang when her father and brothers played music.
The bluegrass group The Dillards portrayed Briscoe's four sons. They almost never spoke and had a lifeless appearance. The names of the boys were contradictory from episode to episode: The original script of "Mountain Wedding" listed their names as Oether (pronounced Othor), Jebbin, Ward, and Frankie (although only Oether and Jebbin were ever used onscreen), but in a later episode, Andy refers to them as Mitch, Dean, Rodney, and Doug—the real first names of the members of The Dillards. However, they are generally referred to simply as "the boys", collectively. They were characterized by their silent, emotionless presence, and by their instrumentation in the family band: banjo (Doug Dillard), guitar (Rodney Dillard), mandolin (Dean Webb), and bass (Mitch Jayne). When they played, one usually sang lead and the others provided harmonies, while their father played rhythm on the jug.
In a running gag, Andy addresses them, and they return only a blank stare. Thus greeted in "Mountain Wedding", Andy remarked to Briscoe, "The boys are talkative today." Completely missing the irony, Briscoe admitted "They all keyed up" (over Ernest T. Bass's antics). Another time was when Charlene had a baby (Andelina) and Andy said, "You boys must be proud to be uncles." They did not respond. Briscoe answered, "They all choked up." A rare and funny line spoken by Dud was the suggestion "Hey, how 'bout playing 'Never Hit Your Gramma with a Great Big Stick'?" just before Charlene says, "Nah, Dud. That'n makes me cry." The only lines spoken by the Darling boys occur in the jail scene of the episode "The Darlings Are Coming". Mitch can be heard to say, "About to pop." Another line was spoken by Doug. He could be heard saying, "Great beans, Aunt Bee." Mitch Jayne's character always had a pipe in his mouth.
Charlene's fiance and later husband, Dud had served three years in the U.S. Army, where he achieved the rank of private first class. He had been betrothed to Charlene since the age of five. Dud was originally portrayed by Hoke Howell as a well-mannered country boy. However, in Dud's final appearance, episode #121, "Divorce Mountain Style", Howell was curiously replaced by Bob Denver. Denver's portrayal was more along the lines of a wily, scrappy mountain man, akin to Ernest T. Bass, in contrast to Dud's original "good ol' boy" persona. At a 1995 convention, actor Hoke Howell explained the replacement as CBS's attempt to make Bob Denver a more familiar face, to promote his upcoming show, Gilligan's Island , despite the fact that Denver previously played Maynard G. Krebs on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis . [3] Dud was absent from the Darlings' later appearances.
The Darlings made their final appearance on The Andy Griffith Show in episode titled "The Darling Fortune". They made a total of six appearances throughout the show's run.
| Season # | Production # | Broadcast # | Airdate | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 088 | 088 | March 18, 1963 | The Darlings Are Coming |
| 3 | 094 | 094 | April 29, 1963 | Mountain Wedding |
| 4 | 096 | 100 | October 28, 1963 | Briscoe Declares for Aunt Bee |
| 4 | 121 | 120 | March 30, 1964 | Divorce, Mountain Style |
| 5 | 139 | 139 | December 7, 1964 | The Darling Baby |
| 7 | 193 | 195 | October 17, 1966 | The Darling Fortune |
The Darling family (sans Dud) returned in the 1986 reunion movie, Return to Mayberry .
Andy Samuel Griffith was an American actor, comedian, television producer, singer, and writer whose career spanned seven decades in music and television. Known for his Southern drawl, his characters with a folksy-friendly personality, as well as his gruff but friendly voice, Griffith was a Tony Award nominee for two roles. He gained prominence in the starring role in director Elia Kazan's film A Face in the Crowd (1957) and No Time for Sergeants (1958) before he became better known for his television roles, playing the lead roles of Andy Taylor in the sitcom The Andy Griffith Show (1960–1968) and Ben Matlock in the legal drama Matlock (1986–1995).
The Andy Griffith Show is an American sitcom television series that was aired on CBS from October 3, 1960, to April 1, 1968, with a total of 249 half-hour episodes spanning eight seasons—159 in black and white and 90 in color.
Robert Osbourne Denver was an American comedic actor who portrayed beatnik Maynard G. Krebs on the 1959–1963 series The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis and Gilligan on the 1964–1967 television series Gilligan's Island.
Mayberry is a fictional community that was the setting for two popular American television sitcoms, The Andy Griffith Show (1960–1968) and Mayberry R.F.D. (1968–1971); Mayberry was also the setting for a 1986 reunion television film titled Return to Mayberry. Mayberry is said to be based on Andy Griffith's hometown of Mount Airy, North Carolina. Mount Airy is also known as Mayberry and called by both names by its residents.
Return to Mayberry is a 1986 American made-for-television romantic comedy film based on the 1960s sitcoms The Andy Griffith Show and Mayberry R.F.D.. The film premiered on April 13, 1986, on NBC, and was the highest-rated television film of 1986. Sixteen of the original cast members reunited and reprised their roles for the film and its success could have led to additional Mayberry programs, but Griffith was committed to Matlock for the 1986–87 season.
