One of my treasured childhood memories is of the summertime, when my father would come home from the bank for lunch and turn on a rerun episode of his favorite TV sitcom, The Andy Griffith Show. To my delight, within the past couple of years, my children have discovered these reruns, presumably while looking for something to occupy their time when avoiding homework during an imposed video game moratorium. They have displayed the same genetic disposition toward this television classic and, within a short period of time, watched all episodes ever created before moving on to its equally folksy spin-off, Gomer Pyle, USMC. Everyone in my house agrees, though, that there is no better television character, past or present, than the lovable yet laughable Barney Fife. Continue reading >