The one person I admired the most on MRFD was "Aunt Bee". The show premiered when I was about 9 years old. But as I watched the reruns in later years I realized that "Aunt Bee" was not her old self as I perceived her. Her acting was not up to par based on her excellent performances on the Andy Griffith Show. When I read director Howard Morris's comments about her, that she wasn't always up to playing the part, then I realized that by the time MRFD aired she was probably getting tired of her part just as Andy Griffith had gotten tired of his.

Elderly people often don't like changes (ie; as in the case of Agnes Moorehead when they "switched" Darrens on "Bewitched") so it could very well be that Frances was getting more difficult to work with as she often was on the Andy Griffith Show. Newcomers like Ken Berry, Arlene Golonka, and Buddy Foster probably realized that. You can notice that on MRFD she was seldom seen in two consecutive episodes, till finally she surrendered the "Aunt Bee" part altogether by the 3rd season.

--cj