https://web.archive.org/web/20070225141752/http://jumptheshark.com/
Other Thoughts:
Abe Vigoda, Abe Vigoda, Abe Vigoda...Fish! Vigoda.
A toss-up between Abe Vigoda leaving and Jack Soo's death, actually. (Great moment in TV history: after being informed that the brownies he ate were actually evidence in a drug case, Fish laments "This is the best I've felt in 20 years, and it's illegal!")
Never jumped, but actually got better when Fish left.
Anyone remember the tribute episode they did in honor of
Jack Soo? They "broke the fourth wall" (as they say in theater) and talked directly to the audience in a most touching way. They could never top that. Notice that afterwards they rarely mentioned the bad coffee.
This show always had the satire with just the right about of vermouth. Always dry, always funny. From the robbery of the sperm bank, to Wowjohowitz (or however you spell it) befriending a Eastern Europian pianist who turned out to be homosexual (Woho explains that he can't seek asylim for frivilous reasons, like getting married; the pianist explians, in very bad english, that he is not married, he's homosexual) the satire is there. The writers had a hard time coming up with fresh material and so the show ended in it's prime. Much like Seinfield except the last show was good.
Almost, but not quite: the joke was that Barney explains to him that he can't stay for frivolous reasons like if he wanted to marry a girl, to which he responds, chuckling "Oh, I am not *freevolous*!" (Wojo puts his arm around him saying "of course you're not!") "I am *homoseexual*!" (Wojo removes arm, looks stunned). It was quite the classic moment.
Never Jumped...vastly improved as it went on...especially after Fish left the show...also great because it was not filmed in front of a 'live' audience.
I hate this show!!! It is just about the stupidest thing to happen to telelvision since ever. Why did they never go outside. And then that one guy dies.
This show is one of my top three shows of all time. It never jumped.
It came close with the episode about the guy who thought he was a werewolf, but overall this was a great show that never got the respect it deserved. Was actually better after Fish left. I never thought Abe Vigoda was all that good. Dealt with some real issues that had not been dealt with before in sitcom (When Chano had to come to terms with shooting someone). Missed him too. Gregory Sierra was pretty cool. This is one show I wish had done a reunion movie.
This has to be one of television's finest sitcoms ever. For one thing, it proved that you didn't need to throw pies to be funny. The proof was in the writing, the stories, and the characters especially those who were brought in to the squad room. As for the main characters, there was always something about each one that made them so funny. With Barney, it had to be that look on his face whenever he heard or saw something strange; something similar to Gen.Halftrack's famous "Now what" look in the comic strip"Beetle Bailey". Fish was so funny because he was so cynical. Many of Fish's lines are simply inspired classics. Wojo, because he was so high strung and trying to be by-the-book. Chano, it was those points where he would get so riled up that he'd be talking so fast to the point where you just couldn't detect the precise moment when English would turn to Spanish.Harris, he was always the stylish one; looking as if he stepped out of the pages of GQ. Dietrich, always the philosophical one; always spouting off his constant knowledge, but remaining ever so cool as a cucumber. Nothing ever got to Dietrich. Yemana, simply stated he was by far the most unpredictible. One minute he'd be completely befuddled, the next cool and confident. I would say his best moments were the episode with the werewolf and the one where he, Harris, Wojo, and Fish got high on those hashish-laced brownies. It was a sad day when Jack Soo, who played Yemana, died. Levitt was funny because he was always trying hard to get on Barney's good side. Lt. Scanlon, one of the guys you just loved to hate, was funny because of the expressions when all he was trying to do was find a skeleton in the closet of the 12th Precinct. Attorney Arnold Ribner, the other guy you just loved to hate, was funny because, simply stated, he was Ambulance Chaser Personified! There was no doubt in my mind that Ribner was the best example of that kind of person. Finally, there was Inspector Frank Luger. What made him so funny, was the tone in his voice especially when he either talked to the guys or started waxing sentimental. Overall conclusion: "Barney Miller" is one of the perfect examples of what a sitcom should look like. It will always be a classic.
The episode when the characters are eating hash brownies, and Jack Soo is dipping them in his coffee saying that it makes them "mooshy mooshy," is one of the funniest half-hours in television history. It's too bad this became one of those shows that lost its best cast members.
Barney Miller is the finest cop show ever on television. Ask any cop in virtually any city what the best TV show about police life and the answer will almost always be "Barney Miller."
Barney Miller never even got in the water. A terrific show although I never completely understood why plain-clothes detectives would go out on calls that could have been handled by the lowest cop on the beat instead of doing any investigating work.
Barney Miller is a classic show that never jumped the shark. Even in the face of adversity (Jack Soo's death and Abe Vigoda's departure) Barney Miller remained a no-frills comedy that never failed to entertain.
Barney Miller will jump the shark when Ron Glass finishes "Blood On The Badge."
The show never 'jumped the shark' because of the outstanding writers, actors, and production crew that treated the audience with respect. For example, they set the high mark on how to treat the death of a regular with the tribute to Jack Soo in which each member 'broke character' and layed out their feelings/memories of their friend. None of this off scene phone call about the death or the character or other such crap (so easy to do with a police show). Just dignity and treating the audience like it was intelligent.
Barney Miller never 'Jumped the Shark' which is a tribute to the fine acting and writing skills of the cast and crew with death and departures of good/solid cast members that just begged the Shark to cruise on by. And just to prove it was no fluke, they managed to avoid Jumping The Shark with Linda Lavin as a semi regular...now talk about adding a degree of difficulty. In other words, that is no small feat. Akin to adding an extra half twist to your triple forward roll half gainer dive off the 10 meter spring board.
Never. It was one of the best shows. I still laugh out loud when I recall the scene when the mind reader (who was also the werewolf) reads Barney's mind as Inspector Luger approaches: "Luger...do your own damn work!". Ageless comedy.
Never,never,never! This was the best sitcom on abc.It had a great cast and funny plots.Thats something that new shows lack.Who can forget Fish? My grandfather and I used to laugh our asses off whenever he had to go to the can.I'll never forget the episode where Harris and Wojo (I think) were chasing a guy in the sewer.Fish held his bladder. That was funny. If only they would put this on T.V.Land or Nick at Night. I would tape every show.
Barney Miller NEVER jumped. (Although I thought that Linda Lavin's character tended to slow down the pacing.) True story: in the New York City police academy, all police cadets are told on the first day: 'Forget anything you ever saw in any cop show on TV ... EXCEPT for "Barney Miller".' My all-time favourite Barney Miller joke takes a while to describe. Here's the set-up: Harris needs background material for his novel, so he decides to include a cop who speaks Japanese. Fish hasn't arrived for the day yet. Harris asks Yemana to tell him the Japanese for 'Bring me a cup of coffee.' Fish comes walking through the door, at the precise instant when Yemana says (in Japanese): 'Bring me a cup of coffee.' Without skipping a beat, Fish replies: 'Get it yourself. What am I, your maid?' That's the set-up. Now the pay-off. An hour later, Fish is nodding off as usual. Harris can't believe that Fish actually understands Japanese. Harris tells Yemana to ask Fish a question in Japanese: 'Hello, how are you?' Yemana walks up behind Fish and (in Japanese) he asks him: 'Hello, how are you?' Without skipping a beat, Fish replies: 'Get it yourself. What am I, your maid?' This show was invariably hilarious. I also praise the episode about the schoolteacher who got arrested for destroying billboards with ungrammatical advertisements on them. (I know the feeling!) Also, there was an episode in which Gabriel Dell (a former member of the Bowery Boys) gave a very touching and realistic performance as a transvestite. The scriptwriters made the character very dignified, without the faintest whiff of stereotype. Nice one, lads!
I almost forgot, THE BEST THEME EVER!!!! As an aspiring bassist in the early '80's i played it alot. In fact, it was about the only thing I could play well. That's why I gave it up. About 10 years ago I bought a t.v. themes tape just for the"Barney Miller" theme.
Never Jumped. This show got better with age (and each new character). The loss of Fish meant the introduction of Dietrich. The shows where a Kid invents an atomic bomb or when Wojo goes under hypnosis where priceless. Wish they'd bring it back on Nick at Night. They don't write them like that any more.
What's the the reverse of jumping the shark -- swimming under it? "Barney Miller" is one of the very few shows that started out as a first rate offering, and then actually got even better as it went along. Brilliantly written, with a great cast of characters; every episode is a gem.
Totally DaBomb! Got even better as the years went on-esp when the stopped showing other scenes, and stuck to the precinct! I dont know if its the best theme song ever, but i DEF know that it's the f**kin BESTEST! bass riff ever!Bumm, bum bam bum, bah bah BUM, ba da bum bum bum, ba da bum...
Well, maybe when Levitt announced he was gay... But seriously, I noticed you don't have Barney Miller on your "Never Jumped" page even though a vast majority voted that it never jumped. Just thought I'd correct the oversight, because it's one of my all time favorite shows!
Never even went near the water. I'm reading the comments instead of working, and laughing like hell. Here's a few more than always make me laugh: Harris on going over budget on the porn film: "They didn't give Cimino a hard time until he hit 40 million"; Nick after Dietrich had shot someone: "I've always been secure in the knowledge that I couldn't hit the broad side of a barn." Scanlan (I think) who, after being told by Nick that he had served in Europe in W.W.II: "So I guess it didn't matter to you who won." Put this on the never jumped page immediately.
Barney Miller never jumped. This show kept getting stronger every season. The opportunities to JTS presented themselves every time a cast member left (or died), but the replacement character always seemed to fill the void admirably. Also, the acting on BM was the best of any era. Hal Linden was incredible and very believable as Barney. They just don't make shows this good any more. TV Land or Nick AT Nite PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE bring Barney Miller to your lineup. Your schedules are incomplete without it.
I laugh my ass off just thinking about that hash brownie episode. I think Wojo was my first love.
Like most truly great T.V. shows (Mary Tyler Moore, Seinfeld, The Dick Van Dyke Show) Barney Miller saw the shark coming in '82, and voluntarily pulled the plug on itself. The show never had a chance to go stale, in spite of three events that could have crippled it, (leaving--Abe Vigoda spinning off a lame sitcom, death--the loss of the underrated Jack Soo, and same actor, different character--Ron Carey playing a cat burglar, then returning as Carl Levitt), Barney Miller never went under. I agree with those other viewers who loved the Hash Brownie episode, chasing the suspect through the sewer, and Hal Linden's wonderful "cornered animal" facial expressions. I also vote to put the show on TV Land or Nick At Nite. Wonder if there has been a licensing problem in getting it back on the air? I haven't seen the show in syndication since about '85.
A classic. This show was funny throughout!
Barney is the Greatest!! As has been many times above, started off funny, and just go more and more bizarre and hilarious as it went along. One of the FEW shows ever that got its gags totally from the characters-so that when in the next-to-last season, Deitrich and Harris are holed up in the fleabag hotel with a murder witness, both disheveled and fried, and Harris FREAKS and starts to leave,turning the corner of the hotel corridor all it takes is for Deitrich to go, "Looking like that?" and you KNOW Harris is going to be coming right back, and you are laughing your butt off at it...Maybe THE most underrated show in TV history.....And it just goes to show how lame-brained Nick At Nite/TV Land have become when they wont even CONSIDER airing the gem!!
The guy who played Inspector Luger really drug the show down. He was far better earlier in the show's history when he was used sporadically for comic insertions, than he was later when he consumed more and more screen time. Here is yet another example of a minor character getting more than his/her fair share of lines. (Hey, can we add this as a "typical" category?)
Only show I know of that "came back". It got a little lame when Producer Danny Arnold had some health problems and left for a few seasons. That brought us shows like Wojo investigating Agent Orange. When Danny returned, it was like he never left, and finished on top. (remember Harris making the porno?) Damn, I miss this show!
Never FREAKING jumped! I love the episode where drugs keep turning up missing from the evidence room and it turns out that these huge rats are coming up out of the toilet and dragging off the drugs! One of the detectives goes into the room with a night stick to kill the rat. He comes back out 10 seconds later and goes back in with his revolver! Hilarious.
Fabulous show! Deitrich's dryness made the show. Especially the episode where they all have to take lie detector tests and Wojo keeps failing because of his nerves. When Deitrich takes the test. He starts off "I was born in a galaxy far, far away" and the test operator says he's telling the truth. In the end we found out he was born in St. Mary's Hospital in Allentown, Pa. Being from Allentown I know there is no St Mary's Hospital. However it was the city's claim to fame long before Allentown by Billy Joel.
