Andy Griffith, who passed away last July, was unceremoniously absent from this year's Oscars "In Memoriam" tribute, so NBC's Cleveland affiliate WKYC-TV decided to make it up to him by giving Matlock most of their Thursday primetime block.

Actor Andy Griffith, who starred in The Andy Griffith Show and Matlock, died this morning in North Carolina, UNC President Bill Friday — a close friend of Griffith — tells WITN-TV. He was 86.

The government recently enlisted aged actor Andy Griffith for a commercial showcasing Medicare benefits available through health care reform. North's Carolina's old people, at least, didn't appreciate these lies, and Griffith's favorability rating has dropped 25 percentage points there.

Since many American seniors still believe that the explicit goal of ObamaCare is to kill them all, immediately, the government has hired 84-year-old Andy Griffith to explain all of the Medicare goodies they'll now receive before Obama kills them.

Model, TV personality, and baby machine Heidi Klum turns 36 today. Morgan Freeman is turning 72. Alanis Morissette is 35. MTV VJ Damien Fahey is turning 29. Andy Griffith is 83. Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood is turning 62. And singer Pat Boone turns 75 years old today.

Today we offer a new pair of videos as an addendum to our recent, authoritative list of Dos and Donts for Making the Perfect Celebrity PSA. First up: Absolutely DO coax Ron Howard and Henry Winkler into whatever outlandish pro-Obama Happy Days reprise they can stand, such as the one after the jump that premiered today at Funny or Die. And if Andy Griffith agrees to join Howard for a bewigged ride all the way back to Mayberry, all the better. However: DO NOT, under any circumstances, enlist Rhea Perlman, Valerie Harper and/or Garry Freaking Marshall as your elder voice of reason. Especially Marshall! This election is just too close — and Georgia Rule far too recent — to risk some new, William Ayers-like smear campaign this late in the game.Click to view