Recently I got to thinking about the colored episodes where Don Knotts made guest appearances as Barney and the thing that got me was how mean spirited the colored episodes featuring him were. I don't know if it was due to them only having Don for one or two episodes and trying to come up with a plot or if there were new writers who'd never written the character, but there was no reason for the nasty tone the episodes had. Why did they make everyone on the Detective force hate Barney? Why did they have Barney and Thelma Lou break up? None of it was funny and it seemed rather cruel to a character who was the funniest one on the whole show. There's also the fact that Knotts played Barney a lot more seriously than he did in the Black and White episodes. When I see Barney on the colored episodes I don't see a man who would think an eight year old was trying to steal his girl from him or who would try to get guns and tear gas to go after Ernest T Bass. I instead see an eccentric man with an ego problem who doesn't realize how bad his life is and how he made a big mistake leaving his friends and loved ones in Mayberry.

I enjoyed the color episodes with Barney. Yeah, it was different because he had moved on, but overall he was still the same Barney to me. These are the best episodes of the color seasons in my opinion.

Regarding Barney & Thelma Lou: really only Andy's relationship with Helen proved to endure, while practically all other dating on the series didn't lead to anything -- and we had to wait for the next series, Mayberry RFD, to finally have Andy settle down. Given the long wait for Andy, I guess keeping Barney single made sense -- and as Thel wasn't about to let herself become an old maid, her marriage to Harry Bectoris came as no real surprise.

Aunt Bee was interested in a couple of guys, Howard almost married Millie, and at the very end, Goober's computer-generated match showed interest. But TAGS was all about single guys, like Andy, Barney, Gomer, and (later) Sam. The married people on TAGS tended to be older, like Emmett and the mayors.

Recently I got to thinking about the colored episodes where Don Knotts made guest appearances as Barney and the thing that got me was how mean spirited the colored episodes featuring him were. I don't know if it was due to them only having Don for one or two episodes and trying to come up with a plot or if there were new writers who'd never written the character, but there was no reason for the nasty tone the episodes had. Why did they make everyone on the Detective force hate Barney? Why did they have Barney and Thelma Lou break up? None of it was funny and it seemed rather cruel to a character who was the funniest one on the whole show. There's also the fact that Knotts played Barney a lot more seriously than he did in the Black and White episodes. When I see Barney on the colored episodes I don't see a man who would think an eight year old was trying to steal his girl from him or who would try to get guns and tear gas to go after Ernest T Bass. I instead see an eccentric man with an ego problem who doesn't realize how bad his life is and how he made a big mistake leaving his friends and loved ones in Mayberry.

It seemed to fit with the "new" dour and grouchy Andy Taylor, also... story-wise, these were really the best of the color episodes, in my opinion.

It did echo real life also, since it was pretty obvious that the movie career of Don Knotts was not turning out to be all that he had hoped or expected it to be.

Regarding Barney & Thelma Lou: really only Andy's relationship with Helen proved to endure, while practically all other dating on the series didn't lead to anything -- and we had to wait for the next series, Mayberry RFD, to finally have Andy settle down. Given the long wait for Andy, I guess keeping Barney single made sense -- and as Thel wasn't about to let herself become an old maid, her marriage to Harry Bectoris came as no real surprise.

Aunt Bee was interested in a couple of guys, Howard almost married Millie, and at the very end, Goober's computer-generated match showed interest. But TAGS was all about single guys, like Andy, Barney, Gomer, and (later) Sam. The married people on TAGS tended to be older, like Emmett and the mayors.

Didn't the blonde waitress Goober dated a while turn up in another role, or in another direction for her character?

Seems like she popped up in a Don Knotts color episode or something?

Regarding Barney & Thelma Lou: really only Andy's relationship with Helen proved to endure, while practically all other dating on the series didn't lead to anything -- and we had to wait for the next series, Mayberry RFD, to finally have Andy settle down. Given the long wait for Andy, I guess keeping Barney single made sense -- and as Thel wasn't about to let herself become an old maid, her marriage to Harry Bectoris came as no real surprise.

Aunt Bee was interested in a couple of guys, Howard almost married Millie, and at the very end, Goober's computer-generated match showed interest. But TAGS was all about single guys, like Andy, Barney, Gomer, and (later) Sam. The married people on TAGS tended to be older, like Emmett and the mayors.


Is there a thread on the after-life of Thelma Lou & Barney?? I only watch seasons 1-4, sometimes 5 beyond that I have not seen any so I don't know the story-line after Don Knotts left. He & Thelma Lou was not together & Andy married Mrs. Krump???

Is there a thread on the after-life of Thelma Lou & Barney?? I only watch seasons 1-4, sometimes 5 beyond that I have not seen any so I don't know the story-line after Don Knotts left. He & Thelma Lou was not together & Andy married Mrs. Krump???


I wondered the same, I think they ended up together later on, like in a TV movie maybe? Anyone know??

I wondered the same, I think they ended up together later on, like in a TV movie maybe? Anyone know??
They got married in The Return to Mayberry TV Movie in 1986.

They got married in The Return to Mayberry TV Movie in 1986.

Probably didn't mention what happened to Thelma Lou's husband, who she married after Barney left the series?

Probably didn't mention what happened to Thelma Lou's husband, who she married after Barney left the series?

Her husband died and she was a widow.

Recently I got to thinking about the colored episodes where Don Knotts made guest appearances as Barney and the thing that got me was how mean spirited the colored episodes featuring him were. I don't know if it was due to them only having Don for one or two episodes and trying to come up with a plot or if there were new writers who'd never written the character, but there was no reason for the nasty tone the episodes had. Why did they make everyone on the Detective force hate Barney? Why did they have Barney and Thelma Lou break up? None of it was funny and it seemed rather cruel to a character who was the funniest one on the whole show. There's also the fact that Knotts played Barney a lot more seriously than he did in the Black and White episodes. When I see Barney on the colored episodes I don't see a man who would think an eight year old was trying to steal his girl from him or who would try to get guns and tear gas to go after Ernest T Bass. I instead see an eccentric man with an ego problem who doesn't realize how bad his life is and how he made a big mistake leaving his friends and loved ones in Mayberry.

Watching there episodes now they seem to have been possibly pilots for a Don Knotts Show?

That would have been great.