TVSquad

Last week we told you how plans to create a Barney Fife statue in Mount Airy, NC in honor of the late Don Knotts (he died last February) were stopped because CBS and Paramount had to pull their support of the project because they didn't have the rights to say yes or no to such a project. Knotts' family was against the project as well because they wanted a statue of Knotts that wasn't of Fife but of Knotts as himself.

Now they might get their wish. Officials in Morgantown, WV, where Knotts was born, are well on their way of raising the $50,000 they need to erect a statue of the actor. They already have a small version of the statue (designed by the guy who designed the back of the WV quarter). The statue will show the actor dressed in regular clothes, sitting down, reasding a script.

The town also has a bronze star honoring Knotts on their city sidewalk, and they plan to name a park after him as well.

[via TV Tattle]

This guy is running for sheriff in Platteville, Wisconsin, and he has an unusual gimmick to get attention.

He's legally changing his name to Andy Griffith.

And before you say that I'm being too hard on the guy by implying that he's doing it to get attention, he admits to doing it for that reason. His real name is William Fenrick, and he's sick of how the politics game is played nowadays and wants to get things back to the way they were in Mayberry. His opponent has been sheriff for the past 10 years.

But wait a second. If this guy is running for sheriff, shouldn't he change his name to "Andy Taylor?" After all, that was the name of the character on the show. Seems odd to run for sheriff and change your name to an actor's name and not the sheriff character he played.

When you hear the name of Barney Fife, deputy sheriff on the classic The Andy Griffith Show, what comes to mind? Well, he was smug and self-confident, over-analytical, overzealous, and a bit of a blowhard. But how about eloquent, intense and heartwarming? No, you say? Well, you'd be wrong, because there was one particular episode where he was just that, all in defense of his partner Sheriff Andy Taylor.

Jump ahead and I'll tell you all about it.

Tomorrow evening TV Land will air an Andy Griffith Marathon in honor of the inimitable Don Knotts, who passed away recently at the age of 81. The marathon will begin at 8 p.m. EST. Don't worry, they haven't forgotten those of us who are a bit younger and remember Knotts as the perpetually unhip landlord Mr. Furley on Three's Company. The network will air a marathon including both the Andy Griffith Show and Three's Company throughout the entire weekend of March 4 and 5. I suppose enough about Don Knotts has been said already, but ever since his death I haven't been able to stop thinking about one of my favorite "Mr. Furley" moments, which involved the landlord in a game of strip poker. Not wanting to get naked in front of others, Furley comes to the game wearing several layers of winter clothes, including a cap, ear muffs, and a scarf. I've never seen any comedic actor who can make nervousness and apprehension as palpable as Don Knotts did.

[via Sitcoms Online]

This is sad news indeed: Emmy-winning actor Don Knotts died in Los Angeles last night from pulmonary and respiratory complications.

Besides his role as Deputy Barney Fife on The Andy Griffith Show (he won 5 Emmys for the role), he also was a regular on Three's Company, and starred in classic movies such as The Ghost and Mr. Chicken, The Shakiest Gun in the West, and The Incredible Mr. Limpit.

If I were to pick my 10 Favorite TV Characters of All-Time, Barney Fife would be in there.