Jerry Van Dyke

[someguy23475]

Forgive me if this has been discussed before. I just saw the episode where Jerry Van Dyke guest stars. I don’t believe I had seen this one before- if I did I don’t remember it.

It has been speculated Van Dyke was seen as a potential replacement for Don Knotts. It’s hard to say if it would have worked out. The forgetting basic words bit seems like it would have been tiring fast. The clumsiness had some similarities to the Barney character. There does seem to be chemistry with Andy- they were friends in real life.

He would have been better than Jack Burns.

[Duster76]

Originally Posted by someguy23475

Forgive me if this has been discussed before. I just saw the episode where Jerry Van Dyke guest stars. I don’t believe I had seen this one before- if I did I don’t remember it.

It has been speculated Van Dyke was seen as a potential replacement for Don Knotts. It’s hard to say if it would have worked out. The forgetting basic words bit seems like it would have been tiring fast. The clumsiness had some similarities to the Barney character. There does seem to be chemistry with Andy- they were friends in real life.

He would have been better than Jack Burns.

Jerry was Sherwood Schwartz first choice for the roll of Gilligan, but on advice of his agent he turned the role down. I imagine he had already done the pilot for "My Mother The Car" when he did the Griffith show which likely means he had already committed contractually to the series if it was picked up (and of course it was). I guess if My Mother The Car hadn't made the fall schedule he probably would have signed to do the deputy role in TAGS.

I wonder why Wally Cox wasn't considered (he was available at the time and could definitely play a Barney type character).

[Mayberry'sBadBoy]

Originally Posted by someguy23475

Forgive me if this has been discussed before. I just saw the episode where Jerry Van Dyke guest stars. I don’t believe I had seen this one before- if I did I don’t remember it.

It has been speculated Van Dyke was seen as a potential replacement for Don Knotts. It’s hard to say if it would have worked out. The forgetting basic words bit seems like it would have been tiring fast. The clumsiness had some similarities to the Barney character. There does seem to be chemistry with Andy- they were friends in real life.

He would have been better than Jack Burns.

Van Dyke was actually the first choice to replace Barney Fife as he was a good friend of Andy Griffith's and Griffith felt he would be a good fit. Unfortunately durining the early stages of the episode Jerry was offered a starring vehicle (No pun intended) with My Mother the Car, which resulted in him turning down the deputy role. In the years after he was always very adamant about how much he wished that he had stuck with the Deputy Role instead of doing my mother the car.

In regards to who could've replaced Don Knotts as deputy I will always say that Olan Soule (who played John Masters) should've been the choice. One only has to watch The Darlings are a-coming to see that Olan could do Knotts material very well and TAGS fans would know him as he had been on the show for four years at that point and would've been a good replacement when Jerry left (As an aside I do wonder how Alvy Moore or Larry Hovis would've worked out as Barney's replacement. Both of them were considered before Jack Burns)

[GentlemanJim]

Originally Posted by someguy23475

Forgive me if this has been discussed before. I just saw the episode where Jerry Van Dyke guest stars. I don’t believe I had seen this one before- if I did I don’t remember it.

It has been speculated Van Dyke was seen as a potential replacement for Don Knotts. It’s hard to say if it would have worked out. The forgetting basic words bit seems like it would have been tiring fast. The clumsiness had some similarities to the Barney character. There does seem to be chemistry with Andy- they were friends in real life.

He would have been better than Jack Burns.

I agree that JVD would have been tons better than Burns.

Although I remember seeing this episode several times over the years, I never realized until just recently that Lee Van Cleef plays one of the carnival heavies that were stealing purses.

Now he might have made an interesting replacement for ol' Barn,...too.

[Schmo]

Jerry Van Dyke and Andy Griffith did work together again on “The Headmaster”.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8qckRidG11c

[Will Dockery]

Originally Posted by Mayberry'sBadBoy

Van Dyke was actually the first choice to replace Barney Fife as he was a good friend of Andy Griffith's and Griffith felt he would be a good fit. Unfortunately durining the early stages of the episode Jerry was offered a starring vehicle (No pun intended) with My Mother the Car, which resulted in him turning down the deputy role. In the years after he was always very adamant about how much he wished that he had stuck with the Deputy Role instead of doing my mother the car.

In regards to who could've replaced Don Knotts as deputy I will always say that Olan Soule (who played John Masters) should've been the choice. One only has to watch The Darlings are a-coming to see that Olan could do Knotts material very well and TAGS fans would know him as he had been on the show for four years at that point and would've been a good replacement when Jerry left (As an aside I do wonder how Alvy Moore or Larry Hovis would've worked out as Barney's replacement. Both of them were considered before Jack Burns)

Watching Jerry Van Dyke on Coach leads me to think he would have kicked the AGS back into high gear, a worthy replacement Deputy.

[Will Dockery]

Originally Posted by Schmo

Jerry Van Dyke and Andy Griffith did work together again on “The Headmaster”.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8qckRidG11c

Yes, I'm getting the feeling “The Headmaster” wasn't give enough of a chance to catch on... put Jerry Van Dyke on the mix and Andy might have had another winner.

[Schmo]

I hope JVD didn’t resent his older brother.

[Will Dockery]

Originally Posted by Schmo

I hope JVD didn’t resent his older brother.

Maybe not, since Jerry Van Dyke had success earlier than Dick, even beat him out as star of a television series a decade before, "The Jerry Va Dyke Show":

"n 1954, both brothers auditioned to host a variety show on a local station in Terra Haute, Indiana. Jerry got the gig over Dick, and The Jerry Van Dyke Show was born..."