You're right that Elinor Donahue asked to be let go, and she was dropped (sorry if you thought I was suggesting she was fired; she certainly wasn't) because the writers realized they couldn't really write any stories for her. From reading The Andy Griffith Show by Richard Kelly, it was clear...
<b>The Andy Griffith Show: Season 1 Blu-ray Review</b><p><p><em class='bbc'>The Andy Griffith Show</em> was one of those show business anomalies that was a smash from the very beginning. Starting life as an episode of <em class='bbc'>The Danny Thomas Show</em> where cocksure show biz vet Danny...