I mean this with all due respect to the great Don Knotts. I just happened to be watching an ep of Andy after Beav last week, ironically, the day before Don Knotts died, and i had forgotten what a wonderful character Barney Fife was. So, here's my question - which was a better character, our wonderful Eddie or the great BF?:wave:

barney fife

It's hard to choose between them. They're both among the greatest characters ever on tv.

Barney was more likable. But they were both very strong characters, each in a
different way.

I will go with Barney Fife. Barney was more likeable and funny while Eddie was more two-faced.

Barney was more likable. But they were both very strong characters, each in a
different way.

agreed

The better character? I think either of them are incomparable, but it is interesting to note their similarities and differences. They were both hyper-selfconscious and seemed to expect to be believed when they did their boasting. But BF seemed to really believe he had his self-proclaimed exceptional qualities of which he was, of course, the opposite; while EH usually knew he wasn't really the way he tried to portray himself to others.

Both LITB and TAGS showed they could actually do well without their most inspired character creation , but there is no question both EH and BF added much when they were there. One thing hard to overlook, though, is that while EH was just a teenager who knew of his own phoniness and delusions of grandeur, BF was an adult and a badge-wearing, gun-toting law enforcement man who got and kept his job only because Sheriff Andy (his cousin, said in the first ep) helped keep BF's self-delusions, which BF belived in, alive. A trouble-making adolsecent is one subject, but a law-enforcement person who has state-sanctioned authority and is just a bumbling clown who thinks he's a real pro is something else entirely. Nevertheless, we just have to remember that Mayberry is a state of mind where there are seldom any real crimes or dangers, and everyone can live in peace even with a deputy like BF as long as the common-sense sheriff is really in charge.

that was awesome, tdr.

by the way, i realize i haven't weighed in on my own question. i thought of these two as comparable because of their roles as scene-stealing second bananas, much in the same way kramer from seinfeld. A total id to the wally, jerry, andy superego character. i think eddie (of course, i mean the older eddie) had an edge that made him so totally unique His compliments to the Cleavers never got old and their exasperation never got old. it was a priceless gag. i think i'm actually going to say Barney was the bigger character, because he had more to do on the show, but maybe Eddie was, to me, the more original.

Barney Fife.

This is not really a fair comparison. You can't compare Eddie Haskell to Barney Fife. Barney Fife all the way!

yea, i guess i too don't see the similarities.. becuase as already stated throughout this post, barney was so likable, it is hard to not like him and laugh at his great comedy with andy griffith... but on a different level, eddie was so mean to people behind their backs and so innocent infront of the adults, it was just a completely different realm characters, i guess i just don't see the comparison here :)

okay, since i made the comparison, i'll explain. i just meant they were both "sidekicks" who seem to get their main character in trouble. So that was they comparison. And also, going from there, who was the more compelling, memorable and creative character. They were both so original in TV that I thought they were similar in that respect. I mean, they weren't Fred Mertz or Jerry Halper, who were also next door neighbor, sidekick types, but really didn't have much range of their own.

Hope that helps with why i made this comparison.