Post by thedude on Feb 28, 2006 19:03:01 GMT -5
Man, it's been a bad week to be a former famous TV deputy.
Both of these men were two of my childhood favorites. I grew up watching Don Knotts on The Andy Griffith show with my dad and also Dennis Weaver on 'Gunsmoke' ( On the westerns channel and on tv land respectively)
The world is indeed a little less funnier to be in now that we've lost these two legends
R.I.P Barney & Chester
And I would like to express my sincerest condolences to both Andy Griffith and Matt Dillon ( James Arness)
We'll keep those badges shining for you guys..
PS
I found this article and felt like sharing it with you guys
Both of these men were two of my childhood favorites. I grew up watching Don Knotts on The Andy Griffith show with my dad and also Dennis Weaver on 'Gunsmoke' ( On the westerns channel and on tv land respectively)
The world is indeed a little less funnier to be in now that we've lost these two legends
R.I.P Barney & Chester
And I would like to express my sincerest condolences to both Andy Griffith and Matt Dillon ( James Arness)
We'll keep those badges shining for you guys..
PS
I found this article and felt like sharing it with you guys
Knotts and Weaver were the perfect TV sidekicks
BY DOUGLAS DURDEN
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Feb 28, 2006
KNOTTS SALUTE
WHEN Special episodes of "The Andy Griffith Show" air from 8 to 11 p.m. tonight, pre-empting regularly scheduled programming. WHERE TV Land (Comcast channel 54)
With the passing of Don Knotts and Dennis Weaver, TV has lost two of its best and most beloved sidekicks.
Think of Knotts, who died Friday, and you think of his Barney Fife to Andy Griffith's Andy Taylor.
Think of Weaver, who also died Friday, and you think of his Chester to James Arness' Matt Dillon.
It's a concept as old as television. You can't have a successful lead unless you have colorful sidekicks who need to be led.
It's that less-than-perfect character who makes the star shine. And yet, he must be strong enough in his own right not to disappear in the lead's shadow.
Knotts and Weaver were the perfect sidekicks. More importantly, they were among TV's most enduring character actors, as was Darren McGavin, who passed away Saturday.
These were actors who worked constantly and consistently. Yet they were best known for a fraction of their work.
Knotts wasn't included in the pilot for "The Andy Griffith Show" (1960-68, CBS), according to Griffith, interviewed yesterday on "Today." But Griffith, who had worked with him before, jumped at the chance to make Knotts a part of the regular cast.
Can you imagine the series without the painful bumblings of Barney Fife? He provided the agitated bluster to Andy's calm ballast. His failed attempts at almost everything made him the example of what not to do. But he made up for his mistakes with perseverance, cheerful or otherwise.
His comic incompetence was part of the comedy's small-town, Southern charm that still charms viewers in reruns. Knotts could not have been the lead; the show depended upon Griffith's solidness. But, as a sidekick, it was Knotts who helped lift the series from TV show to TV classic.
Similarly, Weaver spent almost 10 years playing Chester Goode on CBS' "Gunsmoke," (1955-75), providing the counterpoint to Arness' starring role on TV's most enduring western.
Marshal Dillon was smooth and heroic. Chester walked with a limp; his "Mister Dillon" greeting came out with a folksy twang. But he was no less a part of the "Gunsmoke" family.
Weaver later had the opportunity to be a lead, starring in NBC's "McCloud" (1970-77) as a New Mexico marshal transplanted to metropolitan New York. Most recently, he was included in the cast of "Wildfire," a contemporary Western series on the ABC Family channel.
Knotts would continue as a supporting player on TV, along with the occa- sional film, spending five years as Ralph Furley on "Three's Company" a radical shift from family comedy to suggestive sitcom. But his role of prying landlord was still all about timing and physical comedy, both of which he excelled at.
McGavin wasn't known as a sidekick. But, like Knotts and Weaver, he was a sturdy character actor who put in years of television work.
ABC's "Kolchak: The Night Stalker" (1974-75), in which McGavin played an intrepid reporter on the trail of vampires and werewolves, is a show better known after its brief run rather than during. That's partly because producer Chris Carter credited "The Night Stalker" as the inspiration for "The X-Files." But it's also because McGavin was so memorable as rumpled reporter Carl Kolchak.
