Mayberry among TV's most memorable fake towns

The entertainment blog romow has a list of the 11 most memorable "TV Cities that Don't Exist," which includes good ol' Mayberry.

The Andy Griffith Show could rightly be called the most successful spin-off of all time. In the slow-paced, fictional town of Mayberry, North Carolina, Sheriff Andy Taylor serves as a straight and narrow policeman who breaks up moonshine distilleries and other crooked operations. Mayberry, which could be any non-urban part of North Carolina, is the epitome of relaxed southern living where community and non-violent mediation matter most.

Of course, we could remind the folks at romow that Mayberry is basically a real place called Mount Airy. But we'll let it slide.

Among the other choices are Springfield ("The Simpsons"), South Park, Colo. ("South Park"), Hazzard County, Ga. ("Dukes of Hazzard") and Quahog, R.I. ("Family Guy"), among others.

Griffith, Watson and Caesar among newest N.C. Music Hall inductees

The N.C. Music Hall has announced its newest class (Class of '10). These pioneers will be honored in October in Kannapolis as the newest members of the Music Hall.

Among the honorees are Andy Griffith, Doc Watson, Shriley Caesar and Donna Fargo.

The induction ceremony will be held October 7 at the Core Labratory Building on the N.C. Research Campus in Kannapolis. The N.C. Music Hall opened there in 2009.


N.C. Music Hall Class of 2010
Performing Artists:
Maurice Williams, recording artist, Charlotte
Andy Griffith, gospel recording artist, Mount Airy/Wilmington
Donna Fargo, country recording artist, Mount Airy
Arthur Smith, country composer, performer, producer, Charlotte
George Hamilton IV, country recording artist, Winston-Salem
Doc Watson, country/bluegrass vocalist, musician, Deep Gap/North Wilkesboro
Curly Seckler, bluegrass vocalist and musician, China Grove
Dr. Bill Taylor, jazz pianist, composer, Greenville
Shirley Caesar, gospel recording artist, Durham

Deceased:
Don Gibson, country recording artist and composer, Shelby
Les Brown, Big Band leader, Durham
Oliver (William Oliver Swofford), recording artist, North Wilkesboro

Non-Performing Artists:
Don Schlitz, composer, guitarist and soloist, Durham

'Mayberry' still alluring

It's very easy to assume that everyone in America has as much of a romantic image of Andy Griffith's "Mayberry" (from The Andy Griffith Show) as us North Carolinians do.

Well, apparently they do.

Enjoy ...

In the classic Andy Griffith Show episode "Stranger in Town," a man moved to Mayberry, N.C., because he had heard so many good things about the town.

And in real life, Darrel and Debbie Miles, big fans of The Andy Griffith Show, made the same decision [writes the Winston-Salem Journal].

They are originally from New Albany, Ind., but just over three years ago they decided to make the move to Mount Airy, the town that inspired Mayberry. They opened Mayberry on Main, a store on Main Street that sells memorabilia related to The Andy Griffith Show as well as hot sauces and salsa.

Debbie recalls the first time she found out that there was a real "Mayberry" back in 1992.

"Reruns of the show were always on during dinner time," she recalled. "Like any other family, we'd be getting dinner ready and The Andy Griffith Show would be on. Then one day when I was at work, my oldest daughter, Natalie, called and said, ‘Mom, there really is a Mayberry and Oprah's there!' I said, ‘Well, find out where it is!'"

When they got home, Natalie had written down the name of "Mount Airy, N.C."

"That minute on, we made arrangements to visit," Debbie said. "And then every year at least once a year we could come down." ...

"We found more and more times when we had a few days off, we'd be driving down to Mount Airy," Darrel said. They visited frequently over the course of about 13 years.

And when Darrel retired from the manufacturing company where he had worked for 32 years, they decided to move to Mount Airy.

So, they made the leap. Was "Mayberry" everything they thought it would be?

Russell Hiatt, who runs Floyd's City Barber Shop on Main Street, said that he wasn't surprised when the Mileses decided to move to Mount Airy.

"They had been coming here every year, and always come in to see me," he said. "Then they came in one time and told me they were wanting to move here and go into business ... I was tickled because they were great folks. I helped them find a building." ...

Some visitors think that The Andy Griffith Show was actually filmed in Mount Airy (it was filmed in California). "We try to break it to them gently, this is really Andy's hometown, this is the real place he lived," Debbie said. "We came for Mayberry, but Mount Airy, you fall in love with it. It's the kind of town everybody would want their hometown to be."

(Screenshot from sitcomsonline)

Quick hits: Musical bonanza

Pickler's latest will separate her from the country-music pack
"It's hard not to like Albemarle's Kellie Pickler, especially if you're from the Carolinas," says the Charlotte Observer.

