News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
I Love Lucy and The Andy Griffith Show crossover in Granville’s grand opening of the Mayberry I Love Lucy Museum.
President of the Granville Museum Randall Clemons said the museum will open on June 13th and tell the story and connections of both TV shows. The museum includes recreations of multiple settings from each show and a 30 year collection of I Love Lucy items. Clemons said when you walk in the museum, it is like entering the actual set of each show.
“We have our museum ready to open,” Clemons said. “It is one of the most wonderful museums you will find in America telling the story of both of these shows. It is very unique.”
Clemons said the walking into Granville is like traveling back in time. So, the museum fits perfectly. As Granville celebrates becoming Tennessee’s Mayberry Town, visitors can also enjoy the fourth Cornbread & Moonshine Festival and a performance from Little Ricky of the I Love Lucy Show.
“When you watch the Andy Griffith Show, you step back in time, and that is what you do when you enter Granville,” Clemons said. “There is a lot of front porch scenes in the Andy Griffith Show, and there is a lot of situations like that here. We have an old time barber shop. We have an old time bank. As you relate it to the simpler times, then you are able to connect it all together.”
Both shows were produced by Desilu Productions. The studio was owned by Lucile Ball, who played Lucy in I Love Lucy, and Desi Arnaz, who played Ricky Ricardo in I Love Lucy. Another connection between the show is with actor Keith Thibodeaux. Thibodeaux played Little Ricky and John Paul Jason in the Andy Griffith Show.
“People have referred to us as Mayberry for a while. We started 8 years ago doing the Mayberry plays at Christmas and Valentine’s and doing an outdoor summer play based on the Andy Griffith Show,” Clemons said. “Last year for our scarecrow festival, we converted Granville into Mayberry. We put new signs on buildings and created all the characters out of scarecrows.”
