When is Mayberry not Mayberry?

Mayberry. The fictional town of rural North Carolina with a down-to-earth sheriff and a one bullet deputy. Let’s not forget Gomer and Goober.

The town has link to a genuine real-small-town connection to Mount Airy, NC. I have a connection to the real small town, and even an on-the-air connection. One of the TV show characters takes a name from my paternal grandmother’s family name. And, my parents were both born in Mount Airy. My dad knew Andy Griffith from their childhood. I still have family there. So, Mayberry and Mount Airy are connected to each other and connected to me.

This week, I did a little research to the TV show. The filming was not done in North Carolina, it was done in Desilu Studios in California … (not a surprise.) Mayberry is an offshoot of Make Room for Daddy / The Danny Thomas Show … (knew that too.) What I didn’t know is the set has been used for multiple productions. So, here is a quiz … the set is the Mayberry set at Desilu, but the production is not. Can you name the production?

Here is the key (not in order, so you have to guess) ….

• Superman (TV Series)
• Bonanza
• The Monkees
• Gone with the Wind
• Actual Mount Airy
• Superman (TV Series)
• Mayberry set
• Star Trek TOS

When is Mayberry not Mayberry? You decide.

Lesson I learned from this … no one is an island unto themselves. We can be something else. God can change us, transform into a new creation, with a whole new focus.