Don Knotts Kept Receiving One Disturbing Gift From The Andy Griffith Show Fans

"The Andy Griffith Show" debuted in 1960 was a smash hit from the jump. Now considered one of the best shows of the 1960s in general, it starred Andy Griffith as Andy Taylor, the sheriff of a small North Carolina town called Mayberry. Audiences loved Mayberry's whimsical, homespun silliness and tuned in in droves to see Andy's gentle, folky wisdom, as well as his precocious son Opie (Ron Howard) and his Aunt Bee (Frances Bavier). More than anything, though, folks tuned in to watch the slapstick bumbling of Andy's violence-averse deputy Barney Fife, played by comedic genius Don Knotts. Andy's cousin and best friend, Barney always charged into situations with bravery and brashness. Of course, when real danger presented itself, he would shrink away in cowardice.

Barney claimed to be an expert in firearms, but Andy knew that he was really wildly incompetent. As such, Barney never carried a loaded gun and only had a single bullet in his shirt pocket. He did load and fire his gun on several occasions, but he never hit his target. Luckily, none of Barney's accidental discharges were fatal. The single bullet became a beloved running gag for fans of the show, with the bullet symbolizing Barney's general ineptitude.

"The Andy Griffith Show" stayed on the air for a blockbuster eight seasons and featured guest stars like a young Jack Nicholson, although Knotts left the show's main cast after Season 5. Thereafter, he was approached by fans in perpetuity, often presented with praise and even some unsettling gifts. Per Daniel de Visé's book "Andy and Don: The Making of a Friendship and a Classic American TV Show," fans (especially ones who worked as police officers) would often hand bullets to Knotts. Naturally, Knotts wasn't really sure what to do with them.

The irony of the numerous bullet gifts, of course, is that Barney only ever carried one, and Don Knotts ended up with a whole collection of them. It's worth pausing to remark that Knotts was an actor and a comedian and didn't own an arsenal of firearms. The gesture is sweet, of course, but Knotts ended up bringing his fans' bullets home and just putting them in a drawer somewhere. It would've been very strange indeed to visit the Knotts condominium and open a random drawer only to find hundreds of loose bullets rattling around.

According to a stage co-star of Knotts', Dodie Brown, fans "would line up along the hotel, three blocks, and wait in line to get an autograph from him. They would come up and say, 'I'm your best fan.' Every single person would say that. Every policeman would bring him bullets."

Indeed, Barney's comedic cowardice and aversion to guns informed a lot of Knotts' acting career after "The Andy Griffith Show," only cementing that he should not be handed bullets. In 1966, he appeared in the classic comedy film "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken," and in 1968, he was in a spoof Western called "The Shakiest Gun in the West." The bullet gifts, it seems, were ironic.

Some actors, however, are trapped by gifts that are more in tune with their famous on screen characters than themselves. For instance, actor Adam Scott played the genial Ben Wyatt on the hit sitcom "Parks and Recreation," and his character loved to prepare and eat calzones. Unfortunately, Scott isn't actually a fan of the food himself (per Cracked). This has led to awkward moments where Italian restaurants have presented Scott with calzones, hoping he'll like them. He doesn't.