Visible crew/equipment: After Barney tells Andy he overheard Dr. Benson and Ellie "talking marriage" while spying on them, Andy heads over to the drugstore. Then, when Barney enters the jail cell, we can see a crew member's fingers (at the lower right edge of the bars, behind the wall) push the cell door closed. (00:19:45)
Visible crew/equipment: At the end, when Dr. Breen tells the very tired group, "You all look as serene and relaxed as if you'd just finished listening to a pleasant band concert," in the next shot facing the porch, the shadow of the boom mic is moving around between the two windows above Clara and Andy, at the top of the screen.
The Church Benefactors - S8-E20
Visible crew/equipment: At the start of the finance committee meeting, when Clara walks into the office modelling the choir robe, the shadow of the boom mic is visible on the door, in the top right corner of the screen. White tape marks are also visible on the floor, as Clara twirls in the choir robe. (00:08:15)
Visible crew/equipment: When Barney and Andy are waiting for Virgil to arrive, just as the bus pulls up and stops, the reflection of the boom pole/mic is visible on the windshield. (00:03:50)
The Church Benefactors - S8-E20
Visible crew/equipment: During the meeting with the finance committee, a chalk T-mark is visible near Howard's feet when he and Emmett demonstrate their building and safety committee proposal.
The Church Benefactors - S8-E20
Visible crew/equipment: At the start, Andy's trying to get Opie's hair to stay down, and when Aunt Bee appears on the stairs, the moving boom mic casts a shadow at the top left corner of the screen. (00:00:30)
Visible crew/equipment: When Aunt Bee heads out for her first cooking show at the studio, Andy and Opie help load Bee's car, then just as Bee walks around the front of her car, we can see the reflection of various production equipment on the surface of the car. (00:08:00)
Visible crew/equipment: When Aunt Bee comes home enraged at the butcher, a white tape mark is visible on the floor near the kitchen door (it wasn't there in a previous shot).
Aunt Bee and the Lecturer - S8-E10
Visible crew/equipment: When Andy parks the squad car in front of the house he asks Hubert about the picnic, and the reflection of the moving boom mic is visible on the windshield. (00:12:35)
Visible crew/equipment: At the end, while the foursome sit around drinking pop, in the very last shot of Howard we can see the reflection of filming equipment in the window, before the shot fades. (00:24:30)
Visible crew/equipment: At the end when Aunt Bea enters the courthouse, she doesn't close the door completely. You can see a hand from outside grab the door, and close it very slowly. (00:23:20)
Answer: As noted in the previous answers, in real life, things like this provided wind and/or rain deflection, and also maintained a bit of privacy when blinds were raised somewhat. The interior courthouse set was located in the studio, so the "outside" Main Street didn't exist. I believe these things were added to the courthouse windows for practicality, to avoid some crew movement being visible on the opposite side of those windows. These are not "window boxes" to hold anything, as they're actually bottomless; we can see the Venetian blind's long pull cords under them. They're made of plywood and simple to build, so the "material and labor" was inexpensive. Similar variations made of different materials are in other movies/shows. In 1957's "12 Angry Men," textured chicken wire glass panels are in the jury room windows, and in "Jesse Stone: Night Passage" another type is in Jesse's office windows.
Super Grover ★