I was watching the TAGS mini-marathon on TV Land yesterday and one of the episodes was also repeated again last night at 8:00PM. It was the episode where Goober has the accident and Aunt Bea and Floyd both convince Goober that he is sick and he ends up thinking he has whiplash and stays at Andy's house. I ended up watching it both times it was on yesterday and it caused me to reflect on this episode in particular but all the "later" episodes in general. As I was watching it, I thought that it was not really that good (IMHO) but then I got to thinking about if this same storyline was done during the first three seasons or so with Gomer instead of Goober, I bet the whole episode would have been much better. Was it a fact that Don Knotts and Jim Nabors were such good actors/comedians and after they left, the show suffered as a result?!? Personally, I think that the later episodes when they were in color were not really very good. They were bearable but they weren't like when they were still in B/W. I've always wondered whether Don Knotts was really the key to that show. I know that it was the Andy Griffith show but in some ways, IMHO, it was Don who made that show and not Andy. Any thoughts on the "later" seasons? On what went wrong in your opinion? Or perhaps some people think that the later seasons were just as enjoyable as the early seasons. What do you think?

Signed,
Respectfully,
Dutch

In my opinion, it was Don Knotts that made the difference. I think Andy would say the same thing. Actually, Andy has said that the show wasn't the same after Don left. The man won 5 emmys as Barney Fife and created a character that ranks in the top 50 TV characters of all time. I also agree that the episode you mentioned would've been done better in the earlier seasons. George Lindsey (Goober) just wasn't a very good actor. Don Knotts was the key to the show. I don't think there's any question. If it had only been Andy from the beginning, I doubt we'd be talking about the show today.

Andy Griffith admitted on a recent show that he (andy) was originally suppose to be the comedy side of the team but soon realized that would not be the case if they wanted the show to last...Needless to say, Don Knotts became a very famous second banana and the show was a success...If one ever has watched "Matlock", Don Knotts played quite often and Miss. Crump had an occasional role too as a judge..

Don was great as Barney. I may be a minority, but I like a lot of the later episodes. I really wasn't a fan of many of the early episodes that centered on Andy's romance with Miss Ellie, or a lot of the episodes that revolved around the jail. The episodes I really like are the ones that center around the town Mayberry itself. I always was fond of Floyd and Aunt Bea episodes. My top 20 in no particular order are.

1. Man in A Hurry
2. Sermon for Today
3. Up in Barney's Room
4. A Deal is a Deal
5. Fun Girls
6. Bargain Day
7. Barney's First Car
8. Convicts at Large
9. Gomer the Houseguest
10. Three Wishes for Opie
11. Andy Saves Gomer
12. Aunt Bee on TV
13. The Church Organ
14. The Ball Game
15. Aunt Bee's Crowning Glory
16. A Trip to Mexico
17.Gomer Pyle USMC
18. Barney Host's a Summit Meeting
19. Only a Rose
20. Opie the Birdman

The last couple years when Floyd had left, and a lot of episodes centered on Howard, Helen Crump, and opie as a teen were pretty bad. I think the show just lost that warm feeling , it became sort of cold, if you knwo what a mean. It is still a great show, and always will be my favorite 60's comedy.

Betty Lynn (Thelma Lou) said on "Inside TV LAND" a few years ago that some of the cast was against the show switching to color.

Yea Don Knotts was the key but then so was Andy. They played well off of each other and when Don left it had to effect the show somewhat. I still liked some of the color shows but their's no doubt the black and white shows were better. And then they tried to replace Don with Jack Burns originally and that didn't work out. Don Knotts just couldn't be replaced.

Don leaving hurt the chemistry of the show with many of the characters. It seems they felt they
had to make Andy and Aunt Bee whackier to pick up
some of that slack. I think one of the main reasons the show was hurt, and people almost never mention it, is that Aaron Ruben left as producer
that same year for Gomer Pyle. He seems to have
been as important behind the scenes and keeping the show on track as Carl Reiner was to the Dick
Van Dyke Show. But he's never given anywhere near
the credit. It also seems the new producer brought
in a bunch of new writers and the old ones mainly
just returned when Don came back for his episodes.
Big mistake.

