this show could hardly have been improved on for the first five years,then came an abrupt drop off.Few of the later episodes are worth watching.Besides the obvious reason,the departure of Barney,Andy turned into a very unlikable character;stern, hypercritical.In the early episodes he was a goofball,similar to his character in the movie"No Time For Sergeants",gradually becoming more sensible but still likable.But he carried it too far, becoming totally serious and humorless.Jack Burns was totally unsuited to replace Don Knotts,being irritating rather than funny.He must have left the show under unpleasant and bitter circumstances ,as in the several Andy Griffith Show "reunions" aired in later years he is NEVER mentioned,they showed no footage with him in it.Burns became a "non person" so far as the show was concerned,just like Skitch Henderson after he quarreled with Johny Carson.After he left,Andy had no deputy,which left a serious gap.Certainly they could have found someone reasonably satisfactory to replace him, though no one would have been equal to Don Knotts.Perhaps Andy Griffith,having been upstaged for so long by Barney,didn't want it to happen again.
Some people have wondered about the name "Opie" for Andy's son.There was a famous Southern humorist and writer,who wrote many books, Opie Read(1852-1939),who would have been well known to both Andy Griffith and Don Knotts.His humor was very similar to Andy Griffith,who probably got much of his material from him.
Some people have wondered about the name "Opie" for Andy's son.There was a famous Southern humorist and writer,who wrote many books, Opie Read(1852-1939),who would have been well known to both Andy Griffith and Don Knotts.His humor was very similar to Andy Griffith,who probably got much of his material from him.