# Barney fife vrs Giliugan **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 22, 2016, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-fife-vrs-giliugan/763662 "2016-08-22T19:13:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![escaped](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@escaped](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/escaped)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-fife-vrs-giliugan/763662/1 "2016-08-22T19:13:21Z")
who was sillier? Don knots Barney fife or Gilligan’s played by bob Denver? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-fife-vrs-giliugan/763662/2 "2016-08-22T19:15:17Z")
Wat? ---
**Author:** ![PoppaSan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/poppasan/32/189_2.png) [@PoppaSan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoppaSan)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-fife-vrs-giliugan/763662/3 "2016-08-22T19:19:46Z")
Gilligan. Barney wound up with a steady girl friend. Gilligan was one of three guys on an island with two hot babes for 15 years and probably didn’t get any. I leave the Howels out of the discussion. Separate beds? Really? Barney was a moron and just made dumb decisions. Gilligan usually had bad luck. His heart was in the right place. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-fife-vrs-giliugan/763662/4 "2016-08-22T19:24:25Z")
They were much different comedy characters. Gilligan was primarily slapstick. Always failing and often ruining any efforts at rescue. Barney was more nuanced. Basically insecure and nervous he tried to act very self assured. Always boasting about his abilities and insisting every rule had to be followed. It made him seem like a blow hard and no one took him seriously. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-fife-vrs-giliugan/763662/5 "2016-08-22T19:43:00Z")
> [@escaped](#): > > who was sillier? Don knots Barney fife or Gilligan’s played by bob Denver? Random capitalization is _very_ annoying. Is there a reason you do this? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-fife-vrs-giliugan/763662/6 "2016-08-22T19:48:39Z")
Forget the capitalization. It’s the totally disconnected grammar and spelling that annoys me. So my vote for “Silliest” goes to…where did he go? He was here a minute ago. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-fife-vrs-giliugan/763662/7 "2016-08-22T19:56:33Z")
> [@PoppaSan](#): > > Gilligan was one of three guys on an island with two hot babes for 15 years and probably didn’t get any. Gilligan was just an unfortunate victim of circumstances. Under the TV morality of the time, polyamorous relationships weren’t allowed (nor were same-sex relationships). All relationships had to be one man and one woman - no more, no less. So on an island with three women and four men, one man was destined to be alone. Gilligan as the lowest-status man filled this role. He was especially unfortunate due to the limited setting of the island. Because otherwise he might have benefited from another unofficial rule of TV shows: there’s a woman for every man. This is how characters like Barney Fife and Gomer Pyle (and their later counterparts like Ted Baxter, George Costanza, Alan Harper, and Sheldon Cooper) got girlfriends. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-fife-vrs-giliugan/763662/8 "2016-08-22T20:36:34Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Gilligan was just an unfortunate victim of circumstances. Under the TV morality of the time, polyamorous relationships weren’t allowed (nor were same-sex relationships). All relationships had to be one man and one woman - no more, no less. So on an island with three women and four men, one man was destined to be alone. Gilligan as the lowest-status man filled this role. Then the inescapable conclusion is that both the Skipper and the Professor were gettin’ themselves some. I can accept the Professor being discrete, but either Ginger or Mary Ann hooking up with the Skipper? :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek: ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-fife-vrs-giliugan/763662/9 "2016-08-22T20:56:41Z")
I always found it interesting that Andy tolerated Barney’s silliness and mistakes. He even protects Barney. Like the episode where Andy and Helen get lost in a cave. Barney organizes a HUGE search effort. Andy and Helen find a way out and go home. Andy insists on returning to the cave so that Barney won’t be humiliated. Compare that to Gilligan and the Skipper. The Skipper yells at him and hits him with his hat. Much like Moe attacked his friends in the 3 Stooges. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-fife-vrs-giliugan/763662/10 "2016-08-22T21:01:34Z")
I vote Gilulli. He is best known for his slapstick style of comedy with Kerrigan. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-fife-vrs-giliugan/763662/11 "2016-08-22T21:05:01Z")