Don leaving hurt the chemistry of the show with many of the characters. It seems they felt they
had to make Andy and Aunt Bee whackier to pick up
some of that slack. I think one of the main reasons the show was hurt, and people almost never mention it, is that Aaron Ruben left as producer
that same year for Gomer Pyle. He seems to have
been as important behind the scenes and keeping the show on track as Carl Reiner was to the Dick
Van Dyke Show. But he's never given anywhere near
the credit. It also seems the new producer brought
in a bunch of new writers and the old ones mainly
just returned when Don came back for his episodes.
Big mistake.

That's very true, because if you look at season 5 eps, even though barney is still on the show, it did seem to be missing something.

I certainly liked the B&W episodes over the color ones. However, one can't overlook that the show was #1 for the first time during season 8, it's final season.

I think Don Knotts made The Andy Griffith Show, when he left the show just wasn't the same. I missed the way Barney would mess up but in a good hearted way. I think he's what made the show funny. Let's just say when the show turned to color those weren't the best yrs LOL.

I think Don Knotts made The Andy Griffith Show, when he left the show just wasn't the same. I missed the way Barney would mess up but in a good hearted way. I think he's what made the show funny. Let's just say when the show turned to color those weren't the best yrs LOL.

Definitely agreed.;)

Of course Don Knotts as Barney was the best... he was irreplaceable, but there many, many good color episodes without him, too. Bringing Howard Sprague in as a character was a very good move. I found him to be very funny in his own way. Especially the episodes when Howard and his over-protective mother (Mabel Albertson) are featured. Very funny stuff!

Don Knott's leaving the show was a big loss plus Aaron Rueben leaving to produce Gomer Pyle was another factor , but I think what made a difference in addition was Andy Griffith who must have been tired with the show ... even with the charecter of Barney still on the show, by season 5 Andy's charecter is already becoming such a grouchy bore that he barely resembles that Andy Taylor of the first 3 seasons (the best ones) .

It seems to me that in the black and white episodes, Mayberry was a small lively southern town. Mayberry was full life and vigor when in black and white. When the show went to color, it became a sleepy little out of the way place. It made for some boring episodes. The majority of the action took place at Andy's home vs. at his job. There were a few funny moments here and there, but for the most part, the color episodes were dull.

The Andy Griffith Show definitely jumped the shark when Don Knotts left the show and seeing all of those new characters being added such as Warren, Howard, Emmett, Sam and Mike Jones, ect. By the seventh season, it felt more like Mayberry R.F.D. than TAGS. The earlier seasons were definitely the best because of Don Knotts. He made the show.

The episodes being shown on TVLand now are the first half of season 6, when they first went to color, Don Knotts was gone and Jack Burns came in as Warren Ferguson. I don't think it's really that obvious in the eps, but there was clearly turnoil on the set in those days. Knotts had signed a contract for several comedy movies he would star in, because Andy had told him the he (Andy) would do the show for only 5 years. But then Andy changed his mind, rather suddenly it seems, and Knotts was already working his new contract. Apparently for some measure of reality, they thought Andy still had to have a deputy, or else he was the only law enforcement officer in the county (they're never that clear about the county; Mt. Pilot is supposed to be either 12 or 30 miles away, but some county offices are in much smaller Mayberry, and the several hours' journey to where the Darlings and Ernest T. Bass live is under Andy's jurisdiction). Anyway, when Jack Burns was signed, they told him he was a whole new character and not a reincarnation of Barney Fife to be written for as if he were Don Knotts. That was a lie, as Andy has admitted. Here was Barney in a different body with "huh?--huh?" at the end of his staccato lines, trying to enforce the letter of the law rather than the spirit and with similar elementary idiosyncracies. Goober had replaced Gomer with a comparable character, but G & G were more in the supporting line, while Barney was the main comedy course. There was tension because everyone knew Burns and Knotts were quite different in what they do best, and Andy said he was "hell to be around." So they finally wrote Warren out and paid Burns off, and Burns was bitter about the whole situation. But it was about this time that Jack Dodson made his guest appearance as the insurance agent handling Aunt Bee's lost brooch claim, and this opened the door for him as the new character Howard Sprague; a public official, but obviously no 'new Barney,' as his personality and idiosyncracies were very different.

All this probably set the tone for Andy and his character being sour and sick of the whole thing till series' end.

