Jack Burns, known for his brief tenure as Deputy Warren, has passed away.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Burns

Here’s an article from 2018 praising Burns’s comedic chops.
https://www.metv.com/lists/in-defense-of-jack-burns-the-man-who-had-to-fill-don-knotts-shoes-on-the-andy-griffith-show

How did Burns end up being cast on TAGS? His urban style of humor didn’t fit the show’s theme.

Verified here.

https://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=388612

Verified here.

https://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=388612

I read that before I posted, but I didn’t want to link to it because of the profanity.

I read that before I posted, but I didn’t want to link to it because of the profanity.

Profanity is automatically filtered if posted here and Wikipedia is not always a reliable source which is why I refuse to use them as one.

As a kid in the 1970s and early 1980s, I only knew Burns as “Warren” and Schreiber from Doritos commercials.

May he rest in peace.

How did Burns end up being cast on TAGS? His urban style of humor didn’t fit the show’s theme.

I read somewhere that Andy was impressed with Burns after seeing him perform in a club. I can only guess what the original vision was, the boy from the faster paced northern life comes down south with his big city police experience leaving Andy to work him into the more toned down ways of sleepy Mayberry.

Andy admitted on Larry King that the failure of the Warren character was his fault not Jack Burns. I couldn't agree more with that statement. The episode that introduced Warren may have been the worse introduction of a new character in TV history. The episode, "The Bazaar", was essentially a remake of the episode, "Andy Saves Barney's Morale". In the Barney episode, Fife makes a fool of himself by arresting the whole town while Andy was away, what does Andy do, help Barney save face. In the Warren episode, he arrests the "Ladies Auxiliary" for gambling and Andy storms around the entire episode almost ready to string Warren up. Taking over for Knotts was going to be an uphill climb, how was the character going to have any chance if Andy hated him. Most of the Warren scripts were really for the Barney character, it was very unfair.

One last thing, I thought the episode "Girl-Shy" was his best episode, I felt sympathy for his character and I thought the character might have been salvageable if Griffith and his production team had wanted to make it work.

I read somewhere that Andy was impressed with Burns after seeing him perform in a club. I can only guess what the original vision was, the boy from the faster paced northern life comes down south with his big city police experience leaving Andy to work him into the more toned down ways of sleepy Mayberry.

Andy admitted on Larry King that the failure of the Warren character was his fault not Jack Burns. I couldn't agree more with that statement. The episode that introduced Warren may have been the worse introduction of a new character in TV history. The episode, "The Bazaar", was essentially a remake of the episode, "Andy Saves Barney's Morale". In the Barney episode, Fife makes a fool of himself by arresting the whole town while Andy was away, what does Andy do, help Barney save face. In the Warren episode, he arrests the "Ladies Auxiliary" for gambling and Andy storms around the entire episode almost ready to string Warren up. Taking over for Knotts was going to be an uphill climb, how was the character going to have any chance if Andy hated him. Most of the Warren scripts were really for the Barney character, it was very unfair.

One last thing, I thought the episode "Girl-Shy" was his best episode, I felt sympathy for his character and I thought the character might have been salvageable if Griffith and his production team had wanted to make it work.

Adding onto the above Burns was actually the fourth choice to play Barney's replacement. The first choice was Jerry Van Dyke, who portrayed Jerry the Deputy in Banjo Playing Deputy, which is an episode that uses the same formula (Andy gets a new bumbling deputy he doesn't like forced on him and responds in frustration) but is done with a bit more understanding and Jerry Van Dyke's Deputy Jerry character is a bit more likable than Warren. After Jerry left for My Mother the Car, Alvy Moore and Larry Hovis were offered the role but turned it down for Green Acres and Hogan's Heroes respectively.

One has to wonder why Andy and the Shows producer thought that the formula of "Andy getting a bumbling deputy he doesn't like forced on him and acting frustrated" was a good idea to use twice. As you mentioned introducing a replacement for Barney was going to be an uphill battle and using a formula where Andy spends most of the episode angry at the new character is not a good way to do it. Even when troublemaker Ernest T. Bass was introduced Andy didn't get nowhere near as Angry as he did with Warren. The only character I can think of that had as bad of an introduction as Warren did was Helen Crump but even that's excusable because Andy Discovers America was supposed to be the only episode Crump appeared in and when they had her on for A Wife For Andy she was much more subdued and likable.

As for how they could've introduced Barney's replacement, I think what they should've done is made John Master's (Choir Director played by the great Olan Soule) the deputy given he could best be described as a "successful" Barney Fife. TAGS regulars would already know the character, the introduction episode wouldn't have featured Andy being angry and (IMO) Soule would've had a much easier time doing "Barney" material than the other replacements

RIP Jack Burns. All his tags episodes are some of my favorite classic sitcom episodes of all time. When he meets Aunt Bea and Opie in front of the grocery store (The Bazaar) for the first time it's pure genius. Andy Griffith made a huge mistake letting him go.

