Don Knotts explained the many sides of comedy

"You have to stick to a basic humor."

CBS Television Distribution

When you're a good comedian, you know that there are all sorts of ways to relate to your audience. But when you're a great comedian, you find all sorts of ways to keep versatile in front of an audience.

Don Knotts was well aware of this, as he explained during an interview with The Patriot-News.

"There are two sides to the fence," Knotts said, who believed that not all comedy was exactly alike."You have to stick to a basic humor. There is such a thing. It's funny for everyone. But on satire, there's more disagreement. That's because the country is divided."

After appearing in programs like The Andy Griffith Show, Knotts made a pivot to star in his own program, The Don Knotts Show. Even then, he didn't lose sight of the dream he had for himself and his audience.

"My television show will be like my movies in one respect," he said of The Don Knott's Show. "Parents and children will be able to watch them together. All my pictures had a 'G' rating."

Knotts took some time to branch out when he finally began acting in film. Movies like The Love God? were a diversion from Knotts' normally clean-cut material.

However, in any sort of work that Knotts did, he always had a hand in creating his material and stood behind it.

"I've really done a great deal of writing," he said during an interview with The Atlanta Journal. "I don't take credit for some of the film things, but I worked on them. And I used to sit in on a lot of the writing sessions for The Andy Griffith Show."

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3 Comments

Blcakandwhitetvfan 7 days ago
TAGS never would have gotten past a 1st season, IMHO, without Don Knotts. If you have ever seen the pilot from The Danny Thomas Show you know what I mean. It never would have taken off. Andy Griffith in that pilot was anything but likable.
As proven all too well on the seasons following Knotts’ departure from the series. Andy becomes grumpy, quick tempered, impatient, rude, overly judgmental and just downright unpleasant to watch.
Runeshaper 7 days ago
Knotts was a super talented man and it shows in his performances (-:
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