Why did Andy Griffith have so many different girlfriends during the long running series?

Based on various comments made by people involved with the show over the years, the primary reason was that Griffith thought the “chemistry” was wrong with most until Aneta Corsaut joined the cast as Helen Crump. This was especially true of Elinor Donahue, who played Ellie Walker in the first season. Donahue had been part of the cast of Father Knows Best before joining TAGS, and Griffith later said he and Donahue were friendly, but he didn’t think they really clicked onscreen as a couple. In more recent interviews, Donahue has related fond memories of working on the show, but she has also said she was tired from her years acting on Father Knows Best, and was not especially upset when she was cut from the TAGS cast after the first season.

In the second season, Andy “courted” County Nurse Mary Simpson, who was played by two different women. Julie Adams played Mary in one episode, and Sue Ann Langdon played her in a later episode.

I guess Mary left Mayberry, because in the third season, Peggy McMillan, played by Joanna Moore, was the new County Nurse, and she and Andy had a romance that was depicted in four different episodes. (There have also been reports that Griffith and Moore had a brief romantic fling during this time.) Soon after her appearance on TAGS, Moore married Ryan O’Neal. Moore’s life spiraled out of control over the years as she struggled with mental illness and substance abuse.

Aneta Corsaut joined the cast later in the third season, and Helen Crump would remain Andy Taylor’s love interest for the remainder of the series. Helen and Andy married in the first episode of Mayberry R.F.D. They eventually had a child named Andy Taylor, Jr. and moved away. They returned to Mayberry many years later, and Andy was once again elected sheriff.

There are several sources that have said Griffith and Corsaut engaged in a passionate affair in real life during the time they worked together on the show.

There were some other women that were introduced as a potential love interest for Andy in single episodes. Particularly notable were the characters Karen Moore and Sharon DeSpain, who each appeared in single episodes.

Moore — played by Gail Davis, who had starred in the 1950’s Western Annie Oakley — was a sharpshooter that defeated Andy Taylor in a shooting competition and was angered by Andy’s rather chauvinistic attitude toward women.

Sharon DeSpain was Andy’s high school sweetheart. She returned to Mayberry for a high school class reunion, but she and Andy quickly remembered why they broke up. Sharon had moved to a larger city and enjoyed the faster paced lifestyle. Andy was content to be “a big fish in a little pond” that was available to him in a small town like Mayberry.