Darryls Talking

I think it was just part of the wackiness of the show. It got more and more bizarre with each season. When the "woodsmen" came on, they were well received. Larry did all the talking, and the other two just stood there. Them telling their wives to "shut-up" was pure genious, considering they haven't spoken at all previously.

"I'm Larry. This is my brother Darryl, and this is my other brother Darryl."

In the Season 1 episode where Kirk is in the hospital and gets them to look after the cafe, there's a scene where Dick gets a phone call and appears to be talking with one of the Darryls. Or maybe he heard silence and assumed that was who called.

The only time their lack of speech was mentioned was in an early episode where Larry said something like "Darryl sat on a porcupine when he was 8 and hasn't spoke since."

I guess it was supposed to be funny that Larry did all the talking for the three of them. The only time they talked was in the series finale and they say "QUIET!" together when their wives won't shut up. They did that to be funny. Personally, I'm surprised that Tony Papenfuss and John Voldstad, who played them, didn't object to not having lines. Guess they were paid enough so it didn't bother them.

In Lady & the Tramps (Season 2 Episode 7), Larry tells Stephanie, "When Darryl here was seven, he tried to ride a porcupine. He ain't spoken since."

When Larry said this, I assume he referred to the first Darryl because he was sitting closest to him at the table at the time. So this means he spoke before this.

ttony_at
Tony

Another show which cleverly used recurring characters who never spoke even though they were capable of it was "The Andy Griffith Show" -- the Darlings (a family of "Hillbillies" who occasionally left their mountain shack and came into Mayberry). The Darlings family had only two members who talked: Briscoe Darling, the patriarch and Charlene, his daughter. Charlene had several brothers who were usually present but never spoke, and seldom even changed facial expressions. The fun twist to these recurring characters was that the family frequently sang songs together, so it was obvious the brothers were capable of vocalization -- they just never spoke.


Life's a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death!

The time Larry mistakenly thought that he was the youngest. Darryl 1 taps his chest, Darryl 2 taps his chest, "and I'm his other brother Larry"

I found out something else in an interview with Barry Kemp. It was Tony and John who decided not to have lines and just be physical because it was funnier. So they had no problem with it. The idea was that they could talk, they just chose not to unless they really got angry, like in the finale. Otherwise, they'd just use gestures.