Steven Helmer Publications

Memorable television sitcoms make full use of their comic relief characters. In the case of The Andy Griffith Show , there wasn't anyone more comical than Barney Fife, a character that the show struggled and ultimately failed to replace when actor Don Knotts left the series following the fifth season. While most Barney episodes featured the sheriff, Andy Taylor ( Andy Griffith ), trying to overcome Barney's bumbling, there were times when the deputy proved to be the smarter of the pair. Here are five that stand out: 1. He saw right through David Browne's likeable personality. When Opie ( Ron Howard ) befriended the hobo (played by Buddy Ebsen ) in season 2's Opie's Hobo Friend , Barney was the one person who didn't think Andy should trust him. As it turned out, Browne was a bad influence on Opie, encouraging him to steal gumballs, skip school and put off doing chores. 2. He saw the importance of having two police vehicles. While he was ridiculed in season 4...

I was up but everyone else was in bed this Saturday morning and, to kill time, I wound up watching some re-runs of The Andy Griffith Show . While Andy Taylor (Griffith) is arguably one of the best TV dads off all time, I realized he does have some bad parenting habits that, as a dad myself, I would be reluctant to imitate. Here are the three big ones: Taking parent advice from non-parents. Specifically, he seems to value advice from his unmarried and childless deputy Barney Fife ( Don Knotts ). Not only does Barney have zero first-hand experience raising a child, he has never even proven to be wise about everyday things in general. He'd the last person I'd ask advice from, especially when it came to any of my children. Letting his son wander alone and talk to strangers. OK, so obviously this show takes place in a different era when that probably wasn't as frowned upon as it is today. And, to be fair, Mayberry was mostly crime free, other than maybe the way people sometimes...