I'll have to say that Barney Miller never "jumped the shark." Despite such events as the retirement of Sgt. Fish and the death of Yemana, the program was top-notch from the beginning to the end. It emphasized plot and character; the laughs came from the way that the people interacted. I was also impressed that in general, the people involved with the program were able to do all of the stories on the same set and keep the viewers such as myself involved. Barney Miller is not just one of the best television comedies of the 1970's--it may be one of the best television comedies of all time. Well Done!!
Wojo and Fish are out on a call and Wojo comes back by himself and tells everyone that Fish had a heart attack, an ambulance came and got him but he doesn't know how he is or what hospital they took him to. After several frantic minutes of the guys calling local hospitals trying to find their colleague, Fish strolls into the squad room and sits down like nothing happened. Barney: "Fish, what the hell happened, I thought you had a heart attack. Where've you been?" Fish: "I was in the ambulance and started to feel better so I asked them to let me out." Barney: "What'ya talking about, no ambulance would let you out in the middle of a call." Fish: (completely deadpanned) "The gun helped." Classic!
By far, the best ensemble comedy cast ever brought together. The best last show ever. If you saw it and did not get a little choked up, you do not deserve to watch this magnificient show.
This show got better each year. The characters dropped the heavy stereotypes and became more likable and easier to relate to. Examples: "Ron" stopped being the hip black cop exaggerating his blackness and Wojo stopped over chewing his gum and bobbing his head all the time.
Never jumped; it got better with time. I had missed the first season or two and remember being startled when I saw the early episodes in syndication. They were almost manic, what with Gregory Sierra's character emoting all over the place. Still good, but Wojo seemed like a one-note buffoon compared with his brilliantly nuanced, maturing character in later seasons. Wojo was my favorite character for the reasons given above. Max Gail was a fine actor, and I'd love to see more of his work. I know back in the 1980s he had a show on Broadway playing Babe Ruth but I didn't get to see it. I enjoyed all the characters, although Levitt was the most one-note. Abe Vigoda's Fish and Jack Soo's Yemana were both classic characters. Hal Linden played straight man to the rest of the guys, so I tended to take him for granted. It has been years since I've seen reruns of this show, so I don't remember lines or particular episodes so much as I remember the general feel of the show. (I always suspected real police precincts were a lot like "Barney Miller" - glad to have that confirmed by what a previous poster said.) I *do* remember one episode when Wojo is really stressed out, so Barney asks him what's on his mind, and Wojo says something like, "Oh, the usual...worrying about my mom; thinking about lunch; and wondering about the possibility of nuclear war..." (maybe someone can give the exact line, because I know I'm just paraphrasing). I loved this show, and agree it's criminally underrated. MUCH better than "Cheers", which I hardly ever watched. I once mentioned loving "Barney Miller" to a friend, who was incredulous; "You mean that show with Buddy Ebsen?!" I think a lot of people have forgotten about "Barney Miller" or conflate it with "Barnaby Jones".
Never jumped the shark; never came close. Barney Miller is one of those rare shows which started well and got better with age. I actually prefer the post Abe Vigoda shows. The fact that the shows were character driven, and that each of it's characters were well drawn, is a major reason why the comedy situations stand up so well. Much as I hated to see the show end, it was the right decision. This sitcom went out at the top of it's game, complete with a final episode that is an absolute gem.
My favorite episode was Harris dressed as a woman to catch muggers. Everyone else had taken a turn and looked awful. He had to shave his mustache, but came out looking fabulous. They all stared and told him he looked lovely. He replied, "I want to look good, but not better." Notice how many of the actors playing people arrested kept coming back as other folks?
Never jumped - My favorite line: Suspect (to Dietrich): How did you ever become a cop? Dietrich: Well, when I was in college, I was in an amateur production of (name of play--I forget what). After the final show, we were all at the cast party, just drinking and laughing and talking... and five years later I became a cop.
I actually want to take back a comment I made earlier: I HUMBLY apologize to the progamming geniuses at TVLAND...In case you haven't heard- TVLAND will be [finally] airing Barney Miller starting in November,2000. All the comments I made about the TVLAND people being idiots, etc, I hereby take back!! Thanks folks!!
What an intelligent show! Finally we had a sitcom that didn't feel the need to shock or offend, and that didn't ever DUMB DOWN for the lowest common denominator. Every episode is a classic. One of the top two sitcoms in history.
I LOVED the way Harris referred to the ambulance from Bellevue: "The Cookie Truck" or "The Disoriented Express." I miss this show so badly it hurts my gums.
This is the ONLY show in TV history that got BETTER each season. Hash brownie episode has to rate in top 5 funniest TV episodes ever. I remember a poll of cops was taken in the late 70's asking what is most realistic cop show on TV. Number 1 answer: Barney Miller.
This show never jumped the shark. Truly a classic from start to finish. They somehow seemed to generate a laugh at least every two minutes per episode. Now you are lucky if you can find a show that can deliver one every five. The exceptions being "Seinfeld" & "Newhart". Also, one of the best tv themes of all time. I challenge anyone who has seen this show more than at twice to not be able to recall that great bass line. Boom - -Chicka-boom , Chicka-Boom, Chicka ....
Never. Jumped. Our local UPN/FOX/WB (who can keep 'em straight, especially late at night :)) showed them for a brief time. I'd almost forgotten how COOL the theme was, but when I heard it for the first time in a LOOOONG time, I was in a state of gleeful disbelief (and turned up the VOLUME and ROCKED !). Thank GOD they brought it back on, if only for a while. GREAT theme, fantastic actors, superb writing. It showed that you didn't have to have a lot of bit characters, meaningless location changes, etc. in order to have a fantastic show. It really was far and away the best cop show I have ever seen.
There was one episode guest-starring Kenneth Tigar as a man who thought he was possesses by demons. At first everyone thought he was just another psycho (Tigar played several in this series), but it turned out he really WAS possessed -- they even used weird lighting and sound effects! The episode was still pretty funny, but it fell completely outside the show's semi-realistic parameters. The show came pretty damn close to jumping the shark on this one ... but didn't. Just barely.
Two words: Steve Landesberg. After Yemana and Fish were gone, his character (forgot the name) was brought in to pick up the pieces. Although Landesberg was not unfunny, he was too dry, too droll, and too intellectual to fill in the flat-out funny of the others. On the whole, though, this show was one of the best sit-coms ever made. I miss it, and can't figure out why Nick at Night or TVLand isn't picking it up.
A bank robber who used a bazooka as a weapon, and fired it, causing some hearing problems (to say the least), encounters Wojo. With the bazooka sitting on the desk, the perp says, ever fire one of these before? Wojo says "yea, in 'Nam". He responds, in a sarcastic tone, "oh, yeah, outside! Great comedy, masterfully performed
Hot dog! This show UN-JUMPED! When the show started out, the ethnic stereotypes were pretty much all they had to offer. But as time went on, we got to know the characters as individuals. They became unique...and wonderfully eccentric. That was the whole joy of the show, as it grew more and more mature. What a brilliant ensemble cast, who developed their own roles and made the show a joy!
B.M. was one of the true greats. Just got better. Wish it could have gone another season or two. I know a spin-off is obligatory for every successful show these days and hate that trend. But this is a show that really *should* have birthed a spin-off. ALL the major characters were strong enough to carry a show, one of the few times that's happened in TV history. (Not even M.A.S.H. could do that, as the pathetic AfterMash showed.)
Never cared for the Fish character. Loved guest star Kenneth Tigar's lunatics. Favourite line - Yemana (in the hash brownies episode): "Whaddaya say we go down to the waterfront and shoot some clams?"
Overall, the show never jumped, and is one of the all-time best. However...1. The episode when the crazy guy (Mr. Kapechnie) thought he was possessed became less than perfect when they used the harmonizer on his voice to make him sound possessed. It could have been a great episode about a priest with low self-esteem trying to exorcise a crazy man, but they blew it. 2. Someone mentioned earlier that Ron Cary played a cat burgler, then became Levitt. Don't forget, Steve Landesberg played a guy posing as a priest (and gave last rights to the guy wearing the dynamite belt) then became Dietrich. And, from the first season, don't forget the character, "Dorsey." He went the other way, starting as a cop, then playing a member of a "new gang" trying to bust his friend out of jail. 3. Remember, Harris was not a Billy Dee Williams impersonator until the second season. He started off speaking "jive." 4. My personal favorite arrestee - The guy who claimed to be from the future advising Harris to invest in zinc. I could go on all day, but there's work to be done!
In March of 2000, I commented how Barney Miller never Jumped The Shark, and wondered if there were legal reasons why the show had not been seen in syndication for nearly fifteen years. Today, November 26, 2000, Barney Miller is part of an all-weekend marathon on T.V. Land. Seeing these wonderful episodes again is a treat, and I appreciate them even more now that I am fifteen years older. One of the reruns possibly reveals why the show has not been seen since the mid 'eighties. In this installment, a man is arrested for attacking the Muzak system in a department store with an axe. Each time a character says the word "Muzak" the audio is muted. Could it be that this episode caused the Muzak Corporation to take legal action over unauthorized use of their trade name? Could it be that some sort of settlement kept the show off of the air for far too long? I would like to hear from other Jump The Shark Enthusiasts if they have any insight into the "missing Barney Miller mystery."
Barney Miller jumped the shark when Levitt was made a detective. It was much funnier when he was weasling around the squad room, trying to suck up to the captain.
Barney Miller had a good LONG run. But I have to say that after watching a lot of the Barney Miller Marathon on TVLand, it's apparent to me that the show ran out of gas when WoJo (Max Gail) started wearing the rather obvious toupee. BTW, I'm NOT saying that the two are connected (it's just a coincidence).
the show jumped when they added the long light colored hair detective that liked city destroying video games. i can't think of his name but he was thin and sort of nasely. actually the show jumped around 1980 or so. the same old stuff over and over. just slightly hipper than mash and some of the other shows of its time.
How could anyone say this show got better? Look at the final group of cops: Wojo, Dietrich, Harris and Levitt. Not exactly a line-up for the ages. But what bugged me most about the show was how repetitious it was. The only guys they ever booked were psychos, who nursed some weird grievance that was generally worked out by Barney before the half hour was up. These were cops in 1970s New York! The city was a hell-hole then. And the only criminals they can find are people who are upset that movies or poisoning children, or some such thing. That's realism?
NEVER JUMPED!! I watched about 40 straight hours of Barney Miller when TV Land recently served up a heapin' helpin' of Capt. Miller and the squad room detectives of the 12th. The Jack Soo tribute episode RULED, he was a brilliant actor. I loved how Max Gail (a fellow native Detroiter) didnt wear the tupe. It shows just how good the cast and writing was in light of the fact that after Jack Soo's death and Abe Vigoda's departure, the show not only survived, but flourished. Such major departures would wreck most other shows...I HATED Barney's wife, was glad to see her go. I wish every cop had Capt. Miller's compassion and fair play. A true cop's cop. Quite simply one of the best shows ever made. The peg board and front door deservedly sit in the Smithsonian. A pity that everyone was typecast though, especially Hal Lindsey who I always thought was a darn fine actor...
Think about: Maybe 85% of the entire life of this show took place on two sets: the squad room and Barney's office. Very rarely did you see their homes (kind of regularly very early on with Barney and his wife). But what other series stayed so good within such tight confines?
Classic. All the time. Plus, even if they did ever jump, that great theme song was enough to cover it up!
Never jumped. A great character that came in during the last season was Lt. Paul Dorsey. It was very late in the run of the show but I remember this younger cop coming in as a proto-slacker, as sarcastic as Dietrich, if not more so. I remember his debut episode, him not fitting in too well and being asked by Barney why he feels he doesn't fit in and he responds " I look around here, I see a bunch of older guys ..." and I don't even remember the rest of his line because the "take" that the rest of the cast delivered on being called "older" was priceless. The show actually got better in its waning seasons, if a bit issue-oriented but hey, it was the late 70's !
A truly amazing show--like many sitcoms originating in the early to mid-70s, BM first tried to emulate the characteristic elements of the highly successful Norman Lear empire, especially "All in the Family". This meant the early shows are LOUD, with somewhat bombastic characters (although by the latter part of the first year the shows were already quite funny). As time went on, however, the show became more refined, witty and deadly satirical--and very, very funny. The show survived--and thrived--through the loss of two major characters. It was also the first show I can recall that portrayed gay characters (even if they were a bit flamboyant to begin with). Although a brilliantly funny sitcom, it could also be incredibly tenderhearted and, on rare occasion, even shockingly dramatic (I can recall two such episodes--one where a man is accused of being a Nazi concentration camp guard, and another where a neighborhood regular, Mr. Kotterman, is murdered).
