Mayberry exists forever.

On February 15, Ron Howard posted a lovely Instagram snapshot from years ago, when his The Andy Griffith Show co-stars Andy Griffith and Don Knotts visited him on set.

Howard, 70, captioned the shot, “A fun photo from the day in ’97 when #AndyGriffith and #DonKnotts surprised me with a visit to the set of #Ransom in #Queens.” Recent evidence revealed that Don and I were distant cousins. The 1996 release of Ransom, starring Mel Gibson and Rene Russo, may have led Howard to misremember the date.

Howard portrayed Opie on The Andy Griffith Show from 1960 until 1968. He was just 5 years old when he was cast as the son of Andy Taylor, Griffith’s favorite sheriff in Mayberry. Knott won five Emmy Awards for his performance as Deputy Sheriff Barney Fife.

Howard went on to feature in another popular television series, Happy Days, before transitioning to directing, and helming films such as Splash, Apollo 13, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and A Beautiful Mind. The Oscar winner told PEOPLE in 1986 that while on The Andy Griffith Show, he informed his co-star and the producers that he wanted to be a “writer-producer-director” one day, and they got him his first camera.

“Andy was like a wonderful uncle to me,” Howard added. “He created an atmosphere of hard work and fun that I try to bring to my movies.”

In 1986, Howard, Griffith, and Knotts reunited with many of their The Andy Griffith Show co-stars for the television film Return to Mayberry. In the film, Opie becomes a parent for the first time, and Barney runs for sheriff, only to realize it should be Andy’s duty once more.

Knotts died in 2006. He was 81 years old. Griffith died in 2012, aged 86.

However, Howard holds a special affection for his first program and his co-stars. When asked by Conan O’Brien in June 2024 why the program was so excellent, he credited Griffith. He told me that the program’s excellence was largely due to Griffith’s unique creative voice. Although Griffith was not a producer, “It was his show, tailored to his sensibility.”

He explained, “Andy used to delete jokes that were too broad. He just kept saying, “The South is funny enough on its own.” Other Southern-themed performances were too slapstick and stupid for Griffith, Howard stated.

Howard asserted that the show’s most memorable moments, characterized by meandering conversations between Knotts and Griffith, happened when an episode ended abruptly. Knotts and Griffith would decide what the scenario would be about and then film it.

Howard went on: “How lucky was I to grow up in that situation where the actors were set up to participate and make suggestions?” He stated that even as a child, he felt comfortable expressing recommendations, which “never went anywhere.”

But Howard claimed he’ll “never forget” that when he was 7, he offered an alternative line that he believed sounded more like a genuine kid when filming the second episode of season 2. The director allowed him to replace it. “I just felt this surge of being involved in something,” Howard said, although he also remembers Griffith taunting him about it.