Revisiting the Emmy-winning ‘Barney Comes to Mayberry’ 1967 episode of ‘The Andy Griffith Show’

“Barney Comes to Mayberry” netted Don Knotts his fifth and final Emmy for personifying Barney Fife on “The Andy Griffith Show.” Learn why Emmy voters singled out Knotts’ bravura performance with a detailed review of the color episode taken from the venerable comedy series’ seventh season in 1967. Seen above is a still from the Jan. 29, 1968, telecast of “Barney Hosts a Summit Meeting,” the highest rated episode of “The Andy Griffith Show” and not coincidentally Knotts’ final appearance as the multi-faceted Mayberry Deputy Sheriff. Written by series producer Aaron Ruben, “Summit Meeting” found Barney outlandishly championing Mayberry as the ultimate sit-down between Russian diplomats and American ambassadors. Image Credit: CBS Television

“Barney Comes to Mayberry” materialized during the seventh, next-to-last season of the beloved Andy Griffith Show. Broadcast on Jan. 23, 1967, it was the 212th episode of the classic CBS situation comedy. Don Knotts won his fifth and final Emmy for “Barney Comes to Mayberry.” Many dyed-in-the-wool fans despise the three color seasons of the show, since their inception coincided with Knotts’ decision to leave the series. But any episode with the comedian as Deputy Barney Fife is a must-see.

After he left the series to pursue a film career with Universal Studios in 1965, Knotts made the unusual step of reappearing in five additional episodes staggered between 1966 and 1968. “Barney Comes to Mayberry” is his third guest appearance and a sequel of sorts to the episode aired one week prior — “A Visit to Barney Fife.”

In “A Visit to Barney Fife,” Sheriff Andy Taylor, portrayed by “What It Was, Was Football” monologist Andy Griffith, calls on Barney in Raleigh, N.C. The lovable second banana now has a new job — in a new city — as a bumbling detective. Andy aids Barney in nabbing a gang of shop-lifters while simultaneously keeping Barney from being fired by his current superiors.