‘Rectify’: ‘Andy Griffith Show’ for 21st century?

“A wise man… once told me there was nothing I needed to know about living life I could not learn by watching ‘The Andy Griffith Show.’

“Watch Sheriff Andy, and you’d learn how to resolve problems through reason and not force…. By today’s standards, certainly, the show can seem quaint or even cornpone, but small-town Southern kids of the 1960s, at least those of us who were lucky enough to grow up in places that resembled Mayberry, recognized the quiet drawls of the parents — or neighbors’ parents — who set us straight when we got out of line….

“I’ve waited in vain on another television series to pull off the Andy trick — to tell universal and human stories and do it in a distinct and authentic Southern voice.

“For 50 years, I never saw it happen.

“Then, two years ago, it did.

“On April 22, 2013, SundanceTV broadcast the debut of a series called ‘Rectify’….”

— From “The Truth, in Mode & Matter” by Chuck Reece at the Bitter Southerner