Barney was a complex character, Gilligan was just an idiot. Bob Denver did basic slapstick, Don Knotts put a lot more into his voice, facial expressions, and other mannerisms. The Andy Griffith show was much higher quality in writing and directing, with the roles switched it might not have come out all that different, but I think Knotts was more versatile and creative with his role. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-fife-vrs-giliugan/763662/12 "2016-08-22T21:28:26Z")
Writing makes all the difference. I liked Knotts as Barney because of the complexity of the character. The relationships between Barney and the other townspeople. Didn’t like Knotts nearly as much in Threes Company. Mr Furley was more slapstick. Lots of exaggerated facial expressions. Silly clothes. The writers didn’t give Knotts much to work with. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-fife-vrs-giliugan/763662/13 "2016-08-22T22:12:21Z")
Let’s not forget that Don Knotts won five Emmy awards for playing Barney. It was simply a better character, better written, better played. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-fife-vrs-giliugan/763662/14 "2016-08-22T22:24:03Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Barney was a complex character, Gilligan was just an idiot. Bob Denver did basic slapstick, Don Knotts put a lot more into his voice, facial expressions, and other mannerisms. The Andy Griffith show was much higher quality in writing and directing, with the roles switched it might not have come out all that different, but I think Knotts was more versatile and creative with his role. In a weird way, that made me hate Fife more than I hated Gilligan. G.I. was a kind of fantasy world, but MRFD was supposed to be “real life.” I can buy a totally feckless boob in a fantasy setting, but not as a deputy sheriff in a small town. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-fife-vrs-giliugan/763662/15 "2016-08-22T22:38:32Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > In a weird way, that made me hate Fife more than I hated Gilligan. G.I. was a kind of fantasy world, but MRFD was supposed to be “real life.” I can buy a totally feckless boob in a fantasy setting, but not as a deputy sheriff in a small town. Where better for a feckless boob deputy than a small town where the biggest crime is usually Otis’s public intoxication? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-fife-vrs-giliugan/763662/16 "2016-08-22T22:43:59Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I always found it interesting that Andy tolerated Barney’s silliness and mistakes. He even protects Barney. Like the episode where Andy and Helen get lost in a cave. Barney organizes a HUGE search effort. Andy and Helen find a way out and go home. Andy insists on returning to the cave so that Barney won’t be humiliated. I think in a previous thread someone mentioned that one episode revealed that Barney and Andy were cousins. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-fife-vrs-giliugan/763662/17 "2016-08-22T23:09:09Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I think in a previous thread someone mentioned that one episode revealed that Barney and Andy were cousins. Yes. Also they were apparently childhood friends and/or classmates also. Andy treats everyone in town that way, he finds solutions to problems that don’t embarrass people, a key point in resolving small town problems. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2016, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-fife-vrs-giliugan/763662/18 "2016-08-23T03:12:04Z")
**Feckless Boobs** = Band Name ---
**Author:** ![Temporary\_Name](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@Temporary\_Name](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Temporary_Name)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2016, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-fife-vrs-giliugan/763662/19 "2016-08-23T04:30:01Z")
The correct answer is: Cpl. Randolph Agarn. Barney Fife isn’t even the biggest feckless boob on his show, both Gomer and Goober should be shoved out of the cave to feed the wolves before ol’ Barney. I would rank the boobs in this order: 1. Cpl. Agarn 2. Goober 3. Gilligan 4. Gomer (having a unique name that begins with ‘G’ is not a sign of intelligence) 5)Jethro 5. Barney ---
**Author:** ![stillownedbysetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@stillownedbysetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stillownedbysetters)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2016, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-fife-vrs-giliugan/763662/20 "2016-08-23T04:42:00Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > **Feckless Boobs** = Band Name Does your band need a bassist? If so, I volunteer. I aspire to be a Feckless Boob!