Never! NEVER!! This is the first sitcom since Murphy Brown that has put me into a complete trance every time I even hear the theme song! (Started watching it in 2000) I miss the later shows and I seriously can't wait for TV Land to roll around to whenever Dietrich shows up!! MAN did he make the show! Barney Miller 4-EVER!!!!!
NEVER. All of your comments bring tears to my eyes remembering such a great show...they truly don't make them like that anymore. Remember when Wojo wants to date Barney's daughter and says, "It's 'cause I'm not Jewish, isn't it?" And of course, the retro episode in homage to Jack Soo. Beautiful.
The running joke of Yamana's coffee being so bad was the best. Episode with Brett Sommers. She is sitting in the squad room. He walks up to her and says,"Would you like another cup of coffee". She responds, "I can't drink coffee, but I would love another cup of this stuff." Genius.
Although never fully jumping, there were times when it was getting close. Levitt was much better as a mailroom cop than a detective. Luger was always annoying and Linda Lavin was never sexy try as they may to make us think otherwise.
How come this show is not a re-run show? I am 37 and I remember watching Barney Miller with my Dad. Fish always made him laugh. I would like to watch the show in re-run, maybe just for a minute I could be 14 again and hear my Dad laugh.
One of the best ever! I disagree with some of the other posters in that I *loved* Abe Vigoda as Fish. I really missed him and Jack Soo as Yemana, but the show managed to stay good even after they were gone. Excellent cast and writing!!
To answer the 'Muzak'/Barney Miller controversy: The 'Great Muzak Edit' was there way back when Barney was one of the top syndicated shows. I distinctly remember reading about it in the paper around the time the show originally aired. I truly believe that the reason Barney 'disappeared' for awhile is that show creator [AND part-owner of the show] Danny Arnold was very ill for a long time in the 90's and passed away in 1999 [I BELIEVE]. And I believe no negotiations could take place while he was ill, and when he passed on, it easier for Nick/TVLAND/Viacom to negotiate a deal- but this ONLY speculation!
This show was good from beginning to end. One funny scene I remember: A man is arrested for building what may or may not be a nuclear bomb. While Barney and some Wojo are looking at it, wondering if someone could possibly REALLY build such a bomb on his own, (great now I can't remember the character's name; the smart one with glasses) walks in , takes one look at the bomb on the desk and says "Cool...who brought in the nuclear bomb?"
It took a long time to happen and it survived a lot of change, but Fish was the soul of the show.
Barney Miller never jumped the shark! Like fine wine, it just improved with age. The characters became well defined and very much individuals -- not your usual cookie-cutter sitcom templates. By the time of its [planned] finale, it was definitely firing on all cylinders.
Harris has to dress as a woman for an assignment, and true to his stylish form, looks stunning as he walks into the squad room. The squad, all ready to bust his chops, stand speechless as Harris stands before them. Finally Dietrich says to Harris, "Did you ever see the movie "Laura"? Its about a cop who becomes obsessed with a woman he knows he can never have." Harris responds no. So Dietrich says, "Its playing down the street. Wanna see it tonight?" BM was wonderful and one of the most underrated show ever.
Absolutely never jumped! The writing, acting, directing, and cutting were all flawless. This show survived losing THREE characters, mainly because when one character left, they wisely didn't try to replace him; they simply added a new character with a new personality to add to the mix. Also, no one character, not even Barney, was overplayed or made the pivotal character. They simply let the show thrive on the endless permutations of interactions involving the characters themselves, and between them and the various crazies from the outside world. One more favorite episode to throw into the pot: the one that starts with Harris putting his chips into the commodities market by buying egg futures. Later, the guy who thinks he's psychic goes into a trance while Harris and another character are out trying to talk a suicide down from a bridge. His soliloquy is a tour-de-force (including the "LUGER! DO YOUR OWN DAMN WORK!!!!!" line) and ends by spooking everybody to distraction about Harris ("...I see ... Harris! I see falling, falling, falling...). Harris does finally return, to everybody's relief, but the rejoicing is interrupted by a call from Harris's broker. His next line is classic: "I've lost all my eggs!". Great show. Never never never jumped.
Barney Miller is a classic, I'm a New York City cop and this is probably the most realistic cop show ever. I wish they would bring back the reruns. Every precinct detective squad is just like this show everyone is just temporarily a cop looking to accomplish their true careers and dreams. No BS just dealing with the craziness of reality in New York. I wish Barney was my C.O.
Absolutely never jumped! BTW, the smart guy with the glasses was Dietrich. My fav was the one that started with Harris buying those egg commodities, with a psychic being brought in, going into a trance and pronouncing what appears to be doom on Harris, who is out talking someone down from jumping off a bridge ("I see Harris, I see falling, falling..."). Harris returns, to everyone's relief, but the rejoicing is interrupted by a phone call from Harris's commodities broker. His next remark is classic: "I've lost all my eggs!". One of the show's best features was that the actors were always low-key. They never laughed at their own gags; they contented themselves with making satiric commentary as the maelstrom whirled around them. This show survived better losing THREE characters (the hispanic, Fish, and Jack Soo) than most other shows when they lost only one. This is mainly because they wisely didn't try to replace them; they simply brought in new characters with totally new personalities and new comedic opportunities.
Never JTS, just waved from the pier. Not enough Chano:his bank-robbery show was heartbreaking; my fave Yemana was when some well-meaning person said "You shouldn't squint." Reply: "That's not a squint." No change of expression. "This is a squint." Wojo def improved with time, but I missed the innocence; loved anything Kenneth Tigar; no one has mentioned Marty & his friend, groundbreaking characters the both of them, when gay was barely mentioned in polite company; Leavitt, Luger & Dietrich were better early on, & can anyone remember the name of the real-life cop who came in from downstairs every once in a while? I want to say Milt Kogen, but, not having cable, have to rely on memories from the original airings. And, holding the madness together, the gifted Hal Linden, a perfect fit as Barney. Classic TV, indeed. Hey, Harris, pass the brownies!
Intelligent, beautifully done comedy from start to finish. It's a treasure on TV Land! One of my favorite moments was when Harris returned from a trip to New Mexico (or some southwest location) and brought Barney a bolo tie with his initials on it (as a joke). Barney didn't seem to get the joke, and proudly paraded around with the goofy tie emblazoned with "BM"...I still giggle helplessly thinking about it!
Never ever jumped. I disliked TV in the 70's and I really disliked cop shows, so the first time I saw Barney Miller I started off with a real bias against it. I laughed so hard my eyebrows caved in. Although I liked Fish a lot, the show got better when he departed. The ultimate episode exemplifies the character of the show. Wojo arrived at a jewel heist and heard the name of the criminal being shouted by his accomplice. He can't remember it, so they hypnotize him and he reveals, in his very innocent way, all the foibles and rivalries and pettiness in the station. It's a scream to watch him excoriate everyone except Dietrich. And then when he finally remembers what happened at the scene of the crime ....... This was great character driven scripting at its best. Not just a bunch of interchangeable nitwits trading barbs. One of the very best.
The punchline to the gay Russian episode is when Deitrich, in all his philosophical glory, queries Yemena about how it feels to be uprooted from your homeland and placed in a new environment, toiling with the pains of new spaces and cultures, to which Yemena (Soo) says, "I'm from Omaha". Deitrich responds, "We have a place with the same name in Nebraska." THAT is great writing.
My favorite sit-com ever. I think this show is vastly underated by most people under age 30. "You mean I have to think and watch TV at the same time!"
This show never jumped. Great acting and writing all the way through, in fact Barney Miller was as strong as ever at the end. It peaked when Abe Vigoda and Jack Soo were still on the scene, and Ron Carey and Steve Landesberg were being phased in. Great show.
One of the most ass-funky theme songs ever,up there with Sanford and Son,Chico and the Man,Jeffersons,and Fish. But Dietrich was the downfall in my eyes. I couldn't stand that man and the episodes pre-Dietrich are way better.
This show truly is one of the most underrated sitcoms ever. I fit into the under 30 crowd and it's true, most people my age don't even remember this show, but there never was a lapse in the writing that made you wish the show would just die. These really were heady times for television, where themes like homosexuality, racism and drugs were discussed with 70's audacity without 80's sentiment or 90's apology. I'm too young to remember the episodes before Fish got his own show, but I liked Dietrich's know-it-all vs. Harris' sarcasm and the general world-weariness of everyone else. The best part of the yucks might have been that the characters could get laughs from subtle, sharp delivery. No laugh tracks playing extended howls to remind you what to laugh at. A true gem of a show that deserves more time in the rerun circuit.
With writing this good, one can only lament the stories that were never told: Wojo doing battle with computers in the squad room; Wojo encountering an HIV positive suspect; Harris launching his own web site; etc. This show matured like fine wine - the characters grew in ways that seemed tangible to the viewers, and as the squad diminished in size, those characters left were able to explore their own human frailties in even more detail.
The pacing slowed down as the years progressed, but it was always a wonderful show. When I was in high school, a policeman visited my social studies class one day to talk to us. A kid asked him what he thought was the most realistic cop show on TV, and we all expected an answer like "The Rookies" or "Adam-12." Instead he told us, "'Barney Miller.' We try to arrest criminals and then spend hours doing the paperwork." I've never forgotten that, or the fact that some stagehands tried to clean the "BM" set one day and producer/creator Danny Arnold told them to *leave* the dirt on the floor, for reality's sake. How many shows would do that these days? A gem!
I ran into Fish last week on the east side. If anybody's running a death pool...No, seriously, he looked better than 20 years ago. I mean, I RAN INTO FISH!
Never jumped. I was still in college in its early years, didn't have much time for TV, I came in post-Jack Soo, but caught up in reruns. Never cared for Fish's bathroom habits being a large focus of so many punch lines, and his spin-off show (yes, there WAS one!) jumped from day one. Favorite scenes - in the bazooka episode, at one point Wojo picks it up and appears in the doorway to Barney's office. "About that raise, Barn..." and of course Barney nearly has a heart attack! Another is when Ron has picked up a little kid (I think it was for drug dealing) and finds out the little punk is richer than he is! Finally he can't take it anymore, and says "Well, I've got something you'll never have!" "Oh yeah", the kid says, "what's that?" Harris sneers "Credit! You have nothing until you can sign for something with DIGNITY!" I don't have cable, so it's been at least a decade or more since I've seen an episode, but I know there were many more "favorite" lines, I just can't remember most of them anymore. Shame!
Never jumped! It just occurred to me, another reason this show was so cool--the actors didn't seem to be all wrapped up in being "thespians." They used shortened versions of their first names for the credits: HAL Linden, ABE Vigoda, JACK Soo, MAX Gail, RON Glass, STEVE Landesberg, & RON Carey. Very together group of guys!
Ah, the life of Wojo's hair! From one episode to the next we see variations in the texture, color,and style. At times, he is stunning beyond words. At others, he sports a bald spot. Once, his toupee was darker than his sideburns. Sometimes the toupee's red, other times it's dark brown. Somtimes Wojo's smile makes me swoon; other times he resembles an orangatan from the local zoo. And what's up with those burgundy pants? You know the ones I mean, the ones he wore every other episode? God, they must have stunk! My friend and I have mixed feelings about him; sometimes we think he looks like a sex symbol; other times he resembles Frankenstein. But, he does seem like a really sweet guy and he definately made the show watchable.
