There's a saying that goes, "You'll never amount to a hill of beans." Well, that sentiment certainly did not apply to Andy Griffith — both metaphorically and literally. Griffith, of course, starred in his eponymous '60s sitcom, which became an instant classic, continuing to charm audiences with its warm brand of small-town humor to this day. He struck gold again in the '80s with Matlock, a lighthearted Southern legal drama that ran for nine seasons.

Between those hits, throughout the Seventies, Griffith bounced around from project to project on television, looking to shake up his folksy stereotype with a string of unexpected roles. He twice played psychopathic killers in the desert. He headlined a sci-fi series about space junkers. After his schoolteacher show The Headmaster flopped, he hastily attempted a return to his sitcom roots with The New Andy Griffith Show, which lasted a mere 10 episodes. In general, his roles took a darker turn throughout the decade.

If you wanted to see Andy smile on your screen, well, you could always catch his cozy Carolina drawl in ads for crackers and steak sauce. His biggest successes from this era were perhaps on the commercial front.

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Nostalgia

The Andy Griffith Show cast and characters kept turning up in commercials for years

While The Andy Griffith Show had ended in 1968, he kept the spirit of Mayberry alive with a line of Southern foods. 

Now… Andy Griffith is bustin' with beans, an advertisement announced in the early '70s. The Mayberry sheriff's smiling face was printed on the label of gingham-print cans. His line of beans offered pinto, navy, great northern varieties, as well as black-eye peas. Of course, his "G-o-o-o-o-d!" catchphrase came plastered on each package.

On the back of the can, a statement "from Andy" read, "I know every woman will be proud to serve such tasty Navy Beans. They're tastier...because we cook them in some of the softest water in America....helps keep natural country-grown flavor. While we cook 'em, they are constantly turned and stirred so they won't clump-up in the can. And we've added a smidgin' of sugar and a tender chunk of pork... all for old-south, country style flavor."

Today, the best way to find a can is in the Andy Griffith Museum in his hometown of Mt. Airy, North Carolina.

Andy Griffith Products, Inc. also offered packaged meats, such as the sliced ham seen in the image up top. Turns out, Ernest T. Bass wasn't the only ham in Mayberry.

Watch The Andy Griffith Show on MeTV!

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