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The Ghost and Mr. Chicken was essentially Mayberry on the big screen
Even Wally from Wally's Fillin' Station shows up!
When Don Knotts left The Andy Griffith Show in the mid-'60s, fans immediately felt his absence from the show. Luckily, the very first movie that Knotts did after leaving the show was The Ghost and Mr. Chicken, a hilarious comedy that brought many of our favorite Mayberry faces to the big screen alongside our favorite departing deputy. More than a dozen actors and actresses we met first in Mayberry also show up in the movie, and that's just the beginning of all the ways this feature film (which, by the way, debuted at No. 1 its opening week) connects to the cherished classic TV series.
Both of the writers responsible for The Ghost and Mr. Chicken wrote some of the best episodes of The Andy Griffith Show. You can thank writers James Fritzell and Everett Greenbaum for episodes like "The Bank Job," "High Noon in Mayberry," "Mountain Wedding" and "Citizen's Arrest." And they not only pulled character actors from Mayberry to populate their first hit movie, they also looked to Andy Griffith Show veteran writer Harvey Bullock for inspiration for their plot, citing his screenplay for "The Haunted House" episode as an influence on The Ghost and Mr. Chicken.
To give you an idea of how much like Mayberry the movie really is, we've pulled screenshots of all the actors who played memorable Mayberry characters into this photo series below. Just click on the photo and reveal the actor's best-known Andy Griffith Show role.
Oh, and one more thing: Every time you hear someone holler, "Attaboy, Luther!" throughout the movie? That's writer Everett Greenbaum, spouting the catchphrase that for a while lots of folks everywhere repeated as a joke with their friends, proving the writers on The Andy Griffith Show always knew just how to hit home with audiences.
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with their friends"
Actually the catchphrase was inspired by an incident in 1936.
In remembrance of Washington's 2004th birthday and his throwing a silver dollar over the Potomac,
pitcher Walter Johnson threw a silver dollar over the Rappahannock river from behind Washington's
boyhood house.
A wiseguy bellowed out, "Atta boy Walter" to much laughter and it became a "thing" for awhile.
Greenbaum was a teen then, no doubt he recycled the line for The Ghost and Mister Chicken.
Being a good comedy writer means you have a ear for such lines and know when/how to reuse
them. Whereas the average person probably knows two good jokes/lines and tells them badly.
"What a joke, never get to watch anything in this METV. USER FRIENDLY IT IS NOT IT SUCKS"
The above means what, your parents won't let you watch?
Or somehow you should be able to watch episodes here
at this site? You "never get to watch", who is stopping you?
Somebody needs changing and a burping.
It would be great if they had Seinfeld on MeTV. I do get it on another network. Love Kramer.
He sure knows how to make an entrance.
Is on Svengoolie this Saturday 7/16
Much later, I'd see Edward Mullhare, in Nightrider and probably Murder She Wrote, and he looked so much younger.
I might as well mention Nanny and the Professor a couple of years later. Watched also because it was on.
Nanny and the Professor was another great show. Very hard to find but here is one episode if you wish to view.
https://youtu.be/r07wQjt4_TU
He sang a excellent tune on it that for some reason he never released.
Writers don't cast movies. They're lucky if they're invited to the premieres.
The Ghost And Mr Chicken
The Reluctant Astronaut
The Incredible Mr. Limpet
No Time For Sergeants (Original inspiration for TAGS and Gomer Pyle USMC)
The Shakiest Gun in the West
The Love God?
How to Frame a Figg
After that, Knotts went over to Disney for a run of pictures starting with The Apple Dumpling Gang. Considering it's the Mouse, those are probably not going to be as easy to get.