If there was ever a show that never even came close to jumping it was Barney Miller, my all time favorite sitcom. Why? A great ensemble cast (funny how many truly great shows feature an ensemble rather than being centered around one "star"), brilliant, witty, intelligent and above all, FUNNY writing, and perfectly paced directing. Even the departure and death of several original members did not hurt the show, in fact, it only got better. I really miss Jack Soo's hapless Nick Yemana - my personal favorite is when Nick unknowingly ate some "magic brownies" and started singing "Its Almost Like Being in Love." But Steve Landesbrg's hilarious Arthur Dietrich absolutely blew away Abe Vigoda's Fish, plus it gave Barney and Harris an intellectual superior to play off of. Talk about dry, subtle humor, Dietrich was positively arid. One of my favorites was when Harris asks him, "Arthur, is there something you want to ask me?" Dietrich replies, "Maybe later." Harris: "I may not be here later." Dietrich: "Doesn't matter, its rhetorical." Then there was the time Deitrich asks Yemana if he ever missed the traditions and culture of his native Japan. Yemana replies, “I’m from Omaha.” To which Deitrich counters, “Ya know, we have a city in Nebraska that sounds just like that.” Now, THAT is clever. The best thing was the growth each character experienced on an almost weekly basis. This was most noticeable in Max Gail's Wojo. The entire ensemble became tighter and the camaraderie of not just the characters, but of the actors themselves was almost palpable. These guys really cared about each other and that made us care about them, even Levit and Inspector Lugar. Plus, it had the funkiest, coolest, baddest-ass theme song in the TV history. I only wish TV Land would air the show complete and uncut, instead of trimming their usual two or three minutes out of each episode to allow for additional commercial air time. I usually know exactly which lines have been cut and even though they rarely affect the story line, many great laughs are sacrificed in order to sell more soap. Nonetheless, I am grateful that this great show is back on the air after too many years in hiatus. Gentlemen of the 12th, I salute you.
I'm 21 and I like this show! The cast was excellent and so what some of the guest actors played multiple roles it's a tv show! There was only one episode I didn't like and that was from the first season. The one where Wojo kept busting some hookers because he was attracted to one of them. Nancy Dussault played the hooker. Her character said she was 27 - I'm sorry, she looked 45 back then too! Wojo was such an ******* in that episode; otherwise the show was great. It's too bad none of the actors won Emmys, but the show did in '82. RIP Danny Arnold.
Barney Miller jumped the shark the first time after Abe Vigida left (1977), but then redeemed itself when the dink who replaced him was written off (1978). A truly awesome show!
This in my opinion is one of the funniest and intelligent sitcoms in television history. Almost every episode had memorable characters and lines in it. Something I found funny was that were no real life scandals with the stars like on other successful sitcoms. The actors were all level headed people and did not turn the show into a boring or preachy crapfest like The West Wing.
Barney Miller never even came CLOSE to jumping the shark! It never even made it to the beach, let alone the water! Every new criminal they hauled in was a breath of fresh air, and every single episode was original. My favorite one had to be when they bring in this guy standing on the edge of a building, thinking he's about to commit suicide. It turns out that the guy is/thinks he's a time traveler, and he transported to the 1970's from the future. He spent the rest of the show making predictions -- great, funny stuff! That or the episode where the building across the street from the station is blown up. The look on Barney's face when the thing collapsed was one of the most memorable occasions in the history of the show.
This show is one of the finest from television history. It made us laugh, it made us think and it did in a hilarious manner. It didn't have to get dumb or sexual like today's shows. It is a classic. The OFFICIAL SITE OF MAX GAIL IS UP AT http://www.hangin.at/maxgail.com
Barney Miller never jumped. What a cast, just like a team where every one knew his role and never varied but did it in a wonderful way. You always waited for some selfish thing to come out of Harris' mouth, or some obscure thing from Dietrich. What I loved about Nick was that he had a bookie, but was a cop. The eerie thing now is that in opening credits the WTC are a part of it.
Just for the record, I absolutely HATE sit-coms. Having said that, there are a handful of notable exceptions (that do prove the rule, I suppose); MASH, Taxi, Murphy Brown, the Simpsons, and Barney Miller! Being stuck with a long difficult last name, I could always tell people, when they needed my name for whatever reason, that 'you spell it like it sounds'. Thanks, Wojo! Far and away, for me anyway, the best part of the show was Deitrich. For the very first time growing up, I saw a character who was smart, and yet everybody liked him and, most importantly, he was funny!! I blame this character primarily for the dry sense of humour I tend to display. Anyway, this show absolutely never JTS, and should remain forever a classic, the best of an era.
I wish the writers of most of the sitcom crap that is on tv today would watch Barney Miller. This show was so brilliantly done (writers,cast,etc.) that it crossed over easily between generations. My dad and I normally had very different tastes in tv shows,but we both enjoyed this show. I would like to see it again in reruns.
This show arrested the shark, booked the shark, fingerprinted and photographed the shark, and released the shark with a desk appearance ticket. Never jumped, though. I will admit that Barney's wife and the few episodes that took place outside the squad room made me cringe. But they were rare, forgivable instances. They took a page from the Honeymooners and shot most of the stuff on one grungy set. (People think Taxi did, too, but memory plays tricks. I could name two dozen Taxi sets.) Once again, a show had visionaries in positions of power and it paid off. They did not try to please everyone. It couldn't have appealed to women, much. It was guys being guys. My dad was a NYC cop, and he always said that he couldn't stand cop shows because they were so inauthentic...except for Barney Miller. That show he loved. Today, sitcoms go for the quick, easy laugh, and it's always at someone's expense. It fits the times. The Honeymooners could not have been made today; the times are too nasty for such humorous self-deprecation. Barney Miller had great writing, and ensemble acting. James Gregory was an old hand at acting years before any of those guys (except FISH and YEMANA) were acting. I think that, at some point, the director (Noam Pitlik was also a funny guy and a good comedic actor) must have just said, "Okay guys, we're gonna roll the tape. You all know what to do. Just do it." My wife and I watch Barney Miller on TV Land every night. It's a ritual. That and the Honeymooners. We marvel at the brilliance. And we lament the fact that it is so rare, and getting rarer.
The ultimate in sit-coms I wish somebody would release "Barney Miller" on DVD
Try as I might, I can think of no inferior BM episodes. If anything, this one got better as it went along. And of course the most unforgettable theme song in television history.
There are many eloquent comments here, worthy of a good Dietrich monologue...kudos to all Barney fans! To think that this show jumped just because Fish left or Yemana died is to miss the gradual maturation of this great show. One of the things I loved best about it was the recurring round of actors (Kenneth Tigar and Richard Libertini being standouts -- Kay Medford, the guy who played the urologist on Bob Newhart, David Clennon, Selma Diamond, Phil Leeds) who came back as a new character...and were totally believable each time! It surprises me how many people miss the obvious pathos of Inspector Luger, a guy stuck in a time-warped era of cops with nightsticks and egg creams at Schrafts, trying to make among a new breed.
I liked the original cast of Barney Miller the best. The only character that later was added that I enjoyed was Harris. To me Dietrich was not funny, and when watching re-runs and see Steve Landesburg's name in the opening credits I change the channel.
This show improved from start to finish. While I had my favourite characters (Dietrich, Wojo, Barney)all of them were good and,in their way, necessary to the chemistry of the show/station house. What made the show great was the chemistry, plus all the characters staying true to themselves. The proof of this is in reading the posts above...I can actually hear Dietrch saying "It doesn't matter, it's rhetorical". Lines like that are written by writers who know their characters. There are three episodes I will never forget. The first was Dietrich taking the lie detector trying to disprove it. He said he was from a planet a long time ago far,far away. When the neddle didn't move someone (I think Wojo) scoffed that the machine was unreliable. Harris just looks and says "Unless, of course..." Another was the Christmas episode when Yamana arrested the hooker, then let her out. She agreed to go out with him for supper or something. Harris tries to discourage him saying the girl is just using him. Yamana replies that possibly that is true, but maybe she likes him. "Ya gotta consider all the possibilities" he says. Jack Soo was so deadpan and kind in his character, and it came out beautifully in that moment. Then a bittersweet, and brilliant moment when Wojo and Harris are arguing about Vietnam. Harris had been in a protest 10 years earlier where Wojo had been in crowd control as a cop. As they they talked they realized they remembered seeing each other on the scene. Then, as Barney enters,they remember that Barney too had been there. Harris kind of laughs and comments "In fact, I think Barney was wearing the same suit.". Barney says nothing and the characters all leave. Except Barney. Barney looks into the camera and, sort of sadly, sort of of defensively, says "A good suit SHOULD last 10 years." Although each character had his or her own quirks and eccentricities, these never overshadowed the kindness and decency they all had. As I remember these shows, and as I read the above posts I found myself laughing and a little weepy. This was a wonderful wonderful show.
Never jumped! Danny Arnold would have rather died than to let down the audience and himself by jumping. He practically killed himself bringing this show to the world, he wasn't about to die for crap. Each episode has it's own great theme or memory. Marty gets mugged, Wojo asks for a raise with a bazooka, Fish can't shake Bernice.... Too many to recall. TV land has the show running most weeks, but there is some gossip about a reunion movie of the week, and quite possibly episodes on DVD. I'm crossing my fingers!
When Jack Soo (Nick) died the show died with him i'm sorry to say it but it's a fact, Jack
I'll never forget the guy that walked into the station right up to Jack Soo and held out a bag of money and said, "I found this bag of money on the street and wanted to turn it in." Jack replied with one of his classic looks, "why?!" Best show ever, wanna fight?
Barney Miller never jumped. Great show, great cast, with tremendous subtlety and irony. Some of my favorite scenarios: 1)Deitrich the intellectual talking about the wonderful brilliance and artistry of the 3 Stooges, only to have socially inept Officer Levitt blurt out "I liked the ones with Shemp!!". Dietrich looks at him with the most condescending head shaking imaginable. 2) Fish and Barney are sitting together at Fish's desk, and both are injured. Barney has a cast on his leg, while Fish has the first known case of hemorrhoids for a sitcom character. Barney: "We stick out like a pair of sore thumbs" Fish: "I'd have settled for that!!!" 3) In the same episode, Fish says "when you are wearing a cast, the skin dries and it really itches - it can really drive you crazy". After a few exchanges, Barney starts frantically scratching underneath the cast. Fish: "What's wrong" Barney (screaming) "It itches!!!!" Fish (smiling): I told you! Other quick scenarios: Wojo under hypnosis trashes everyone and is unaware why everyone is pissed at him when he awakens. Yemana, tired of being ragged on about his bad coffee, says "if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything". When he serves a new batch, nobody says anything, and he disgustedly says "very funny". Barney scolds Yemana over his disorganized filing system when Yemana can not find an important file. When Yemana finds the file later in the episode, Barney rolls his eyes and asks him "out of curiousity what did you find it under"? Yemana replies "Some magazines". Barney Miller had some very poignant episodes as well. One involved a gypsy concentration camp survivor accusing a German joke shop owner of being a war criminal. Even that show had some funny moments. After the war criminal is let go, Barney asks the crestfallen Gypsy if there is anything else that he needs to tell them. The man says, "I have over 200 parking tickets!!"
I remember watching this show with my mom when I was five. I had no idea what the hell was going on most of the time, and my mom thought it was hilarious, so I laughed along. The only things I remembered from the original run was Wojo "it's spelled like it sounds," because that's what my family says about our last name; and the hash brownies. I remember my mom laughing so hard she almost fell off the couch, and me thinking, what's so funny about brownies? Now I know what's so funny about the brownies. A childhood mystery solved. God bless Barney Miller.
This show bowed out gracefully before the shark fin breeched the surface. The best three funny moments. Number One: Fish comes into the squad room and finds everyone running around. When he asks what's going on, he's told that some nut has a bomb and has holed himself up into the bathroom. The look on Fish's face when he says "Oh, my God!" is priceless. Number Two: When everyone is quarantined and have to stay in the squad room overnight. Harris starts talking in his sleep and starts saying **** about his co-workers especially "Barney Miller... compassionate jive-turkey." Number Three: Luger reprimands Harris and starts insulting his intelligence with racial slurrs. In response, Harris replies in a Uncle Tom voice, "Don't worry, Inspector Luger, sir, I'lls be a good boy from now on", before walking away in disgust. Barney pulls Luger into his office and reams him out for his unprofessional and demeaning behavior. Luger humbly apologizes to Harris and offers his hand. However, Luger extends it as if Harris is going to "slap him five." Harris calmly rotates Luger's hand into a regular handshake and basically saying FU without actually saying FU! Classic TV!
In the immortal words of Jack Soo, "Mushy, mushy, mushy." Ain't it the truth?
Never, ever did it completely jump the shark. There wasn't a defining moment. However, once Yemana (Beginning of the 1978-79 season) left the show due to health problems, and the only regulars were Miller, Wojo, Dietrich, Harris, and Leavitt a few episodes became a little dry. There were fewer characters to draw from, and many of the epuisodes ended with the four detectives sitting in the same shot and smiling at each other gaining one last word before the ending credits rolled. However, the show never really went downhill. It was always funny, the character mix was excellent, and so on. And, the theme song, in its three versions ove the eight season run, only got better. Excellent series!
