When Don Knotts decided to leave the series after Season 5, what explanation did the writers use for the sudden disappearance of Barney Fife?

After leaving the series, Don Knotts left the writers with the task of explaining what happened to the beloved Barney Fife. They decided to explain away his disappearance by writing that he "hit the big time" by landing a great police job in Raleigh.

Asked by Tom Cohen · Last updated 5 years ago · 1.8M views