Sunday, December 20, 2009

An Unfamiliar Tune on Mayberry's Dark Side

For my generation, the theme song to the Andy Griffith Show is an established and well known melody. Even my own kids know it and whistle the familiar tune at the mention of Mayberry, or any of the town-folk there. Mighty Mo and I recently began whistling the tune simultaneously when we happened upon an unopened DVD set of the Andy Griffith Show at the flea market. MM paid a couple of bucks for two DVD's, and placed them in her multi-compartmentalized handmade bag, the theme song still playing loudly in our heads as we continued to stroll about the open-air market in pursuit of other great finds.

Sometime after dark, we prepared to watch our new DVD's. The cellophane peeled from the box rather easily, and the end of the box gave little resistance as I peeled back the paper-board flap to reveal one shiny disc inside. The familiar tune was playing clearly in my head, and I was no doubt whistling parts of it too, as I removed the disc from the box, inspecting it's condition before placing it in the tray of my over-rated and super-sensitive first-generation Sony DVD player. My 19 year-old son subconsciously whistled the theme tune as he breezed through the room, the way teenagers do... food in hand, and constantly on-line and in-touch with the brave new cyber world where something is always happening and someone is always doing something that they want the world to know about. I wish he'd take time to view the show with us, but I suspect that I'll catch him watching it by himself one of these days. Both kids dug Gomer Pyle USMC, and will likely get a hoot out of these Andy Griffith Shows too. They already know the theme song. Right? 

We took our seats on the functional leather couch that we bought from the Lava Rock coffee shop when it went out of business a few years back, and prepared ourselves to see Opie and his Pa walking down the dirt road toward their favorite fishin' hole, as the familiar theme song played. But to our surprise, horror, dismay, (choose your adjective), when I pushed play to watch the first episode, there was
a completely different tune being performed by what sounded to be the same whistlers, even though everything else was the same. Opie even picked up the rock and tossed it into the water like he always does, but the music was different. Mighty Mo and I looked at each other with bewilderment, wondering what in the hell we were hearing.

It was like a dream, and I began to entertain the idea that perhaps I was dreaming when the episode turned out to be one I had never seen. I didn't think it was possible to have missed an episode, because in my day, it was almost as if the show was required viewing, and I performed my duty by watching every episode multiple times... or so I thought.

The episode was kind of creepy too. It was about a naughty spoiled rich kid who in the end, received a good paddlin' out in the old wood shed behind the sheriff's office. Everyone seemed to take delight in that, (except for the spoiled kid of course). In fact, a subtle and uncomfortable theme of abuse runs throughout this entire episode. I was appalled at how badly Andy dealt with Opie... I won't reveal that, though.

We were a bit reluctant to watch another episode, but were too curious about the theme music so we decided to sit through another. Once again, an episode neither of us had seen... and the same unfamiliar tune to boot. In fact, every episode had the same unfamiliar tune, even though some of the shows were familiar. Strange! 

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