Andy the Matchmaker

Barney(Don Knotts) shows in this episode why he was a 5 time Emmy winner. His timing & Andy as the straight man worked perfectly. The scene where he is quitting & Andy asks why because of a poem that Opie wrote. Barney reads it & Andy quacks up Opie comes in & when Barney finds out Opie couldn't do it because he hasn't learned to write yet the look on Barney's face tells it all. He is still quitting until Miss Rosemary comes in an says how important his job is his confidence returns. Andy thinks he needs more confidence an a fake robbery is the answer so he tells Ellie to report a robbery & Barney shows up.Out comes the finger print kit along with the powder all over Barney & everything else another good scene. Andy hoping this will keep Barney busy for days looking to find the thief. Next thing you know Barney brings in a guy he thinks was the robber & Andy is surprised an not sure what to do. The guy wants to know why he was arrested & will sue for false arrest Andy figures he better check on him & finds out he is wanted for other crimes in Chattanooga. Barney got his man! The story ends up in the local paper & Barney is the hero! He is at Andy's house when Miss Rosemary comes by & after some talking Andy talks Barney (Mr. Confidence) into asking Miss Rosemary on a date. Last episode for Miss Rosemary I guess the date didn't go well.

Don Knotts created a gem in Barney Fife. In this episode, he decides to quit because he believes people are making fun of him (the probably are). He is annoyed that since there are never any crimes in Mayberry, he never gets to show his stuff. So Andy and Ellie fake a robbery and put this bloodhound on the scent. Of course, there are complications along the way. The funniest part of this episode is Barney going on about quitting at the sheriff's office.

This episode is a strange bizarro world Mayberry. Sheriff stages a fake robbery with his kid's knowledge of it? Tracy Crawford's ID is never checked. Then he gives a true active alias and the actual town he's from knowing authorities will be called. One thing about Barney Fife is the classic Barney is confident with the ladies. This watered down version is petrified of females. Amzie Strickland comes off as a real oddball. Her best TAGS part will be be Mrs Sims in "Barney Fife Realtor". Most of the humor is forced. Best part is some very good Ron Howard lines and scenes. Not a very memorable episode.

Barney (Don Knotts) wants to quit because he feels the town is laughing at him because he never solves a crime. That may be true, but it's also true that there is virtually no crime in Mayberry.

At the same time, Barney is sweet on a shy local lady, Rosemary. But Andy feels Barney is going to need something to boost his confidence if he is going to ask Rosemary out on a proper date. Andy's solution - Have Ellie report a fake robbery so that Barney has a crime to solve. Barney does have a new sense of purpose. He has so much, however, that he rounds up an actual suspect who is threatening to sue the town for false arrest. Complications ensue.

Andy sure was a corruptor of Ellie - First prescription fraud and now filing a false police report! I guess these were simpler times in a simpler place, but still! Also, Andy trusts Opie with quite a bit of information, like the false robbery. Opie asks some pretty pertinent questions of Andy like - Just how long will Barnie keep looking for this nonexistent robber before he gets suspicious. My words, the kid's wisdom.

Ron Howard was such a good child actor he could augment any scene and was given entire episodes where he was the central character. You could have never done that with Larry Mathews over on the Dick Van Dyke Show. Whenever he said anything it looked like it was all he could do to remember his lines and not laugh in the middle of them, but I digress.

It's a good episode featuring the versatility of Don Knotts - Down on himself one minute, swelled head and thinking he's a lady's man the next.