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‘The Andy Griffith Show’: Lucille Ball Popped Up in Mayberry Several Times Throughout Show

It might sound a bit weird, Outsiders, but Lucille Ball made some appearances on “The Andy Griffith Show” during its run.

That would make sense as both Ball and Griffith were two of CBS’s top ratings’ stars. But did you actually “see” Ball appear? Well, let’s delve a little bit deeper thanks to a MeTV article.

This takes a little “eagle eye” usage during the show’s first season. As you may remember, Sheriff Andy Taylor, played by Griffith, had a little romance going with Ellie Walker, played by Elinor Donahue. Walker worked at Walker’s Pharmacy.

‘The Andy Griffith Show’ Had Cameras Pan Along Main Street and Into Pharmacy

When cameras would pan outside of the pharmacy along Mayberry’s Main Street, viewers could see a TV Guide – the same one, no less – featuring Ball on the cover.

Three episodes, “The Horse Trader,” “These Gossipin’ Men,” and “Cyrano Andy,” can give Outsiders a little extra classic TV taste.

Now that “TV Guide” cover comes from October 1954. That’s a good seven years before “The Andy Griffith Show” debuted on CBS. Still, those associated with the sitcom might have been simply paying homage to one of TV’s greatest comedians and her show, “I Love Lucy.”

As for “The Andy Griffith Show,” it ran between 1960-68 and featured Griffith, Don Knotts, Ron Howard, Frances Bavier, and others.

Ball actually starred in three CBS sitcoms in total. “I Love Lucy,” “The Lucy Show,” and “Here’s Lucy,” all were a part of the network’s primetime lineup from the 1950s through the 1970s.

Daughter of Don Knotts Recalls Spending Time Around Griffith As She Grew Up

Speaking of Knotts, his daughter recalled those times that Griffith would show up around them.

Karen Knotts spoke to Closer Weekly in 2018. She would chat it up about “The Andy Griffith Show” star’s and co-star’s relationship.

She said Griffith was very friendly to her and adds that he was like an uncle.

“He had different sides,” Karen Knotts said. “You could see that sometimes he would be intense, and other times very, very warm and endearing.”

But she also made it clear that both actors cared about one another. Karen Knotts stressed that Andy Griffith never resented her father and Don Knotts didn’t toward the star.

In fact, she said that Griffith was her father’s biggest fan.

“Everything later he was in, he wanted to get my dad in, too,” Karen Knotts said. “Even when he was on ‘Matlock,’ and my dad wasn’t working at the time, he went to the producers and said, ‘I want Don Knotts on the show.’ They said, ‘No, this is a dramatic show, there’s no part for a character comedian.’”

Well, guess who won that argument? Griffith, who got Knotts on the legal drama.

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