October 3, 1960: "The Andy Griffith Show" Premieres

Left to right: Andy Griffith,

Ronny Howard (as he was then billed),

Don Knotts and Jim Nabors

October 3, 1960: The Andy Griffith Show premieres on CBS, after Andy Griffith had played Sheriff Andy Taylor of Mayberry, North Carolina on an episode of The Danny Thomas Show that served as a "backdoor pilot."

Andy Samuel Griffith -- his birth certificate really did say "Andy," not "Andrew" -- was born in Mount Airy, North Carolina, on June 1, 1926 -- the same day as another beloved show-business legend, Marilyn Monroe. He became famous in 1954 with a comedy recording, "What It Was, Was Football," starred in the comedy stage and film version of Ira Levin's No Time for Sergeants, and played a villain in the 1957 film A Face in the Crowd. 

Don Knotts also appeared in the 1958 film version of No Time for Sergeants, beginning a lifelong friendship. Knotts played Sheriff Taylor's well-meaning but bumbling deputy, Barney Fife.

The show ran for 8 seasons. The opening theme, "The Fishin' Hole," was written by Earle Hagen (who also did the whistling) and Herbert Spencer. What few people know is that is has lyrics, written by Everett Sloane, who played Mr. Bernstein in Citizen Kane.

The show went to color in 1965, and, as a result, a new version of the opening sequence was shot, with Ron Howard (then listed as "Ronny") as Andy's son Opie Taylor now 11 years old instead of 6, appearing much taller.

By that point, Anita Corsaut had debuted as Helen Crump, Opie's teacher, and Andy's girlfriend and eventual wife. Also, Jim Nabors had left to star in the spinoff Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., and Gomer had been replaced as Mayberry's mechanic by his cousin Goober, played by George Lindsey. In 1968, Griffith left, and the show was continued as Mayberry, R.F.D. until CBS' "rural purge" of 1971. By that point, Howard McNear, who played barber Floyd Lawson, had died (in 1969).

In 1986, the TV-movie Return to Mayberry aired -- on NBC. Francis Bavier, who played Beatrice "Aunt Bee" Taylor, was retired from acting, and did not appear. She died in 1989. The other surviving major actors did: Griffith, Howard, Nabors and Lindsey (the cousins now running the service station together), Corsaut, Don Knotts as Deputy Barney Fife, Betty Lynn as Barney's girlfriend and now wife Thelma Lou, and Hal Smith as "town drunk" Otis Campbell.

Smith died in 1994, Corsault in 1995, Knotts in 2006, Griffith and Lindsey in 2012, Nabors in 2017, and Lynn in 2021. Howard later starred as Richie Cunningham on Happy Days, and became one of Hollywood's top directors. 

The cable network TV Land dedicated statues of Andy and "Ronny" in Griffith's hometown of Mount Airy, on which Mayberry had been based.

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October 3, 1960 was a Monday. Baseball was between the end of the regular season and the World Series, which the Pittsburgh Pirates would win over the New York Yankees. Football was in season, but there would be no Monday Night Football for another 10 years. And it was too soon for the basketball and hockey seasons. So there were no scores on this historic day. 

September 18, 1927: CBS Is Founded

September 18, 1927: CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System, is founded by William S Paley. He was still in charge in 1990, when he died at the age of 89.

CBS followed NBC as the 2nd major radio network in America, and the 2nd major television network in 1947. In both, it became known for its news division, led in the 1940s and '50s by Edward R. Murrow. His See It Now program showed America all kinds of things it wanted to see, and many things it needed to see, such as, on its March 9, 1954 telecast, the excesses of Red-baiting Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin.

From 1962 to 1981, The CBS Evening News was anchored by Walter Cronkite. "Uncle Walter" became known as "the most trusted man in America": When he signed off by saying, "And that's the way it is," you knew that it was, because he always put the truth, no matter how uncomfortable, ahead of any agenda.

"The Tiffany Network" debuted its "Eye logo" in 1951. It produced great Westerns in the 1950s, like Gunsmoke and Have Gun -- Will Travel. It produced great comedies in the 1950s, like I Love Lucy and The Honeymooners, moving on in the 1960s with The Andy Griffith Show and The Dick Van Dyke Show. And, on Sunday nights, it would feature The Jack Benny Program (always a "program," now a "show"), The Ed Sullivan Show, and a movie of the week.

It was the 1st network to show such Christmas specials as Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer and A Charlie Brown Christmas, and it gave kids such legendary cartoons as Yogi Bear and Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? 

