”Then Andy suddenly said he was going to stay on another two or three years. I never expected it to go on.”
For the first five years of The Andy Griffith Show, Don Knotts grew into the role of Barney Fife, which eventually became a phenomenon of its own.
The Mayberry deputy to Sheriff Andy Taylor didn’t shy away from talking a big game on the force, despite the fact that he was only allowed to carry one bullet. When push came to shove, Deputy Fife did his best to keep Mayberry safe. Yes, it was safe to begin with, but still.
The Andy Griffith Show of course went on without Knotts for three seasons, after he left the show for the big screen and new opportunities. Knotts’ five years on TAGS were the best of the series according to fans worldwide, and it’s no surprise. The duo of Griffith and Knotts gave the show its tone and is why the series is still so loved today.
Though the small-town series carried on for multiple years after Knotts’ departure, it wasn’t the same. Mayberry was used to having Deputy Fife on the hip of Sheriff Taylor. The viewers were used to it too.
Knotts, who continued on to a successful career after TAGS, said there was a tentative timeline for the series from the very beginning, and that it came from Andy Griffith himself.
“I left because Andy had said he would never do the show longer than five years,” Knotts explained during a 1999 interview with the Television Academy Foundation. “I had a five-year contract. During the fifth season I thought ‘jeez, I better start looking around for more work.'”
Knotts did look around, and unsurprisingly found work. But as the initial five year mark drew closer, Griffith decided he wanted to call Mayberry home for a little longer.
“I wound up getting an offer from Universal to do movies and do my own pictures. Then Andy suddenly said he was going to stay on another two or three years.”
Knotts’ final episode as a Mayberry regular was during the season five episode “Opie Flunks Arithmetic,” but he did return to Mayberry in a handful of episodes after his departure. Though he found success outside of Mayberry, the ultimate decision to leave wasn’t an easy one. But by the time The Andy Griffith Show was set for a sixth season and beyond, Knotts had made up his mind.
“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.”
