The Andy Griffith Show had to make due without one of their most popular actors in the late Don Knotts. They’d end up trying to replace the Barney Fife role with another actor. One of the they briefly talked about felt it would’ve been a bad idea. And they were right.
This veteran actor thought it would’ve been dumb to replace Don Knotts on ‘The Andy Griffith Show’
Don Knotts and Andy Griffith in ‘The Andy Griffith Show’
Knotts left The Andy Griffith Show in a bit of a bind after he left the iconic series. Knotts’ departure from the show was somewhat amicable, as the comic actor only wished to explore new career opportunities. He was also under the impression that the series would only last for five seasons at the most. The Griffith show, however, would run for three more years. So Knotts had to make an important and difficult decision regarding his career.
“I had focused all my attention in that direction… and I just went ahead. It was a tough time for me because I enjoyed the Griffith show so much, that I hated to leave. I never expected it to go on,” Knotts once said according to Foundation Interviews.
After Knotts left the show, a wide net was cast in an attempt to snag up a replacement. Jerry Van Dyke, younger brother of Dick Van Dyke, confided that he was talked to about filling Knotts’ shoes. Van Dyke was already well-acquainted with Andy Griffith, and considered him to be a close friend.
“We did a movie called Angel in My Pocket. I went on the road with him, doing an act,” Van Dyke once told Pop Dose. “Me and Don Knotts, too. But I was a stand-up comic, so I had an act. I closed the show, and me, Don, and Andy, we broke the record at that time at Caesar’s Palace. But then we went to a lot of other places, too, performing onstage. I also did The Andy Griffith Show as well. I was very close to him. I bought his house, as a matter of fact. His house in Toluca Lake. So I knew him real well.”
Van Dyke asserted that replacing Knotts in the Griffith show never left the discussion stages. But he had no intentions of doing the show either way.
“They were talking about it,” Van Dyke said. “They did a show, and I appeared where I basically played Don Knotts’ part. I was a carnival guy, and my mother knew Aunt Bea, and…well, that was the episode, and it was a very funny episode. And I know they wanted me to do it, but I never had a real offer for it. I know they were kicking it around, though. But I wouldn’t have taken it, anyway. It would’ve been a really dumb move.”
Andy Griffith felt he made a mistake replacing Don Knotts with Jack Burns
Griffith would eventually end up finding his replacement. The showrunner swapped Knotts’ character out with Jack Burns, another comedian on the come-up. According to the book Andy and Don, the actor saw Jack Burns at a comedy club, and thoroughly enjoyed his performance. So much so that he thought he found a very suitable replacement for Knotts.
“We decided to make him Floyd’s nephew on the show. So we put him on – and we said we are not replacing Don. But we were replacing Don and we were giving him Don Knotts material,” Griffith recalled.
But Jack Burns didn’t hit well with viewers. The actor didn’t last on the show, and was soon let go from the long-running series.
“I saw Jack some years later,” Griffith said. “And he said he was bitter for a while, but he got over it. It wasn’t Jack’s fault, it was our fault.”