It got edgier in the 1970s, with The Mary Tyler Moore Show in 1970, All In the Family in 1971, and M*A*S*H and The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour in 1972. The decade also saw CBS take its role as America's best football network and make it even bigger, with the studio show The NFL Today. And it revived a pair of game shows that had been big on other networks, The Price Is Right and Match Game, and made them bigger than ever.

In the last 20 years, CBS has been the home of the NCIS franchise, and has now added the FBI franchise.

UPDATE: As part of a major restructuring, CBS ended its radio news service on March 21, 2026.

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September 18, 1927 was a Sunday. These baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees swept a doubleheader from the Chicago White Sox, 2-1 and 5-2 at Yankee Stadium. George Pipgras outpitched Tommy Thomas in the opener, and Waite Hoyt outpitched his fellow future Hall-of-Famer Ted Lyons in the nightcap. Between the 2 games, Babe Ruth went 2-for-7 with a walk, his 54th home run of the season, and 3 RBIs; while Lou Gehrig went 2-for-8 with an RBI.

* A doubleheader was split at Redland Field (later renamed Crosley Field) in Cincinnati. The Cincinnati Reds won the 1st game, 7-0. Red Lucas pitched a 3-hit shutout. The New York Giants won the 2nd game, 4-2. Over the 2 games, Rogers Hornsby went 1-for-5 with a walk, Bill Terry went 1-for-7 with an RBI, and Mel Ott only appeared as a pinch-hitter in the 1st game, not reaching base.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Washington Senators, 6-4 at Griffith Stadium in Washington. George Burns (not the entertainer who was just beginning his long career as a star) doubled home the winning run in the top of the 10th inning. Tris Speaker, long with Cleveland, appeared as a pinch-hitter with Washington, and did not reach base.

* The Boston Braves beat the Chicago Cubs, 11-7 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The St. Louis Cardinals swept a doubleheader from the Philadelphia Phillies, 7-3 and 8-3 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis.

* The Boston Red Sox, the Philadelphia Athletics and the Pittsburgh Pirates were not scheduled, since professional sports on Sunday were still not legal in Massachusetts or Pennsylvania. Because of this, the Detroit Tigers, the St. Louis Browns, and the Brooklyn Robins (as the Dodgers were known under the managing of Wilbert Robinson from 1914 to 1931) were also not scheduled.

March 23, 1971: CBS' Rural Purge

The Clampetts of The Beverly Hillbillies

March 23, 1971: The last episode of The Beverly Hillbillies airs on CBS. It was followed on March 29 by the last episode of Mayberry R.F.D., and on April 27 by the last episode of Green Acres.

A month earlier, on February 23, Hee Haw, the country-music-themed variety show, aired its last episode on CBS. It was saved by a syndication package, on which it ran until 1993. The other shows mentioned weren't so lucky: They fell victim to what became known as "The Rural Purge."

The Beverly Hillbillies was one of the most-watched shows of the early 1960s. In fact, aside from The Beatles' appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show, it was the most-watched show on television in 1964. But times had changed.

Indeed, at a time when "Middle America" seemed to be reasserting itself -- the backlash against the Vietnam War and civil rights abuses had begun to receive its own backlash -- CBS was getting more innovative. Two months earlier, it had debuted All In the Family, skewering the perceptions of stereotypes and breaking taboos about what could be shown or discussed on TV. Four months before that, "The Tiffany Network" debuted The Mary Tyler Moore Show, with a 30-year-old never-married "career woman" as its main character. In a year and a half, it would debut M*A*S*H, the 1st "dramedy," although that term wouldn't come for another generation.

And yet, just 3 days before the premiere of M*A*S*H, CBS premiered The Waltons, set in rural Virginia during the Great Depression of the 1930s. It became very popular -- or maybe it just picked up all the viewers that the previous rural shows had.

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March 23, 1971 was a Tuesday. Baseball was in Spring Training. Football was out of season. Only 1 game was played in the NBA: The Portland Trail Blazers beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 114-112 at the Cleveland Arena.

There were 2 games in the American Basketball Association. The New York Nets lost to the Memphis Pros, 117-110 at the Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis. And the Utah Stars beat their arch-rivals, the Denver Rockets, 124-117 at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City. The Stars would go on to win the ABA Championship that season. But they would not survive the mini-merger with the NBA in 1976. The Rockets would, although, anticipating this, and knowing that the NBA already had the Houston Rockets, changed their name to the Denver Nuggets.

There were 3 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers beat the Buffalo Sabres, 7-2 at Madison Square Garden. 

* The Minnesota North Stars beat the Los Angeles Kings, 3-1 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.

* And the Vancouver Canucks beat the St. Louis Blues, 4-1 at the Pacific Coliseum in Denver.