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...

Synopsis: When Ben Weaver ( Tol Avery ) reports thefts at his store, Andy ( Andy Griffith ) believes it is the work of shoplifters. Barney ( Don Knotts ) decides to take matters into his own hands by dressing up as a mannequin so he can catch the thieves in the act. My Thoughts - This episode exposes a major flaw with the way Andy runs things as sheriff. While he and Barney were sitting in the patrol car gossiping, nobody was manning the phone at the courthouse. Even though Ben was able to find them, what if they had been patrolling outside of town? And it's not as though they could justify having two people on patrol in a relatively crime-free town like Mayberry. I kind of think Ben had a point when he criticized Andy about having to do his job for him. Andy didn't seem to be taking the whole theft thing too seriously and I could understand why Ben might be upset about that, especially when Andy mentioned calling if there was anything suspicious when, moments before, Ben wa...