Andy Griffith TV Icon Dead at 86: The Andy Griffith Show, Star Trek, and the 9 Best Shows of the 1960s

Culture

Andy Griffith, TV actor and comedian, died at the age of 86 on Tuesday morning. Our parents’ generation is mourning the loss of the entertainment icon, most famous for starring in the comedy The Andy Griffith Show and the legal drama Matlock.

The original TV series follows Captain James T. Kirk’s crew of the starship Enterprise on its mission to “go boldly where no man has gone before.” The science fiction show won a huge cult following and has been remade into other TV shows, movies, games, and novels.

Playing on the “love-in’s” and “bet-in’s” of 60’s hippie culture, this sketch comedy used American vaudeville and burlesque traditions and delivered mostly gags and slapstick humor. Dan Rowan played the serious, reasonable co-host, while Dick Martin played the “dumb” guy. Goldie Hawn got her start on this pre-Saturday Night Live show.