Denver Dell Pyle was an American film and television actor and director. He was well known for a number of TV roles from the 1960s through the 1980s, including his portrayal of Briscoe Darling in several episodes of The Andy Griffith Show, as Jesse Duke in The Dukes of Hazzard from 1979 to 1985, as Mad Jack in the NBC television series The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams, and as the titular character's father, Buck Webb, in CBS's The Doris Day Show. In many of his roles, he portrayed either authority figures, or gruff, demanding father figures, often as comic relief. Perhaps his most memorable film role was that of Texas Ranger Frank Hamer in the movie Bonnie and Clyde (1967), as the lawman who relentlessly chased down and finally killed the notorious duo in an ambush.
Walter Clarence "Dub" Taylor Jr., was an American character actor who from the 1940s into the 1990s worked extensively in films and on television, often in Westerns but also in comedies. He is the father of actor and painter Buck Taylor.
Bernard "Barney" Fife is a fictional character in the American television program The Andy Griffith Show, portrayed by comic actor Don Knotts. Barney Fife is a deputy sheriff in the slow-paced, sleepy southern community of Mayberry, North Carolina. He appeared in the first five seasons (1960–65) as a main character, and, after leaving the show towards the end of season five, made a few guest appearances in the following three color seasons (1965–68). He also appeared in the first episode of the spin-off series Mayberry R.F.D. (1968–1971), and in the 1986 reunion television film Return to Mayberry. Additionally, Barney appeared in the Joey Bishop Show episode "Joey's Hideaway Cabin", and, unnamed, in the first episode of The New Andy Griffith Show.
The Dillards are an American bluegrass and country rock band from Salem, Missouri. The band is best known for introducing bluegrass music into the popular mainstream with their appearance as "The Darlings" on The Andy Griffith Show.
Sheriff Andrew Jackson "Andy" Taylor is the lead character on The Andy Griffith Show, an American sitcom which aired on CBS, (1960–1968). He also appears in the Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. episode "Opie Joins the Marines," five episodes of Mayberry R.F.D. (1968–1971), and the reunion television film Return to Mayberry (1986). He made a cameo appearance in the USMC episode "Gomer Goes Home." The character made his initial appearance in an episode of The Danny Thomas Show entitled "Danny Meets Andy Griffith." In the CBS special The Andy Griffith - Don Knotts - Jim Nabors Show (1965), Andy and Barney are featured in a musical sketch about their friendship and recreate some classic moments between the characters. Andy Griffith, as Sheriff Taylor, also has a brief comedy cameo in Rowan and Martin at the Movies (1969), a PSA short subject promoting the purchase of U.S. Savings Bonds. Griffith appeared with costar Ron Howard in character as Andy and Opie Taylor in a 2008 commercial for the presidential campaign of Barack Obama. Andy Taylor appeared in all 249 episodes of The Andy Griffith Show and was played by comedian, musician, and actor Andy Griffith.
Margaret Ann Peterson was an American actress and singer. She was best known for playing Charlene Darling on The Andy Griffith Show. She also played the character of Doris in the episode "A Girl for Goober" (1968).
Helen Crump is a fictional dramatic character on the American television program The Andy Griffith Show (1960–1968). Helen was a schoolteacher and became main character Sheriff Andy Taylor's girlfriend, and eventually, wife. Helen first appears in the third-season episode "Andy Discovers America" (1963). She also appeared in spinoff program Mayberry R.F.D. (1968–1971), as well as the reunion telemovie, Return to Mayberry (1986). Helen was portrayed by Aneta Corsaut.
Ernest T. Bass is a fictional character on the American TV sitcom The Andy Griffith Show. He was played by Howard Morris.
Eric Weissberg was an American singer, banjo player, and multi-instrumentalist, whose most commercially successful recording was his banjo solo in "Dueling Banjos", featured as the theme of the film Deliverance (1972) and released as a single that reached number 2 in the United States and Canada in 1973.
"Dueling Banjos" is a bluegrass composition by Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith. The song was composed in 1954 by Smith as a banjo instrumental he called "Feudin' Banjos"; it contained riffs from Smith, recorded in 1955 playing a four-string plectrum banjo and accompanied by five-string bluegrass banjo player Don Reno. The composition's first wide-scale airing was on a 1963 television episode of The Andy Griffith Show called "Briscoe Declares for Aunt Bee", in which it is played by visiting musical family the Darlings, along with Griffith himself.
The New Andy Griffith Show is an American sitcom that was broadcast in the United States on CBS in 1971 on Fridays at 8:30 ET. It debuted on January 8, 1971, and ended on May 21, 1971.
Wheatstraw Suite is the fourth album by American band the Dillards. Released in 1968, the album showcased an "unpredictable" mix of bluegrass, country, folk, rock and pop. For the album's sessions, the band recorded with a full orchestra, electric instrumentation and occasional drums.
Mitchell Franklin "Mitch" Jayne was an American musician, best known as emcee and upright bass player in The Dillards bluegrass band, the band often remembered for their several Andy Griffith Show appearances as the Darling Family, 1963–1966, as well as touring throughout southern California in the late 1960s.
Douglas Flint Dillard was an American musician noted for his banjo proficiency and his pioneering participation in late-60s country rock.