"Pickler's down-home charm, unapologetic honesty and humor has helped the former 'American Idol' finalist establish herself as one of country music's rising young female stars. She picked up three CMT Music Awards earlier this year; she'll compete for New Artist of the Year at the Country Music Association Awards on Nov. 12; and her self-titled sophomore album hit stores Tuesday.

"Having recorded her gold-selling debut 'Small Town Girl' while touring with “American Idol,” Pickler took a larger role in crafting her follow-up: She co-wrote half the disc's tracks. ..."

North Carolina Music Hall of Fame ... in Kannapolis?
"What do Earl Scruggs, Thelonious Monk, and Shirley Caesar have in common? They are all Grammy Award Winning Musicians from the state of North Carolina. Earl Scruggs (Shelby), Thelonious Monk (Rocky Mount), along with fellow North Carolinians, John Coltrane (Hamlet) and Doc Watson (Deep Gap) have been honored with the Grammy lifetime achievement award. Shirley Caesar (Durham) has received 11 Grammy awards and 7 Dove Awards throughout her career as a gospel singer. In fact North Carolina has produced some of the finest musicians in the modern world, but surprisingly, very few people are aware of North Carolina’s rich musical heritage.

"North Carolinians have helped shape every category of the music world, from country to rap, indie to pop, and from big band to jug band," writes New Raleigh. "Nina Simone (Tryon), Tori Amos (Newton), Charlie Daniels (Wilmington), George Clinton (Kannapolis), and of course Andy Griffith (Mount Airy), all have received numerous awards for their various contributions to the field, yet where would a person go to be explore this history?

"Many people might believe that the young James Taylor was baptized in the ol’ well at UNC on the day of his birth, although he was actually born in Boston. Both he and Tift Merrit were born outside the state, but graduated from the University of North Carolina.

"But nowhere in the entire state are all of these musicians and their achievements showcased. Why doesn’t North Carolina have a Music History Museum? Also, why is North Carolina creating the NC Music Hall of Fame in Kannapolis? ..."

Quick hits: Birthdays, growth, death & all-around nice people

A lot to get to today, folks ...

Andie at 50
"If you're not sure 50 is fabulous, you need to talk to Andie MacDowell," says the Charlotte Observer.

"The model/actress known for her work in films such as 'Four Weddings and a Funeral' and 'Sex, Lies and Videotape' and as a face of L'Oreal beauty products for more than 20 years says her life is full, frantic and fun. And she wouldn't have it any other way.

" '(Baby boomers) are not children, and we want to see our age reflected in the media,' she said in a recent interview with the Observer.

"The Carolina girl who celebrated the big 5-0 in April is the keynote speaker at the Dress for Success 'Look at Her Power' fundraiser next Thursday at the Charlotte Merchandise Mart. ..."

McDowell has lived in the Asheville area for years.


Carowinds to add new roller coaster
"A new 'boomerang-style' roller coaster is coming to Carowinds next season, the amusement park announced [yesterda]," according to the Observer.

"The 125-foot-high Carolina Cobra, the park's 12th and second-tallest coaster, will travel the same track forward and backward. It'll be located near the entrance of Boomerang Bay, Carowinds' water park.

"Riders will be pulled up 125 feet and sent down a 120-foot drop, with a 65-degree descent into three inversions, including a cobra roll and a 360-degree loop, according to a news release. The train will then go up another hill, then released backward along the same path. The ride will have a newly designed, exclusive 28-passenger train, the first of its kind in the United States, according to the park. ..."


Chimney Rock State Park to grow
"The Nature Conservancy has acquired 56 acres that will eventually be included in Chimney Rock State Park, the group said Wednesday," according to (who else?) the Observer.

"The conservancy has worked since the early 1980s to protect land in the area west of Charlotte, called Hickory Nut Gorge.

"The new acquisition will protect property between the state park and the conservancy's Bat Cave preserve.

"N.C. legislators created the state park at Chimney Rock, a longtime tourist destination, in 2005. The state has bought about 3,500 acres for the park in Hickory Nut Gorge. ..."


Death of an American giant
"The country's tallest eastern hemlock, reaching to the sky from a cove of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, towers 173.1 feet from its 5-foot-thick base to its last pencil-thin sprig.

"The tree is 400 years old, armored in rough bark, and dead," says that paper in Charlotte.

"Millions of hemlocks across the Southern Appalachians are dying, victims of an Asian insect that has moved faster than efforts to stop it. The trees' collapse will change these forests, from warbler nesting habits to the temperature of trout streams, unlike anything since the 1930s. That's when a foreign fungus finished off another keystone tree, the chestnut. ..."


