What Might've Been: The Headmaster (1970)

After a couple of years away, Andy Griffith returned to CBS in 1970 in the high school comedy-drama, The Headmaster, which aspired to be CBS' answer to ABC's Room 222, which was entering its 2nd season. Unfortunately, Headmaster went head-up against another freshman comedy, The Partridge Family, and NBC's 3rd year anthology drama, The Name of The Game, during its first half hour.

As you know, the show was cancelled, and Griffith returned in the winter with The New Andy Griffith Show, which also failed. But what hurt Headmaster? Hard to say, since I never saw the show. It did have bad luck charm Jerry Van Dyke, three years removed from Accidental Family, as a luckless football coach. Nearly 20 years later, Van Dyke, of course, would play an assistant football coach on ABC's Coach, but that isn't either here or there presently.

The following comes from CBS' fall preview for 1970. 



No rating.

Edit, 8/8/21: Gilmore Box has uncovered the intro. The title song, "Just a Man", is sung by Linda Ronstadt: