Andy Griffith has built a career - and built up an enormous amount of goodwill - playing nice guys on shows like "The Andy Griffith Show" and "Matlock."
But on Saturday (7 p.m., Ch. 2), he goes against type to play a dangerous, deranged grandfather in "Gramps.""I've played bad guys before, but I've never played a part that's quite this interesting," he said in a recent telephone interview. "This is the best material that I've had in years. Maybe ever."
In the movie, his character comes back into the life of his son (John Ritter) decades after his ex-wife left him because he was a violent drunk. And he's so determined to have a place in his grandson's life that he'll go to any lengths to make that happen.
"I've got to go against the grain sometimes," Griffith said. "I'm an actor. That's all I am."
He's also aware that playing bad guys gets him more attention than playing his usual nice-guy characters.
"Every time I play an off-center guy I get more mail than any other time," he said.
And he's prepared for people to be somewhat confused about his evil alter-ego. Griffith recalled a conversation with his grandmother after the debut of the 1957 film "A
Face in the Crowd," in which he starred as the bad guy.
"I went and talked to her and she said, `Andy, don't be mean,' " he said.
And he recalled another appearance he made on TV back in the '50s.
"This girl . . . was seducing me. I was in an apartment with her and she took my shirt off and was dancing around," Griffith said. "And my father said, `You oughtn't to have been in that room with that woman.'
"And I said, `Daddy, it's just acting.'
"And he said, `I don't care. You oughtn't to have been in that room with that woman.' "
Griffith's fans will be seeing somewhat less of him, now that "Matlock" has been dropped by ABC. And he said he isn't planning to try and do yet another weekly series.
"I don't think so," he said. "I left the `Griffith' show because I felt like I wasn't doing it justice. I was coming in without knowing my lines. And it meant so much to me emotionally that I just didn't want to hurt it.
"Now, the `Matlock' show, I think we have just gone about as far as we could go."
But Griffith isn't planning to retire.
"I don't want to work all the time, like you do on a series, but I would never consider quitting work altogether, unless I'm forced to," he said "There are jobs for people my age. And I want to go out for every one of them I can."