More than 20 years later, as a tribute, Carter cast McGavin in several episodes of "The X-Files." More recently, ABC's short-lived remake of "The Night Stalker" included a shot of McGavin in a scene.
But McGavin is best known for his role in the film "A Christmas Story" (1983), a seasonal classic so beloved by TBS that the cable channel traditionally stages a 24-hour marathon of the movie over Christmas. Here was McGavin at his irascible best, playing the father in a holiday film that manages to surmount holiday clichés
BY DOUGLAS DURDEN
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Feb 28, 2006
KNOTTS SALUTE
WHEN Special episodes of "The Andy Griffith Show" air from 8 to 11 p.m. tonight, pre-empting regularly scheduled programming. WHERE TV Land (Comcast channel 54)
With the passing of Don Knotts and Dennis Weaver, TV has lost two of its best and most beloved sidekicks.
Think of Knotts, who died Friday, and you think of his Barney Fife to Andy Griffith's Andy Taylor.
Think of Weaver, who also died Friday, and you think of his Chester to James Arness' Matt Dillon.
It's a concept as old as television. You can't have a successful lead unless you have colorful sidekicks who need to be led.
It's that less-than-perfect character who makes the star shine. And yet, he must be strong enough in his own right not to disappear in the lead's shadow.
Knotts and Weaver were the perfect sidekicks. More importantly, they were among TV's most enduring character actors, as was Darren McGavin, who passed away Saturday.
These were actors who worked constantly and consistently. Yet they were best known for a fraction of their work.
Knotts wasn't included in the pilot for "The Andy Griffith Show" (1960-68, CBS), according to Griffith, interviewed yesterday on "Today." But Griffith, who had worked with him before, jumped at the chance to make Knotts a part of the regular cast.
Can you imagine the series without the painful bumblings of Barney Fife? He provided the agitated bluster to Andy's calm ballast. His failed attempts at almost everything made him the example of what not to do. But he made up for his mistakes with perseverance, cheerful or otherwise.
His comic incompetence was part of the comedy's small-town, Southern charm that still charms viewers in reruns. Knotts could not have been the lead; the show depended upon Griffith's solidness. But, as a sidekick, it was Knotts who helped lift the series from TV show to TV classic.
Similarly, Weaver spent almost 10 years playing Chester Goode on CBS' "Gunsmoke," (1955-75), providing the counterpoint to Arness' starring role on TV's most enduring western.
Marshal Dillon was smooth and heroic. Chester walked with a limp; his "Mister Dillon" greeting came out with a folksy twang. But he was no less a part of the "Gunsmoke" family.
Weaver later had the opportunity to be a lead, starring in NBC's "McCloud" (1970-77) as a New Mexico marshal transplanted to metropolitan New York. Most recently, he was included in the cast of "Wildfire," a contemporary Western series on the ABC Family channel.
Knotts would continue as a supporting player on TV, along with the occa- sional film, spending five years as Ralph Furley on "Three's Company" a radical shift from family comedy to suggestive sitcom. But his role of prying landlord was still all about timing and physical comedy, both of which he excelled at.
McGavin wasn't known as a sidekick. But, like Knotts and Weaver, he was a sturdy character actor who put in years of television work.
ABC's "Kolchak: The Night Stalker" (1974-75), in which McGavin played an intrepid reporter on the trail of vampires and werewolves, is a show better known after its brief run rather than during. That's partly because producer Chris Carter credited "The Night Stalker" as the inspiration for "The X-Files." But it's also because McGavin was so memorable as rumpled reporter Carl Kolchak.
More than 20 years later, as a tribute, Carter cast McGavin in several episodes of "The X-Files." More recently, ABC's short-lived remake of "The Night Stalker" included a shot of McGavin in a scene.
But McGavin is best known for his role in the film "A Christmas Story" (1983), a seasonal classic so beloved by TBS that the cable channel traditionally stages a 24-hour marathon of the movie over Christmas. Here was McGavin at his irascible best, playing the father in a holiday film that manages to surmount holiday clichés