I would say that Don Knotts was the key to the show, but if Andy hadn't played his role so well, it may not have worked. Barney seemed so funny because he contrasted so well against Andy's mild, practical temperament.

I Throught that Don Knotts was The Key to The Andy Griffith Show.

I would say that Don Knotts was the key to the show, but if Andy hadn't played his role so well, it may not have worked. Barney seemed so funny because he contrasted so well against Andy's mild, practical temperament.

That's exactly correct...

I think Don Knotts was The Key to The Andy Griffith Show

...he wasn't a "comic center"- he was best as "straight man" to everything that happened around him. When the series was sold to CBS and General Foods, he knew that the situation set up in "THE DANNY THOMAS SHOW"
would NOT be the one he'd go with...there HAD to be a "comic center"...
and when Don Knotts asked him if "Andy Taylor" needed a deputy in Mayberry,
Griffith KNEW the answer. He knew Don would be the one viewers watched, and he'd just react to whatever ridiculous or touching situation "Barney" found himself in.....and that's why "THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW" was such a big success--and why Knotts won all those Emmies (even when he was only a "guest star" in those later seasons).

after the episode of THE DANNY THOMAS SHOW where they first introduced Andy Taylor, aired; Andy was talking to Don about it (they were good friends ever since they starred on stage together in the play "No Time for Sargents") and Andy asked him what he thought of it, and Don told him "I thought it was good, but, you know, I found myself thinking it would of been better if you had a deputy; someone you could be a straight man too". Since they were thinking of spinning the character off, Andy said "That's a good thought; why don't you tell that to Sheldon Leanord and see what he thinks". So he did, Sheldon agreed with him, and that's how Barney Fife was created!

I also think Don was the key to The Andy Griffith Show, Andy needed to play off someone.

Another big loss was Gomer Pyle. Goober was funny in his own way, but not so much as Gomer. So, when he left, the show lost a lot too. But, of course, no body was as funny as Barney. No matter who else was in the scene, Barney was the funniest. He definitely made the show. Oh, (sigh) I still mourn the loss of Barney Fife. In my opinion he's the best of all tv characters ever.

I prefer the b/w episodes with Don Knotts, and don't really watch the color ones.
Don Knotts was just amazing. So great. So funny. Those shows are all treasures, and I never seem to get tired of watching them. It wouldn't have been the same without Don.

I also prefer the b/w episodes with Barney, he was such a major character in the show that you clearly felt the void when he left. Warren and Howard just
couldn't replace him.

I also think Don was the key to The Andy Griffith Show, Andy needed to play off someone.

Andy Griffith once said that the best thing that he and Don Knotts did together was nothing at all (https://www.metv.com/stories/andy-griffith-once-said-that-the-best-thing-that-he-and-don-knotts-did-together-was-nothing)

The actors were simple men — and it made them famous.

I prefer the b/w episodes with Don Knotts, and don't really watch the color ones.
Don Knotts was just amazing. So great. So funny. Those shows are all treasures, and I never seem to get tired of watching them. It wouldn't have been the same without Don.

c3hHvyvmjwI

We count down the top 10 Barney Fife running jokes from The Andy Griffith Show. See why Don Knotts won so many Emmys with his portrayal of the lovable Mayberry deputy and why Andy Griffith was happy to take the role of straight man. From his mishaps with firearms to his "expert" self-defense techniques, Barney gave us plenty of memorable moments. Let’s count them down!


0:00 Funniest Barney Fife Running Jokes on The Andy Griffith Show
0:38 10) Barney Goes Undercover
1:06 9) Barney and Juanita
1:50 8) Self-Defense Expert
2:27 7) Trouble with Vocabulary
3:05 6) Disrespected by Authorities
3:37 5) Captured by Escaped Criminals
4:15 4) Locking Himself in Jail
4:41 Like & Subscribe
4:54 3) Barney’s Bullet
5:29 2) Incompetence with Firearms
6:20 Barney’s Misspelled Surname
6:56 Andy pranking Barney
7:21 Barney Fife Resigns
7:47 1) Barney the Know-It-All
8:43 More of the Andy Griffith Show


If you're a fan of The Andy Griffith Show, be sure to check out our Mayberry Man movie and new TV series...