This show never jumped! My all time favorite scene in a sit-com is in this show. Yemana asks Barney if he would like some coffee, and a guy in the cell asks if he could have a cup, too: Yemana "Coffee, Barn? Barney: "Sure, why not?" Person in cell: "Can I get a cup, too?" Barney "This is a police station, not a coffee shop!" Yemana "And we got the coffee to prove it!"
The show never jumped but it never quite got over the death of Jack Soo. I remember one time when the water was shut off in the station and Barney wondered how Nick had made coffee. Nick said he used rainwater that came in through the whole in the ceiling. Barney wondered about the quality of the water and Nick told him, "Not to worry, the asbestos in the ceiling acts like a filter." The guy was great. And when the cast raised their coffee cups to him as a tribute after he died was great.
I have been reading some of the memorable lines from Barney Miller and wanted to add my favorite line. Barney looks at Fish adjusting a rubber around his sock to keep it from falling down. Barney says "That's a dangerous thing to do. It can cut off your circulation." Fish deadpans, "I have no circulation. Wherever my blood is at the time......that's it." A great show that never jumped the shark. They even introduced the first gay cop that had the guts to announce he was gay after everyone became suspicious of everyone else when an anonymous letter showed up saying someone in the station was gay. Great writing.
Never did jump. The writing and acting were superb. We saw the trials and tribulations of the characters, from Barney's separation and reconciliation to Harris' reluctance to wear the uniform to Dietrich's intellectualism (I once worked with a guy like Dietrich.) One of my favorite moments is when the guys are watching Harris' very arty porno film. Barney matter-of factly asks "Where's the sex?" (He got an eyeful almost immediately.) In that same episode, where the film is to be scrapped, Dietrich asks for a print. Classic stuff.
Great TV moment. Barney has just spent several moments advising Dietrick that a little selective ignorance just might endear him to his colleagues who are tiring of his know-it-all approach. Dietrick acknowledges the wisdom of it, and Barney asks if there is any coffee. "How the hell should I know?" is the deadpan reply.
Never once did this show jump the shark. It was excellent from beginning to end. It improved every season, along with the theme song. I just watched the last episode, #168, and even there, at the end of its 8-season road, the show was funny, clever, realistic, and expertly crafted. As far as I'm concerned, it's the best series of all time, beating out heavies like Cheers, Seinfeld, Friends (definitely), and even All in the Family for consistent quality episodes week after week from day one in January 1975 to the end in May 1982. Their last words on the show were even great: "GOOD-BYE AND THANK YOU FROM THOSE OF US AT THE OL' ONE-TWO." It's been 20 years since it left the ABC airwaves, and there hasn't been an equal since. To Danny Arnold and the cast and crew of the show, I say: YOU'RE MORE THAN WELCOME.
Arguably the best sitcom of all time. The fact that it had numerous opportunities to jump the shark (Jack Soo's death, Abe Vigoda's departure, the additions of Steve Landesburg and Ron Carey, etc.) and instead got BETTER with the changes is a testament to the talented writers and actors. The hash brownie episode is the absolute best, but there were so many good episodes. Even the not-so-great ones had at least one good laugh in them. And I'm glad someone other than me remembers the "Omaha" episode!
I'm glad someone brought up the "About that raise, Barn..." line, because it was one of my favorites. There's another one no one has mentioned, and it will be with me any time I make cookies for the rest of my life: Barney is getting some coffee. Barney: "Hey, great, brown sugar! This stuff is so much better for you than regular sugar." Pause, looking at Yemana. Barney: "It IS brown sugar, right?" Yemana cranes his neck to see it. Yemana: "It is now." The deadpan delivery was priceless. Another line jumps into my head every time I hear this (incorrect) word, going back to the teacher who was striking out against incorrect grammar. He was on a tirade about what he was doing and Dietrich cuts him off with "Irregardless...." The guy almost gets whiplash spinning around. Plain and simple: you had to have a brain to enjoy this show. I didn't like it as much when it first came out because I was only 9 and most of it was over my head, but within a couple of years I got to appreciate it.
Overall, I liked it but I hated it when everything ground to screeching halt when Barney started on one of his 'WHY are we cops?' rants! The zillionth piece of plaster falls into the squad room and BOOM, Barney rants about how tough the work is, ungrateful everyone is and how nothing they do makes a dent. .all the while everyone else just stops what they're doing and waits it out like a testing of a tornado siren- and no one even comments on it afterward. These rants seemed to happen every three episodes lasted about five minutes and no one else makes so much as a peep during these nails-on-chalkboard unfunny groaners. Just ONCE I'd have liked someone to say to him 'Barn, life's tough and you chose to do this so if you don't like it, go home and do something else so the rest of us can do our work!'
I've met so many people who hated this show, either because of the then-typical one-room setting, which was a very dark and dingy precinct office, or because they felt the humour was too "intellectual". Not that that should be a bad thing, but there was plenty else there. That guy who kept recurring in different seasons--in one he was demonically possessed, in another he was a spontaneous human combustor (is that a word?--the interplay between Harris and Deitrich, the way each character's humour was so individual, the truly original freakshow of other officers, arrestees and victims--this show was actually much better in the later years than it was in the Fish days (and it's not that I don't love Abe Vigoda and all...)I just wish more people would check it out more often, season to season--like Seinfeld or Friends, it was a team show, and people who like it are people who've gotten to know the characters' foibles. As for realism, I'm sure it was only so-so, but this is comedy that's worth checking out as an example of intelligent--but not "intellectual"-- writing and an in-sync, in-the-moment, genius cast from the days when some TV actors were actually actors.
Never Jumped!! NEVER!! Just kept getting better and better! Even the supporting/guest actors were excellent: especially George Murdock as Lieutenant Scanlon, Internal Affairs. (He ranks alongside Colonel Flagg from MASH and Reverend Jim from Taxi!!) A true classic!!
Great writing, great casting, a sitcom that doesn't treat the audience as if they are stupid and spells everything out for the them. Perfect timing, sharp wit, characters you could love, and characters you love to hate. This show had it all! Class TV at it's finest. From Chano with his passion, to Harris with his class and sophistication, to Fish with his miserable existence, to Wojo with his boyish simplicity, to Yemana with his bad coffee, to Dietrich with his dry sense of humor and intelligence, to Levitt with his brown-nosing, to Lugar with his "leg stomp", to Mr. Kopeckny with his onslaught of misfortunes, to Barney and his strength and wisdom. . . .I SALUTE ALL THE MEN OF THE 'OLE 1-2! Absolutely superb show! The "Brownie episode" was the best television show, of any telelvision show, EVER. I laughed till it hurt! The very last episode of Barney Miller was the end of a terrific era. I remember getting so choked up. So many good actors, so many good storylines, so many classic lines, a true gem! If anyone wants to create a hit TV show, watch, listen, LEARN! They don't make shows like that anymore!
I've worked in a squad room for over 15 years. This show is the closest to real life police work EVER! Even COPS on FOX cannot compare since the cops on the show are always trying to impress the camera and end up faking it. There is no way to come closer to reality in a squad room. I miss Barney!
I loved this show. When it went off the air I was very surprised and felt betrayed. I thought, "How could they do that?" I still miss it.
BM never jumped. I know others can point to Jack Soo dying and/or Levitt getting promoted, and those moves might not have been strong, but never once did the humor or characters waver. Every show is worth seeing because the core still remained -- Barney, Wojo, Harris and Dietrich. Best moment -- To the chagrin of the other detectives, Wojo reveals his true feelings for his squad partners while under hypnosis, scathingly criticizing each one. That is, until he gets to Dietrich whom he glowingly refers to as the smartest man he knows. Dietrich's response: "I don't have to take that crap." Brilliant! Never, never jumped.
Sorry to say, as much as I love this show, it did take the leap when they brought in that younger detective (don't know the actors name but he had curly hair and looked a little like David Duchovny). By that time, Harris had become a one-note character: the eternal fop. Detrich's routine and pattern had become all to familiar (long diatribe taking a highly-intellectual approach to subject being discussed, then a casual, offhanded 360-degree one-liner for the punch line - he did this THE WHOLE SHOW!. And if they brought in one more hooker-with-the-heart-of-gold-who-falls-for-one-of-the-cops I was going to puke. The bringing in of the new, younger guy was just the icing on the cake. Great show, but sorry to say it did make the jump.
The show jumped when the regulars changed from stereotypes into complete persons. Specifically, when it used some drama in the personal lives of regulars(Harris' bankruptcy problems after writing "Blood on the Badge", and Barney separating from his wife.) They made the regulars somewhat mature and the tone seemed dramatic more of the time.
This show jumped a school of sharks when Linda Lavin became Wojo's love interest. Ugh!
Never jumped! I remember first watching this show in syndication back in the 80's, and it sems like the only shows I remember then when I first watched it are it's most notable ones, the hash brownies episode, and when Jack Soo died. A great show, quite an exception to sit-coms of it's time, and today even.
Barney Miller is my favorite show of all time. The show never jumped, even though everything short of a Birth happened to it. Characters died, came and went, the show ran for 8 years, etc. There were some dull and imperfect episodes, but it was overall a very intelligently written show. I like the comment above about how you had to have a brain and use it to watch the show. No other sitcoms today let you think. They put a laugh track in to tell you when you should laugh, and the comedy is so physical and obvious. With Deitrich, it's like having a dry teacher in high school that cracks jokes and puns so cleverly that you are the only one who gets them. His character was ingenious. Truth be told, I did tire of Wojo's soap box speils from time to time, but they were tolerable and executed, though often, very well. Scanlon was hillarious to say the least. Luger was irritating, but funny. You could shut the volume off on the TV and be bowled over just by his movements and mannerisms on the show. Barney's reactions to the situations were priceless. Harris's foppishness was extreme, but still believeable. Soo was amazing. I did want to clear a few things up, though. Levitt was NEVER PROMOTED TO DETECTIVE. Now and then, due to manpower shortages (after Soo's death), he'd be on temporary assignment in plain clothes, but he didn't get promoted until the final episode, and his promotion took effect at his NEXT precinct. Also, Levitt was NEVER GAY in the show. Zitelli, an occasional character was the gay police officer, not Levitt. I didn't like the earlier years nearly as much as after Chano (and even Fish) left. Chano's character, though good, was just too preachy and angry. His sermons may have been legitimate, but still too much of a soap box excursion. My favorite episodes are "Hash," and "The Vandal." "The Harris Incident" comes a close third. I want to see "The Search" where Harris dresses for mugging detail, as well as "Atomic Bomb," but I've missed their airings on TV Land every time. Barney Miller was not only one of the best shows ever, while it ran, but it's terribly underrated and unknown today. The characters were so funny, yet believeable and well-crafted. They related so brilliantly and hillariously to each other, as well. The theme song in its three versions (though the third was the funkiest and coolest of the three) was timeless, too. But the most amazing thing about the show is how perfectionist Danny Arnold held the quality of the show to so high a standard until he voluntarily retired the show in the Spring of 1982, finishing eight seasons. And to top it all off, the series finale, episode #168, "Landmark, Part III," was the best series finale I've ever seen. Barney Miller was also incredible for addressing so many controversial issues, and yet letting the audience decide which side to take instead of forcing their beliefs on them. Family Ties and even The West Wing come up short here. They're very one-sided and forceful in their one-sidedness. I can't recall there being any police comedies made (Save Car 54)...not to mention ones that were nearly as successful and long-running as Barney Miller. In a day and age where I'm getting so tired of all these police, courtroom and medical dramas on network TV (there are almost 10 NEW ones coming from the Big Four networks this coming season), a show as brilliantly done as Barney Miller is seriously needed. All this coming from me, a guy who was born 9 months after the show was canceled says something about just how good the show was.
