I will only buy the ones with Barney in them. When he left the show went downhill.
Barney (Don Knotts) was of the impression that Andy was going to leave to make movies. Knotts signed his own movie contracts and had to leave the show. Turned out Griffith didn't leave and Knotts would have preffered staying, but, too late. Hell we could have had another 100 episodes with Barney. At the time they were getting better and better.
Can't deny that. Seasons 1-5 are packed full of Barney--these are undeniably the best shows in the series, the classics. Seasons 6 & 7 contain sporadic appearances of our favorite deputy, now a detective in Raleigh. But Season 8, the final and most unpleasant of the series, has no Barney at all (no Floyd either). Just Howard Sprague, Emmett the Fix-It Man, and Goober. Blaaaah.