Sam Falk/The New York Times Andy Griffith in 1965.Andy Griffith received little love from the Oscars last Sunday, as the producers decided to leave him off the list of actors honored in the yearly obituary reel.
But he is still loved in Cleveland. The NBC affiliate in that city canceled its prime-time lineup on Thursday night â€" “The Office,†“1600 Penn†and “Law and Order: SVU†â€" and instead put on a two-hour episode of Mr. Griffith’s show “Matlock,†the Hollywood Reporter wrote.
“he Academy did snub Andy Griffith,†said Brooke Spectorsky, the president and general manager of the station, WKYC. “We thought it would be a nice tribute.â€
Mr. Griffith was in a tough competition among the dead for a piece of the yearly three-minute scroll departed movie actors and other film industry greats. Indeed, since March 1994, when the first “In Memoriam†segment was included in an Academy Awards show, a spot on the list has been one of the Oscar’s most hotly contested honors. Mr. Griffith lost out to Ernest Borgnine, Charles Durning, Nora Ephron, Tony Scott and Marvin Hamlisch, among others.