Jumped when the women came on board. Call me a sexist, but the short, hostile one and Linda Lavin (of "Alice") just slowed things down. But it was pretty raw at the start, too. Glad the writing was fit to the actors better as the show went on. They seemed absolutely natural after awhile. Such a huge difference between an early episonde with Wojo's excitedly listing all the ammunition they needed during a stakeout and an endearing episode where he turns in his badge and later punches the plateglass window in frustration for having to go back in uniform b/c of "the Rand report". Wow, what an improvement! It seems others here found Hal Linden a lot funnier than I did. I thought he couldn't tell a joke, but that his contribution was as a straight man and to give the show balance, since EVERYONE of lower rank was a major cut-up. At least one person here pointed out the high rate of laughs -- one every one or two minutes. It was amazing. The set-ups would lead to a punchline, but then that punchline would be a set-up for another punchline. Some memorable lines/exchanges: In the episode where Yamana teases Harris about "the bottom dropping out" of the market: Harris: "I coulda bought Xerox at thirteen. Thirteen! But I thought, what do they need machines for when they got carbon paper?" After Wojo blows up at Luger: Barney: "You'll have to forgive Wojo. He can be very emotional." Luger : "Polish people are like that." During a blackout, a storekeeper shoots at Yamana, expecting a looter. Back at the station house: Storeowner : "I fought in the Pacific in WWII. Shooting was natural, second nature." Yamana : "Sometimes I wish I was Chinese." Fish : "But Bernice, I WAS listening to you. I just asSUMED, you'd be finished talking, by the time I closed the door." An orphan wants Fish to adopt her: Orphan : You know, some women men just can't get outta their system." Fish: "Maybe ONE day, they'll find a LAXative." After firefighters put out a fire started deliberately by a suspect: Barney: "Nick, check for water damage." Yamana : "Too late." Yamana bets he can stay away from gambling longer than Harris can stay away from cigarettes. A month of night duty is at stake. A blind man and a dispossessed vet leave the station house hoping to be new roomies. Barney: "I bet you they make it." Harris: "I bet you they don't." Yamana: "You're ON." Harris: "You LOSE." Harris lights up in triumph. Same episode: Landlord: "If you (Fish) had flushed that nut out when I told you to, I wouldn't have had to pay that demolition crew 12 hours overtime. I may sue the city." DA assistant: "A slumlord! I'd love to get YOU up on the stand!" Landlord: "No names! I could sue you too." Dispossessed vet: "City oughtta sue HIM. No decent plumbing, faulty heating..." DAA : "Good! Very good!" Vet : "Tell him about the rats." DAA: "Rats!" Landlord : "Hey, no rats in my buildings!" Vet: "I've had three running around my apartment so long, I've even given 'em names." Landlord : "I told you no pets!" Same episode: Yamana and Harris bring in a blind shoplifter from a department store. Harris : "He just doesn't know how LLLUCKY he is we caught him." Same episode: Mr. Roth, the blind man: "People keep keep taking from me. I thought, why can't I take a little?." Barney: "You've been ROBBED, Mr. Roth?" Roth: "Once every day and twice on Sunday. When you're blind, you rob easy. They're even coming up to my apartment." Barney: "They? Who's they?" Roth: "Hoods. Salesmen. Religious fanatics. Hello, Mr. Roth. How are you, Mr. Roth? I'm taking your radio and shoes, Mr. Roth. Goodbye, Mr. Roth." Barney: "Well, Detective Harris will take your statement." Harris: "Just take a seat over here, Mr. Roth." Yamana: "Can I take your coat, Mr. Roth?" Roth : "NOW I'M TAKIN' YOUR COAT, MR. ROTH!" Notice the escalation/rhythm that's built up between each person's line. The last five lines each use the word "take" and the name "Mr. Roth", to heighten the sense of the blind man's frustration. A dignified older woman had her fashionable purse stolen in the subway. She's drinking Yamana's infamous coffee. Yamana: "How's the coffee, Mrs. (So-and-so)?" Mrs. : "It tastes like pencils." Yamana : "That's not the coffee... That's the cup." Harris's submission to a magazine has been turned into an erotic story by the editors: Harris : "I shoulda known better than submit my story to a worthless, no-good, smutrag like yours. No, I do NOT want a free subscription. " Yamana : "DON'T HANG UP."
The weird afro guy shows up (the Dietrich wannabe) Eww.
I laughed reading my way down this list. Yes off course the brownies has to be the best episode. But does anyone remember when I guess someone threw away Jack Soo's dinner, thinking it was garbage? He looks at the stuff-allI remember is him saying chopped cabbage- and then he says, surprised "This IS garbage!" I think of that whenever I eat Chinese food. About like when we used to peel potatoes & throw it away, til some yuppie talked us into buying "Fried Potato Skins"! Barney Miller was great & I am still not convinced that this is Detrich's home planet.
Oh, my GAWD... never laughed so much as when I watched this show. Such talent, such comedy. Abe Vigoda is the definition of deadpan. The topper: Fish is headed to the men's room with a newspaper when Wojo, who's on the phone, yells to Barney that some of the guys are staking out the sewer downtown. Fish glances toward the men's room, then returns to his desk, muttering that he "doesn't want to obstruct justice." LMAO
Gotta relate my favorite exchange (it's kinda long). The precinct is being plagued by a copycat crook. Whatever crime is depicted Sunday night on Kojak, this guy does the same on Monday; whatever's on Mannix Tuesday, he does Wednesday; etc. Barney is blowing up at somebody about something when he notices Nick reading TV Guide and blows up at him for not having anything more important to do. Nick says it's the copycat crook, he thought he might get an idea of what he might do next. Barney gets all overly apologetic, says that's a good idea, and asks if Nick has learned anything. Nick says, "Lucy's pregnant." Later Dietrich comes up to Barney and suggests that they might check TV Guide to get ahead of the copycat crook. Barney tells him that Nick already thought of that. Dietrich asks if he learned anything, and Barney says, "Lucy's pregnant." Dietrich grins wickedly and says, "That Charlie Brown's a devil. isn't he?"
This show JTS when the writers fell into the habit of putting the characters on soapboxes to give the politically correct homily of the day. Not only was this not funny, but also, the ideas expressed were pretty banal and easily seen through, even by the standards of the time. Thus, Barney Miller became one of the shows that SNL skewered with its skit "The Self-Righteous." Still, I watched the show because (i) my parents liked it and (ii) Max Gail was hot.
Barney Miller NEVER JUMPED. Another example of a great ensemble show a la' Taxi, MASH,and Cheers. The loss of Jack Soo hurt the show definitely, but it was always consistently funny.
Never....If anyone in the world wants to know what it's all about to be a city detective, make a point to watch this show, whenever you can.Trust me, between the people that they had the characters dealing with and the reasons why the people were in the office it doesn't get any more realistic. Throw in the characters themselves and the relationships between the guys in the squad there is no other way to show detective work more acurately.
Barney Miller NEVER JTS! I thouroughly enjoyed the witty writing. I must say that one of my favorite scenes was the one in which the blind guy (one of the recurring guest actors on the show) was in the precint for something (can't remember) and while talking with Yemana, starts telling him that, although he's blind, he can still describe a person just by listening to him speak. The exchange goes something like this...Blind guy to Yemana: "I can tell just from listening to you that you're calm, collected, and cool under pressure." As Yemana nods in approval, obviously pleased with this assessment of himself, the blind, after pausing a couple of seconds adds, .."its either that or you're Japanese." The way Yemana's face deapans as he drops his cigarette is just too hilarious. This show was just GREAT! Still ranks as my all-time favorite.
It's hard to believe so many people think this program was good--you have to think that they haven't seen it recently. Unlike other great 70s sitcoms, such as All in the Family or Mary Tyler Moore, this simply doesn't hold up. The problem is that it was never really funny--the humor is all about ethnic stereotypes and urban angst, but without any real wit or edge. It combined with sophistication of Three's Company with the writing skills of My Mother the Car.
This show was one of the best comedies on TV.. true simple humour. It was not complex or full of touchy feeling crud that is on nowadays. No polically correctness. This show was just funny, funny, funny... To the cactus head at the start of this thread who said it was the stupiest show ever.. ok you are entitled to your opinion.. of course you thought that the Pukes of Haphazard was funny and intelligent. The comment about "one guy dying" was cheap.. Jack Soo passed away during the Barney Miller years and the cast made an awesome tribute to him. So think before you type you tripe head. Jack, may you RIP
Never jumped, though as some of the early posters mentioned, the Kenneth Tigar-warewolf episode came pretty close (I think Reinhold Weege was helming production at this time, and shows like that became his stock in trade after "Barney Miller" ended and he moved over to "Night Court"). On the other hand, Harris futilely hunting for his gun to shoot the guy in the cell singing "High Hopes" after losing his lawsuit over "Blood on the Badge" was from the same season and is one of my favorite scenes. Given Fred Silverman's love of the loud, crude and bombastic sitcoms during his reign at ABC, it's amazing that Danny Arnold was able to actually make "Barney Miller" more personality driven and adult as it went along during the late 70s, while other ABC sitcoms (i.e. "Three's Company" or anything post-"Odd Couple" from the Garry Marshall stable) were encorugaed to go for the cheap laugh or the easiest catchphrase to attract viewers.
When "Eric Dorsey" joined the cast and they under used him and basically wrote him out after 4 episodes! It would have been a great character to follow Jack Soo if used
BM jump the shark? you have to be kidding. I have had many conversations with friends over the yrs and I have told every one of them BM was the best show on tv, ever. I remember Yemana taking a stolen car report over the phone, Yemana "what'd the car look like?"...green doors...yellow fenders...dark hood...maybe nobody stole it, maybe it ran away!! The writing was priceless, the 2 gay guys oh yeah, the episode where det harris is showing the porn film he made to to the guys in the squad room and mr.roth (blind guy) is telling barney "down in front" the look barney gives him when he looks around to see who it was that was just too funny you could see dietrich almost start laughing during the scene. They don't make shows like this anymore, I wish tvland here in la would show it at a better time than 2:30 a.m.
Never jumped--like you'd see a shark around the old 1-2 (ha!) Seriously, my dad loved this show in its original run, and he was in law enforcement also. When TV Land started rerunning it, I got a great gift--I got the subtle jokes that flew over my (then)-tiny little head the first time around. My favorite exchange: Wojo is on the phone with the desk cop (Kogen?), he finds out Dietrich and Harris were shot at, wants to know if they're all right and chews out the poor sap when he doesn't get a straight answer. Then Barney comes out of his office. Wojo: "Harris and Dietrich were shot at. Barney: Are they all right? Wojo: (with the phone still in hand) They were investigating a break-in. Barney (frantic): WOJO!! Wojo: Yeah, they're all right, I'll fill you in. (Wojo goes back to the phone for about two seconds...) ...as soon as Kogen stops laughing". I love this show mostly because I see parts of myself in every single character, detective, witness, you name it. Well done!
I was so sad when this how ended and really treasured the reurns long after I'd normally have quit being interested. The original run of the show coincided with a time when I was a college student, shift worker, and then grad student, yet I tried to watch it when I could---one of the few shows of that era worth the effort. Except for the pilot which had an overly broad & stereotypical Harris, the show remained strong throughout its run despite the loss of various characters. I am even willing to overlook Levitt and Inspector Lugar who were annoying and un-necessary part of the cast. Mr. Kopechne (the werewolf mentioned several times) was one of my favorites, esp. when he wen after Lugar ("do your own damn paperwork"). i suspect that the the guys at the 54th were more liberal than the average cop, but not necessarily more soft hearted. the parade of characters was wonderful and probably part of the appeal to cops (along with all the paperwork). Afterall, the police and jail are our unsung mental health system. The show had begun to slump in the Neilsen's when it ended. It was a good time to go...still creatively on top. The final episode was one that truly worked...I especially liked harris being exiled to Queens (& his priceless response). that guy couldn't cut a break for himself.
Wonderful character-driven comedy. Other posters have already quoted many of my favorite bits of dialogue, but here's one I haven't heard: The guys are all suffering through a long night, and Yemana suggests, "Do what my grandfather did--tell yourself that if you go to sleep, you die." Wojo: "What if you want to go to sleep but you can't stop thinking about dying?" Yemana: "I dunno--I guess that's why they have opium dens."
This show never jumped and the reasons are very simple. The characters never "grew" or "developed" and they stopped before they ran out of ideas. They stuck with what worked and stopped while it was still working.
Never Jumped! And the brownie episode is still the single funniest comedy television episode of all time. I still die laughing at the rerun of that one.
Never never never jumped. Had a few misses maybe, but never jumped. I was just reading throught the comments and laughing my butt off. Couple of my favorites...Fish has to retake sharpshooter test. Has one last chance. Goes to get massage. Passes test. His wife Bernice has found out he went to massage parlor and is crushed......"Why didn't you ask me to rub your back" she queries. Fish replys.."Bernice you know I love you....but you rub me the wrong way". I love the one where Wojo and Linda Lavin go undercover as a married couple to try to find theft ring in a high class hotel. She is holding a negligee over her arm and her handgun and asks Wojo....."Do you think I should keep my gun under my pillow?" Wojo looks at her, points at the negligee and says "Ya....If you're planning on wearing that to bed". One of my all time favorites is where some semite Jewish (I may not have identified them correctly) are picketing the station for better protection as there has been a lot of breakins in there stores or something.....Luger takes a bull horn down to try talk to them and you can hear him out side the squad room ........"and why dont yous all go get a shave" Needless to say he came back into the squad room with his jacket ripped to shreds. It was a funny moment.
