Favorite Sitcom Characters #7 - Barney Fife
@teamfreak16 (43632)
Denver, Colorado
September 14, 2016 6:12pm CST
#7 in my Favorite Sitcom Characters series belongs to Sheriff Deputy Barney Fife (Don Knotts,) from the classic comedy The Andy Griffith show.
Bumbling, inept, gung ho Fife was a regular character on the show for five years (1960-1965.) How inept? He was only allowed to carry one bullet, in his pocket. Occasionally, Barney would lock himself in jail, worse, with Sheriff Andy Taylor (Andy Griffith) locked in with him.
Knotts was fantastic in the role. The Andy Griffith Show relied not on jokes or one liners. Rather, the comedy comes from the characters themselves. According to Wikipedia, Griffith was supposed to be the comedy focus. By the second episode, he realized the show would work better with Knotts as the comic and himself the straight man.
The video link will take you to a funny scene, in which Barney swears in temporary deputies:
8 people like this
6 responses
@FourWalls (86765)
• United States
15 Sep 16
NIP IT IN THE BUD!!!!!!!!!
Don Knotts won three Emmy Awards for that character, which says everything about the character and the actor.
2 people like this
@teamfreak16 (43632)
• Denver, Colorado
15 Sep 16
Don Knotts was great. Barney is an iconic character, as far as I'm concerned.
2 people like this
@teamfreak16 (43632)
• Denver, Colorado
15 Sep 16
@FourWalls - Yes, I've seen those. Hilarious.
1 person likes this
@teamfreak16 (43632)
• Denver, Colorado
15 Sep 16
That's too bad. It's a great show.
1 person likes this
@Ronrybs (21492)
• London, England
15 Sep 16
@teamfreak16 It is referenced a fair bit in The Simpsons
1 person likes this
@snowy22315 (209009)
• United States
15 Sep 16
Oh yeah, I think he was probably the most well drawn TV character of all time, and everybody knows of Deputy Fife! It was a great one!!
1 person likes this
@teamfreak16 (43632)
• Denver, Colorado
15 Sep 16
There was no way Barney was not making the cut for this series.
@JamesHxstatic (29410)
• Eugene, Oregon
15 Sep 16
I watched it all the time and Barney was a big favorite of mine too.
1 person likes this
@teamfreak16 (43632)
• Denver, Colorado
15 Sep 16
He was so gung ho and didn't even realize how inept he actually was. Hilarious.
1 person likes this
@JohnRoberts (109841)
• Los Angeles, California
26 Sep 16
I started laughing the moment I saw his name!
1 person likes this
@teamfreak16 (43632)
• Denver, Colorado
26 Sep 16
Can't leave Barney out. The humor came from the character himself, without the need for jokes. The whole show was like that.
@dramagirl26 (3259)
• Ringgold, Virginia
15 Sep 16
Barney was my favorite character on the show. It wasn't the same after he left.
1 person likes this