N.C. residents are nice folks, according to study
"As Andy Griffith might say, we beat everything.

"At least when it comes to being nice," says the News & Observer.

"Researchers at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom surveyed more than 600,000 people to develop a personality map for the United States. North Dakotans are more sociable. People in New York are more high strung.

"As for Tar Heels, we're among the 'friendliest and most dutiful,' the study said.

"It took six years of research to reach that conclusion. A few reruns of 'The Andy Griffith Show' probably could have saved some time and said as much. Still, academic proof is welcome.

" 'I'm happy to see that others are learning what we have known for a long time -- that nothing could be finer than to live in North Carolina,' Gov. Mike Easley said. 'People here are pretty cool.' ..."

Quick hits: Wake to drop SAT, ACT; USS Kitty Hawk drops anchor for the last time; and the guy who dropped 'Andy's' theme passes away

Wake Forest to drop ACT, SAT
"In a groundbreaking move, Wake Forest University will no longer require applicants to submit SAT or ACT test scores for admission, school officials [announced on Tuesday]," said the News & Observer.

"Wake Forest will become the only top-30 national university in the U.S. News & World Report ranking to make the standardized tests optional. The policy change takes effect with the freshman class starting in 2009.

"University officials say they changed their policy after reviewing extensive research that shows the tests favor wealthy students and aren't the best predictors of college success. ..."

USS Kitty Hawk says sayonara
"The oldest active ship in the U.S. Navy, the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk, made its final departure from Japan on Wednesday to be decommissioned after nearly half a century of service," said the Associated Press.

"The Kitty Hawk, with sailors lining its decks, pulled away from Yokosuka port just south of Tokyo to the cheers of hundreds of schoolchildren and the sounds of brass bands.

"It flew the 'Don't Tread on Me' flag, which designates it as the oldest ship in the Navy.

"The Kitty Hawk, the last conventionally powered aircraft carrier in the Navy, is to be replaced later this summer by the USS George Washington, a nuclear-powered carrier. ..."

'Andy Griffith' composer dies
"Earle H. Hagen, who co-wrote the jazz classic 'Harlem Nocturne' and composed memorable themes for 'The Andy Griffith Show,' 'I Spy,' 'The Mod Squad' and other TV shows, has died. He was 88," according to the Associated Press.

"Hagen, who is heard whistling the folksy tune for 'The Andy Griffith Show,' died Monday night at his home in Rancho Mirage, his wife, Laura, said Tuesday. He had been in ill health for several months.

"During his long musical career, Hagen performed with the top bands of the swing era, composed for movies and television and wrote one of the first textbooks on movie composing. ..."

It's about time: Andy Griffith 'discovered'

"At the age of 81," writes Associated Press writer Martha Waggoner, "Andy Griffith has been discovered.

"Sure, he'll always be known as Sheriff Andy Taylor, the gentle father to son Opie and the gunless lawman in Mayberry who dispensed a homegrown wisdom on 'The Andy Griffith Show.' Or as disheveled, yet shrewd, Atlanta defense lawyer Ben Matlock.

"But he's now a breakout star of sorts in the critically acclaimed 'Waitress.' He's only a supporting character in a movie starring Keri Russell as Jenna, a top-notch pie maker trying to leave her brutish husband. But Griffith steals the show as the cranky owner of the diner where she works.

" 'I'm glad to be back,' he said. 'I loved working in the film, and I just thought it was actually wonderful.' ..."

Waggoner goes on to mention the critical acclaim that Griffith's work has earned. The Wall Street Journal's Joe Morganstern calling Griffith an "inspired" casting choice: "An octogenarian who looks his age, and looks like he's enjoying it, this comic virtuoso is as commanding as ever, but with a new dimension of restraint; he gives Joe a sly kindness that grows less sly as the old man's fondness for Jenna deepens. The two of them are wonderful together."

Equally important to Griffith is the praise of his friends, including Oscar-winning director Ron Howard, who played Griffith's son, Opie, in "The Andy Griffith Show" -- which airs every day somewhere in the world, Griffith said.

"Ron Howard called me a few mornings ago. He and his wife had seen it and he wanted to tell me how much he liked it. And he thought I was good in it, too," Griffith said. "His father, Rance Howard, called a few days after that, that he had seen it and liked it very much." ...

Griffith is still looking for work. Asked when he'll get a part in a Ron Howard blockbuster, Griffith chuckles again and mentions an earlier phone conversation with Howard. "And he said, 'Sometime, it will happen.' I look forward to it when it does happen.

"At least Ronnie still knows that I'm a pretty good actor."