Never jumped, but yes, Levitt *was* promoted to the detective. I'm surprised (unless I've missed it) that no one has mentioned it. However, he was promoted on the finale, so it couldn't really JTS at that point. If you recall, Lugar always called him "Levine". On the last show, Levitt loses his patience, and says, "No. Not Levine. Levitt. Officer Carl Levitt!". Lugar looks back and says, "Correction: DETECTIVE Carl Levitt". One of the best shows ever.
An extremely rare example of a show that seemed to get better every year. (How many of THEM are around? Maybe The Odd Couple?) I thought Dietrich was a great addition to the show, he became my favorite character. Wojo developed through the years into a more complex, believable character. The writers and producers seemed to have a good feel for what was working and what wasn't - Dietrich stayed, but the two women detectives they tried, and that incredibly annoying Det. Dorsey were quickly written out. The occasionally appearing Scanlan was a bit of a caricature, but he was still funny. James Gregory was wonderful as Inspector Lugar, NYPD, bringing some heart to a role that could have been over the top and annoying. Ron Glass was perfect as Det. Harris. I missed Yemana much more than Fish, who I thought was funny but overrated. I thought their retrospective episode, saying goodbye to Jack Soo, was terrific; classy and original. Barney seemed to be the perfect boss. The final episodes, actually a four show arc to end it, were probably the best finale of any show ever and managed to be realistic, touching and a little melancholy even though Levitt and Barney both got the promotions they had been wanting for year. I wonder if the actors were just so good they were typecast; in TV and the movies they seemed to just disappear. They will live on in the ol' 1-2, though, for years to come. This series is a prime candidate for DVD release.
Dietrich was the best replacement character, ever!A buddy of mine would always recite the line from when Dietrich explains centrifugal force to a cab driver and his customer. When the driver said "then the doors fell off", Dietrich replied, "Well now you're talking gravity!" Oh my God, his delivery was priceless. "Where the hell did you get the atomic bomb!" is a close second. Yemana's lines were also amazing. The most consistantly funny show on TV.
Who the hell made the coffee after Jack Soo died? What was the point. The corollary for this show was the departure of Fish and Chico. I mean come on, near the end they were developing plots around Levitt for God's sake. How many times could WoJo massage the baseball, and we look at Harris with his big 'fro and bad suits? This show doesn't belong anywhere near the never jumped list.
Barney Miller has to be one of the reasons someone created television. It was a great show from start to finish My personal favorite moment (everyone mentions the hashish brownie plot)is a small conversation between Wojo and Barney. Wojo is going on about prostitutes, how they are horrible and how they are only out to sleep with men for money. He goes on how Mrs. Miller is a virtuous woman and she shouldn't have to put up with 'those kind of floozies' living in the same city. Barney's trying to explain things nother way when his wife comes in and kisses him, makes some cute remark and then says, "honey how about some money?" The look on Max Gails face is priceless.
I read about 2/3 of the posts on this fine series. I was never crazy about Fish and his bathroom jokes (Archie Bunker had broken that barrier years before) and it DID improve when he left--though Vigoda's performance in a return episode was excellent; also Harris and Wojo became less stereotypical, giving two fine actors a chance to spread their wings. I LOVED Chano (can't remember the circumstances of his exit), loved the Jack Soo tribute, and I loved inspector Luger. This dry exchange works better on the stage than the page (because of the talent): LUGER: (entering) Wojo, Dee Dee, Har. HARRIS:....Lug I've also heard many real life cops say this is the closest TV show to their reality. For the person who said the 'criminals' were not realistic, apparently you haven't spent any time in NY. There are people here who are (in their way) AS scary as rapists and murderers. This also reflected a reality: with the budget cuts of the late 70s a lot of mental institutions closed. Guess where most of those people went--into the streets! Also I loved that it was a multi-ethnic cast--I don't think this was at all a nod to 'political correctness' but again reflected reality. And, to the poster who said 'Levit went gay'--I don't remember that but I DO remember a recurring gay (cop) character that was done so well--he was neither a swishy queen or a macho poser--he was just "a guy". Even today, I think this is one of the best written gay characters on TV. As to this being a show aimed at 'guys', well maybe it was, but I've heard more than one woman talk about the beefcake on the show. I ALSO love the theme song, and, the opening and closing credits showing the WTC get to me after 9/11. That shot could have been taken 15 minutes from my home in Jersey. Sorry for the digression. This show pulled the plug before before there was even a shark on the horizon. Still works in reruns (when Im up that late--why doesn't TV LAND put Barney on in the evening and stick Gilligan into the insomniac time slot)
Never jumped. More Consistent then Night Court, but I liked both almost same. The scene where Jack Soo eats the hash Brownies was awesome. But when he drank the coffee of rusty water, almost fit my family! I almost laughed my took-us off (sorry I can't spell in Czech).
Absolutely one of the top ten best. Like most sit-coms set in a work place, I don't think anyone could say they hadn't worked with one of these guys. I know I have. Our division cheif was an exact double of Hal Linden and Barney. There was the Wise-cracking Southern Jew, the hip black guy (actually in our office he was from India), etc. Working for the government, this show really hit home, and dealth wtih real-life issues I've encountered: lay offs, demotions, bureaucracy, and always waiting to move the office or transfer to a new/unknow posisiton. It is well known that most professional police officers in real life will say this show was the absolute most realistic TV cop show ever. They claim that most of their time is not pursuing criminals, but spent filling out forms. The banter that goes on is classic, real, and true. I still try to catch a re-run whenover I can.
I believe that Barney Miller is a legitimate contender for the title of best character driven comedy television show of all time. Throughout its first run this show was consistently good despite cast changes over the years. I give credit to the producers for knowing when certain characters weren't making the show work and making the appropriate adjustments. For example, they had the good sense to retire Phil Fish when his bathroom jokes and endless kvetching started to get a bit long in the tooth. Barney's wife was also written out after the first several episodes because she really didn't add anything to the show. And although I liked his character, I think Gregory Sierra had taken the Detective Chano character about as far as he could (kudos for the episode in which Chano shot and killed a suspect). Sometimes the cast changes were driven by other factors, such as the untimely death of Jack Soo. Soo's deadpan portrayal of Detective Nick Yemana was sidesplitting, even if you knew another of the endless series of "bad coffee" jokes was coming. Ron Glass (Detective Harris) and Steve Landesberg (Detective Dietrich) were both first rate replacement characters who brought something new and different to the show and kept it fresh. My favorite all time episode of BM is the second part of a two parter where Harris, working undercover as a homeless man, is kidnapped and calls the 12th Precinct from a Stuckey's in North Carolina. When Woho told Barney to ask Harris to pick up a pecan log for him I about had a heart attack from laughing so hard! A great show that NEVER, EVER jumped!!
This was a great show from start to finish. I still catch reruns when I can. One of the many good scenes was as follows: During the episode where Wojo is having problems in "bed" Detriech approaches Wojo & in the discussion states that basically impotence is only a short term problem & isn't something to be too concerned about. The next scene shows Detriech holding a sheet of paper that "suddenly goes "limp" (innuendo here)" while standing in front of Wojo. The look on Wojo's face is priceless...the look is a mixture of disbelief & of being P/Oed at Detriech at the same time. Stuff like this is what made this show such a winner.
I was seven when this show came on. I watched it to the end. As an adult, I can articulate my thoughts, but back then, I just felt like an adult to be able to watch a show without gimmicks. No 'aaaaaayyyy'. Even the set was boring (no lively colors and things that go "bing"). Still, some episodes register. The farewell episode to Jack Soo felt real when you realized that you were looking at his empty chair. I liked Wojo and Dietrich most of all. Wojo making bad arrests, then having to apologize was priceless. An apology, a handshake, and a bowling ball fixed that one up. Also, the one where he arrested a guy for having a flag on his pants, then wouldn't let him sit down during the whole episode. I can't put Dietrich anywhere, but just picked up on his dry wit. The homosexual was funnier than all get out. Barney asking him about his fiance "Who's the lucky...lady?" The last show seemed unreal. Barney turned off the lights, then closed the door. I really thought that quality shows had to be kept alive (like Shakespeare) on PBS or something. Man, I felt smart when I watched this show. I envy those who were old enough to get the ones that got past me--brownies, etc. When will I see a DVD set?
It started to leave the ground with the creepy kid who replaced Deitrich. However, Hash Brownies makes up for nearly anything, as does the addressing of real issues (like homosexuality and racism) with humor and compassion.The stage-like delivery, perfect timing and complete lack of prima donnas in the cast should command respect for the professionalism of the cast and crew even to people who don't like the humor (or understand the references.) And there's the great line when Yemana's ten-year anniversary goes by unnoticed until the last second and he's pissed. The closing exchange as he walks out the door is super(a speech about 'going on a long lunch and betting on a horse and maybe not coming back; you make your own coffee'to which Wojo says "Wow. Usually he only says one or two words." To which Harris says, "Wojo, I think that was two words." And for the record, in response to the comment about it being a guy-show, I can vouch for at least four women who love it.
When Wojo brings in Hash Brownies; in decline it was better than 99% of the shows that were ever out there, but it was the ultimate moment of pure hilarity. Mushy mushy.
Maybe the show never jumped the shark, but they knew it was coming. During one of the rare outside the squad room episodes, Detriech and Barney are at a stakeout, Barney is about to leave. Detreich says, "Wanna stay? Taxi is on in five minutes." Taxi really was on in five minutes.
This show never jumped and I loved the hash brownie bit, I still have the image of Fish coming back high and the burgler in shock on how Fish was jumping roof tops chasing him. Ohh... don't know if anyone else wrote this but, Levit was not gay. They knew someone was and they thought it was him. It was the Mailroom Cop, if I am not mistaken. And good lord did I love the Gay couple that was always getting arrested. Great show!!!!!
Barney Miller never jumped the shark! When i was working 17 hour days and got home at 3am at night the only show i'd see during the day was Barney Miller but then TVLand took it off. By the way the gay cop on the show was named Zentelly. He was only on the show once or twice,and Dietrich wasn't brought in after the retirement of Fish or the death of Yemana, he was there at the beginning of the 76-77 season,and he was there
Yes, I agree, making Levitt dettective put them on the ramp, though they did have the sense to pull the show before the chum fest.
