It was interesting how the show evolved. Andy slowly lost his drawl as the series progressed. Barney started out as Andy's cousin, but that relationship was eschewed pretty quickly by the writers.
I use the show somewhat in my government classes to illustrate local government organization. For example, Andy held two elective offices: sheriff and JP. I'm sure that is in violation of the North Carolina constitution just as it would be a violation of many state's constitutions if not all of them. The show sometimes errantly represented the Sheriff's Department as reporting to Mayberry's mayor or as being a city department. And what about only one patrol car? An entire county patrolled with one unit - and no dispatch to boot. Still, I watch every rerun I can.
Good points Olivant. As the show progressed Andy was really some kind of benevolent dictator, or philosopher-king if you will. He had no compunction about bending the rules when he thought it served the greater good: e.g. using someone's vacant house so Floyd could pretend he was a millionaire; putting jazz musicians in jail on trumped up charges so a local inger could join the band; consistently covering up for Barney's ineptitude by giving him credit for things Andy really did; allowing Otis to pretend he was a deputy sherriff; putting an out of towner under arrest and causing Gomer to slow down the fixing of his car to keep him in Mayberry until he learned his lesson; turning Barney's michrophone off in the Mayberry choir; lying to the mayor about the quality of the Mayberry band so they could use taxpayer's money to go to Raleigh; lying to Helen about his romping around with a starlet in Hollywood (that was after the show jumped the shark and had plots about things like Bea's flying lessons, and the belated appearance of one African American who played a football coach).
In many ways he was the Vito Corleone of Mayberry, and Barney was the Fredo. Barney even betrayed Andy in one episode by having Andy investigated for irregularities.
