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)
Revealing mistake: The woman in the foreground, as the siren is stuck, is carrying a paper grocery sack from "Hollywood Ranch Market" which was located on Vine St and Fountain Ave in Hollywood, Los Angeles. (00:09:35)
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)
Continuity mistake: When Barney disguises himself as an old woman, in the very first shot he's wearing a dress with lace and tiny flowers, but in all the following shots it's an entirely different dress with large groups of flowers. (00:17:40)
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)
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)
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 ★