Andy Griffith was critical of Don Knotts and his portrayal of Mr. Furley on TV's 'Three's Company'

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Lifelong friends Andy Griffith and Don Knotts were quite a team on The Andy Griffith Show, which originally aired on CBS from 1960 to 1968. In 1965, Knotts left the series (to make big-screen movies), which later transitioned into Mayberry RFD, with Ken Berry taking over the lead from Griffith.

Decades after that, the original Andy Griffith Show cast reunited for the hit 1985 TV-movie, Return to Mayberry. Shortly after, Griffith returned to weekly television, this time, with the one-hour NBC/CBS legal drama, Matlock.

By then, Knotts had long completed his run on Three's Company, which was initially broadcast on ABC in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

However, Griffith was less than complimentary about Knotts' performance as landlord Mr. Ralph Furley, who supervised the TV apartment, which housed Company stars John Ritter, Joyce DeWitt, and Suzanne Somers.

Griffith thought Knotts was "just awful" as Furley, believing his former Andy Griffith co-star played the part too hyperactively.

Griffith told Knotts so when the two reunited for the first of what would be several episodes of Matlock.

Both Andy Griffith and Don Knotts have since passed away, and each will forever be remembered fondly for their various performances by countless combined or separate fans of The Andy Griffith Show, Matlock, and Three's Company.