In a message dated 2/11/07 12:04:15 PM Central Standard Time,
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
> This was true somewhat in the black and white years when Andy was the foil
> to Barney's comedy, but Andy still made jokes and pulled pranks on Barney
> then, whereas he was almost entirely straight man by the color years.
...and there's a reason for that. Remember, Andy and Barney were childhood
friends and knew each other inside and out. So it wouldn't be out of character
for Andy to play pranks on Barney (or vice versa even though it didn't
happen) or crack wise with him, or for Andy to laugh as Barney talks back.
("Why
don't you just go to the old folks' home and take the bolts off the
wheelchairs?!") But Andy never had that specific history or relationship with
the other
characters so he couldn't act that way around them, making fun, etc., without
looking cruel or at least arrogant. That's why the relationship, that's why
the
"straight man" role, and as anyone who's seen Abbott & Costello or (from the
same time period as the color episodes) the Smothers Brothers, the straight
man is the one most likely to get mad at the comic foil.
Dixon
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