https://yt3.ggpht.com/f38gEVK1d1ksbNw9aHQvSQ7WXIOwZpLYhMGYjig8M5N27drSXPRtWKDmsI786zVe0LgRWuAl8llMJd8qvVA=s900-mo-c-c0xffffffff-rj-k-no

https://www.sitcomsonline.com/photopost/data/748/andygriffithshowjackburs.jpg
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https://www.sitcomsonline.com/photopost/data/748/Ron_Howard_Frances_Bavier_and_Jack_Burns_in_The.jpg
https://m.facebook.com/AndyGriffithShow/photos/a.10152552729992528/10156758894392528/?type=3&is_lookaside=1
https://img.sharetv.com/shows/episodes/standard/115624.jpg

OK, the late Mr. Burns did the best anyone could have done with the character of Warren (and he had a very lengthy and varied entertainment career) but I have to wonder if any TAG fans have ever heard of anyone who actually thought Warren was an improvement over Barney?! I think the number of folks who believe that likely is even fewer than those 'Laverne and Shirley' fans who think their LA relocation was an improvement over their Milwaukee hometown antics.

RIP, Mr. Burns.

Did “Warren” get a proper sendoff or did he just disappear ala Chuck Cunningham?

Jack Burns started out working with George Carlin. But while Carlin went on to superstardom and was widely praised as a visionary, Burns seems to have been largely forgotten.

Jack Burns started out working with George Carlin. But while Carlin went on to superstardom and was widely praised as a visionary, Burns seems to have been largely forgotten.

I think it was mentioned that Warren had been fired shortly after his last appearance.

Yes, some may praise the late Mr. Carlin as a 'visionary' but I consider him to have been a significant contributor to the marked decline of civility in the last four decades that has resulted in the current largescale crass, crude junior high mentality that has made life more unpleasant for virtually everyone (including those who were told that unfettered profanity was supposed to be 'liberating' but that has proven IMO to be one of the biggest lies of the then-Counterculture). :mad:

Better Mr. Burns got to make what he did on his own than to have to stay connected to that kind of legacy, IMO.

One thing I recall from back in the period. Burns made numerous appearances on mid 60's variety shows doing his inane "huh? yeah! Huh?Yeah!" routine just before he got the Warren gig.

So it might be more matter that he was available at the time TAGS had a need to fill.

His routine was actually funny the first time you saw it...but it didn't weather well at all.

I read somewhere that Andy was impressed with Burns after seeing him perform in a club. I can only guess what the original vision was, the boy from the faster paced northern life comes down south with his big city police experience leaving Andy to work him into the more toned down ways of sleepy Mayberry.

Andy admitted on Larry King that the failure of the Warren character was his fault not Jack Burns. I couldn't agree more with that statement. The episode that introduced Warren may have been the worse introduction of a new character in TV history. The episode, "The Bazaar", was essentially a remake of the episode, "Andy Saves Barney's Morale". In the Barney episode, Fife makes a fool of himself by arresting the whole town while Andy was away, what does Andy do, help Barney save face. In the Warren episode, he arrests the "Ladies Auxiliary" for gambling and Andy storms around the entire episode almost ready to string Warren up. Taking over for Knotts was going to be an uphill climb, how was the character going to have any chance if Andy hated him. Most of the Warren scripts were really for the Barney character, it was very unfair.

One last thing, I thought the episode "Girl-Shy" was his best episode, I felt sympathy for his character and I thought the character might have been salvageable if Griffith and his production team had wanted to make it work.

Why did the show use scripts written with Barney Fife in mind? Did they not know Knotts was leaving?

Why did the show use scripts written with Barney Fife in mind? Did they not know Knotts was leaving?

When the information that Knotts was leaving was disseminated to staff preliminary work on season 6 scripts may have already begun. In those days there were so many episodes required to fill a season commitment that the writing staff had to get ahead of the game just to keep up. Let's face it, we also know that many of the series episodes were formula driven. Beginning in season 2, we have how many episodes where Barney thinks Andy is getting married, or Barney is bullied, or Barney mistakenly helps a bad guy, or Barney lets a criminal escape. Also keep in mind there was some thought that Jerry Van Dyke might take over the deputy role, he was probably a better fit for the part, and might have been able to work in the existing format more successfully.

Are the writers still alive? You'd think they'd discuss this.

I don’t think Warren’s disappearance was ever mentioned, except when Andy mentioned to Barney “his job was still available” when he was bumbling it up in Raleigh. His name or even existence was Chuck Cunningham before Chuck Cunningham. Goober became the emergency deputy.

Two things that bug me about tags a little are how Jack Burns was dismissed midseason humiliating him. I loved the Warren character. Then, how Barney never kept seeing Thelma Lou after he moved to Raleigh. There's no way he dumps knockout Thelma Lou. I'd drive the 3 hours.

Two things that bug me about tags a little are how Jack Burns was dismissed midseason humiliating him. I loved the Warren character. Then, how Barney never kept seeing Thelma Lou after he moved to Raleigh. There's no way he dumps knockout Thelma Lou. I'd drive the 3 hours.

With respect to the Thelma Lou comment, aaa Hello, it was 40 plus years too early but if it had existed Thelma Lou would have been singing along with Beyoncé:

" If you like it, then you shoulda put a ring on it"

At the point Barney left for Raleigh she had been going out with him for 5 years, either he was going to marry her right then and there, or it's time for her to explore other options.

He was awesome.