Never jumped! Never! Although the shark did try to take a bite out of the pier it stood on a couple of times. I watched this show from day one (I believe the weird "Hot-L Baltimore" debuted the same night) and loved it from the "jump". It took awhile to find it's land-legs with the early secondary plot lines involving Barney's wife (Barbara Barrie), but the shark never got it and from the Chano "shooting" episode onward the show moved further inland and took up residence in it's spacious penthouse digs in downtown Unjumpable City. Many have recounted the classic "Hash Brownies" episode (which was a first cousin to the Sanford and Son masterpiece "Wild Parsley" Redd Foxx-less episode) where Fish's high led him to Superman-like leaps across rooftops pursuing criminals, the infamous Harris sleep-talking/quarrantine show and the brilliant "Omaha" exchange between Dietrich and Yemana...but there were other small moments that will stay in my mind forever: 1.) Harris' disgust when after the precinct has been vandalized (with a scrawl of "Capt. Miller is a Mo-" the rest obscured by the wall near the hallway) he finds a beautiful alpaca sweater of his has been torn apart. He lifts the sundered article, looks at it and bitterly splutters, "Oh, there was no need for THIS!" as if this act was the crossing of the line. Wojo chimes in that his signed Yankees baseball has been broken from it's base and Harris angrily spits back, "You can fix a baseball! But you can NOT "fix" Al-PACA!" 2.) The episode where they bring in a man who "appeared" atop the arch at Washington Square Park---whith no one having seen him climb up. The crazed gentleman claims to be from the future and has popped back for a visit. After several wacky pronouncements about life in his time to come he's deemed certifiable and is to be taken away when he hears Dietrich's name mentioned. "Dietrich? Arthur Dietrich? THE Arthur Dietrich?", he exclaims---and proceeds to fall all over himself praising Dietrich to the others for great deeds that the already mysterious (to his comrades) Dietrich will someday perform---which freaks out everone but Arthur who the man is honored to shake the hand of. A moment of inspired lunacy tinged with the constant off-centered wariness of the enigmatic Dietrich is sheer comic genius. 3.) Inspector Luger. His character's caught some flack on the board, but as a lifetime New Yorker of 40 years, I have seen this character everywhere...the guy from the old school who's hung around just long enough to see the world blow past him...as he revels in what's in the rear-view mirror of his life. Whenever he'd get lost in a reverie about his old buddies on the force, we'd just lose it. One scen with barney stand out in particular. They'd been discussing euthanasia when Luger started waxing nostalgic: "Ahhhh Bah-ney...I don't wanna go out hooked up to a bunch a wires like a DeSoto in the shop...I wanna go out like Murphy did---BOOOOM! Blew him up in the middle a' Fifth Avenue! That's how a man goes out! (BEAT) Not like ol' Brownie...all stretched out like a carrot in a hospital bed. Bah-ney...promise me...if I'm ever like that, I want you to come in that room and RIP that tube outta my nose! Turn off that thing that poops for ya! YANK the plug on every thingamybob in that room and let me die like a man! (LONG BEAT) But...you just make damn sure there's no hope for me first. After all Bah-ney, you're a cop...not a doctor fer chrissake!" An utterly befuddled Barney just stands there mouth agape at this bizarre moment until they cut away. My brothers and I STILL remember that exchange and quote from it and laugh at it. Luger's lonely Thanksgiving "I'll-be-fine-Oh-God-someone-please-invite-me-over" shpiel about "going home, heating up some turkey roll on the hotplate and watching the ol' DuMont", may be his second finest moment. Every character on this show lived and breathed, (and sometimes died) and came to exemplify the true secondary family one forges at a workplace where you spend so much of your waking hours. The show was brilliant, witty, gut-busting funny and boasted some of the best examples of perfect sitcom timing you'll ever want to see. In addition to having a funky-assed theme and spawning a spinoff that had an even funkier theme (Why no DJ has sampled the theme from "Fish" is beyond me! :)
Barney Miller is one of the finest-written sitcoms ever created. Jumped The Shark?!? What're you people, goofy?? In addition to the wittiest scripts ever authored, BM possessed actors who had the keenest sense of timing and delivery one could possibly hope for. Rather than drone on about this episode or that, read the long narrative posted just ahead of mine...well written, my friend! I couldn't have said it any better. No, Barney Miller could NEVER have Jumped The Shark. The Shark feeds on lack of talent, poor writing, and bad production. Had the Shark taken a bite out of Barney Miller, I believe it would've immediately puked on a mouthful of genius...
My favorite Barney Miller moment came when the squad was screening Harris' porno film (sting). After numerous overbudget escapades, the film is finally finished and is being watched by the detectives and, for some unremembered reason, an insurance guy. The insurance guy deadpans "Who made this film?" Harris proudly puffs up and says " I did". The insurance man, flashing a puzzled look, says in the flattest of possible voices, "Why?"
Dietrich was great. Episode where the priest gets arrested and no one wants to book him except Dietrich. Then the end of the show when Barney asked Dietrich "what are you going to say if you die and find out you are wrong and there is a god?" Dietrich's response "Whoops".
A great show at first but cast changes ruined it and somewhat like M*A*S*H* it became caught up in it's own "greatness".
The new characters really detracted from the show in my opinion. Detrich, Dorsey, the guy from Narcotics that was there for a cup of coffee, the internal affairs guy, it goes on and on. No doubt that Barney Miller was one of my favorite shows of all time but it was also one of those shows that ran out of things to say. The episode where the architect blew up his own building and everybody looked out what was supposed to be a window was terrible. I loved the show but it doesn't deserve such a hallowed place next to the Simpsons.
"Barney Miller" was never a monster hit or a consistent ratings winner. In fact, its chief contribution may have been that characters were all regular people, like folks all of us know, with their little quirks that distinguish them from everyone else. That's what allowed "Barney Miller" to be the anchor of ABC's Thursday Night line-up for practically its entire run. Producers addressed personnel changes without flinching. The spin-off for Fish stands out as the only notable error in judgment for the brilliant creative team behind "Barney Miller." Only when ratings were consistently low did it become apparent that 12th precinct was close to booking their last prisoner. And it wasn't any particular event that garnered such ratings. "Barney Miller" had simply run its course, having never compromised the brilliance in its writing, direting, or acting. By saving the 12th precinct's exit from that crummy office until the 3-part finale, "Barney Miller" was never forced into shark-jumping position. Everyone raise your cup of bad coffee: "Here's to the old 1-2!"
I learned dry humor and wit from this show when I was a kid. This is another one of those shows that my father would always watch and I wasn't big enough to get control of the TV yet, so I had to watch it too. Thank God he made me watch it, because it is simply one of the corner stones of my sense of humor. As a side note, don't you hate it when a show becomes intwined with another one in your head because they were on back to back in your daily TV viewing routine? For instance, I cannot think of Barney Miller without thinking of Night Court which was on right after it on the FOX re-runs. Annoying because there is no comparison between the two, but they are interconnected for me now. Its 2004 now, and we are back to no re-runs again. Are these coming on DVD or anything? Anyone know?
I watched it from the moment it became a regular show in early 1975, and there are too many great moments to list. An early poster mentioned the transvestite played by Gabriel Dell, who was a very un-stereotyped one (which might surprise many people), and that one had two very good lines. He turned out to be an ex-marine, which disturbed Wojo (who was also one). Wojo said under his breath, "Marine? Maureen O'HARA." Then, when the man was released, he still needed to change into regular clothes, and didn't want any of his friends to know. Harris said, "Do you have a girlfriend? Maybe she could bring you some clothes." Wojo said, "Harris, that isn't nice. What would HE be doing with a girlfriend?" The man (who was straight) said very casually, "The same things YOU do with one." Someone asked about that Abe Vigoda line being removed from the "hash brownies" episode. I'm sure someone's answered this, but as far as I understand, it was removed as part of the huge theatrics attached to the "war on drugs" (but I'm sure I've heard it at least once in re-runs). If I had to name a favorite one, it would be the one where Roger Bowen (who's known in kind of a lopsided way from the film version of MASH) played the man who murdered a candy machine for constantly cheating him, and called it "a matter of principle" (the story's way of kidding people who overuse that phrase). There was one scene that really used Steve Landesburg's deadpan look especially well. An English professor ha been arrested for attacking a billboard because its slogan used bad grammar. He told Dietrich, "It's just that I can't stand to see the English language abused in any way." Dietrich said, "IRREGARDLESS, you'll have to answer our questions." My "tribute" to Steve Landesburg is that I can never see or even think about Gregory Peck without thinking of his imitation of him in the first Dietrich episode (an extremely good Gregory Peck imitation, coming from someone who couldn't look less like him, stays with you)."
This site is addictive. It's great re-living some of these older shows through other people's experiences. Barney Miller did the sensible thing and bowed out gracefully before the fin appeared. Ranks up there with "The Dick Van Dyke Show" for me. Ensemble casts are a real gamble for TV. Difficult to get the right mix. These guys had it. I spent 24 years in the U.S. Air Force and I can tell you...when a bunch a guys (and increasingly, girls) get together with some idle time on their hands, you'd not believe the surreal conversations and observations that surface. Barney Miller captured that aspect of working a job that depends on a certain amount of camaraderie to a tee. The brownie ep is the funniest thing ever put to video tape. I'm always shocked at the decomposition of current TV and it's never more underscored than when you watch one of these classic shows.
NEVER JUMPED!!!!! This show is still entertaining after having been off the air over 20 years! Good news folks.. the first season - all 13 episodes are out on DVD!! I purchased it recently on EBAY. The show is still a lot of fun. I used to watch the show with my dad (who was a CO on Rikers' Island in NY) during it's original run and he would explain any of the details civilians might not know about. He admitted this show did well when it came to keeping the cop shop stuff accurate. Hard to pick a favorite - I loved the brownie episode, but I REALLY loved the episode when Wojo and Wentworth go undercover at a hotel to catch a thief. By episode's end, you got to see a bit how police politics worked (watching Wojo and Wentworth surrendering their collar so the hotel dick could keep his job) and the special relationship Barney had with his squad. If Linda Lavin hadn't gone on to "Alice", I'd like to think Det. Wentworth would have stayed longer at the one-two. She was the only woman who really held her own against the guys. I'd like to imagine she and Wojo eventually got married, put in their 20 years and retired to greener pastures. By now ALL of the squad would have long since retired!! I would love to see a reunion movie - if anything just to see the old gang together again before we lose them!! Jack Soo as Det. Yemana was priceless and the show really lost a lot when he died - thankfully we still had other great characters to help fill the void. Sadly, we've also lost the irrepressible James Gregory, who played Insp. Lugar, and Florence Stanley who played the long suffering Bernice Fish. As for the revolving door of one or two episode detectives, I wish Det. Guardino, (played by Michael Lembeck in the first season episode, "Hair") could have stayed with the squad. He had a lot of potential to play with having been a Narc and having a baby face! A little trivia: Lembeck is the son of Harvey Lembeck (best known for his role as leader of the biker gang that always crashed the "Beach Party" movies of the '60s) and the brother of Helaine Lembeck, who played Judy Borden on "Welcome Back Kotter". Currently Michael and Helaine are running "The Harvey Lembeck Comedy Workshop" in Los Angeles. Both pop up from time to time in acting roles. Long live Barney Miller!!
"Barney Miller" is as good as TV comedy gets; funny without being vulgar; and moving without being preachy. This is one of those rare shows that got better and better as the seasons progressed. I understand that the creator Danny Arnold suffered a heart attack from all the work he put into the show to get it just right -- and it paid off. I actually don't like the first season too much when the show was just getting its bearings and the characters weren't as complex and interesting as they would later become. Did anyone notice that in the 1st season, the squad room seemed dirtier and murkier (and so did the detectives)?? Det. Harris was more of a stereotypical "funky black dude" in that first season, I'm glad he evolved. I am also glad they got rid of Chano, another stereotype. As much as like Fish, he really did not "dominate" the show at all and he was a fool to leave it for his own series. And a big round of applause to the late James Gregory who perfectly portrayed the eccentric, lonely Inspectoir Frank Luger, one of my all-time favorite characters ever!
Never jumped, nor did it even come close. It was one of the few sitcoms that could survive numerous cast changes (deadly for most sitcoms) and still seem as sharp and funny as ever. Since a lot of people are describing their favorite Yemana moments, I'll share mine: Yemana is eating Japanese food, but only has one chopstick. He decides to improvise using a pencil. He's momentarily distracted, either by a phone call or some of the crazy happenings at the station (not sure which), but continues eating. Suddenly, completely deadpan, he says, "My God--I've eaten my eraser!" Not only was that the single funniest moment on that show, it has to rank among the funniest moments in TV, period. While his death didn't make the show jump, it left a hole incredibly difficult to fill.
I thought Deitrich was a good change for the show. The show would of gotten stale if we kept seeing a continuing storyline of hookers. "Still waiting for season two!"
I was very pleased to find BARNEY MILLER among the few and the proud because I whole heartedly agree that this show never came close to jumping the shark. This was a supremely entertaining sitcom with superior writing and a flawless ensemble cast headed by the wonderful Hal Linden as the calm at the center of the comedy storm. This show never failed to deliver the laughs, but it also made you cry and it made you think. The cast was uniformly wonderful, from Steve Landesburg to Max Gail and I absolutely loved the too-rarely seen Barbara Barrie as Barney's wife. This was television comedy at its finest. I'd love to see a reunion show but it would be hard to watch without the fabulous Jack Soo (miss you, Jack). Great show that never even approached the shark ramp.
I feel like a broken record after all these comments, but for sure, Barney Miller never jumped. There are not many shows that remain so vividly in your memory that you can recall facial expressions 20 years later. The Brownies episode was a classic, and I'm glad others remember Harris putting the young punk in his place by pointing out that he's got something the kid will never have: CREDIT. You'd think he'd say "self-respect" or something soulful like that, but the writing on Barney Miller was so original, it just came at you from the most unexpected directions. But one episode that stays with me was the one where a recovered flasher falls off the wagon and ends up being arrested. Just like alcoholics, it seems flashers have self-help groups, and his group buddy, another recovered flasher, comes down to the police station to try to help out his straying comrade. There's a moment when the friend, who I recall was rather a tall man, has to take off his overcoat, and I guess those old flasher reflexes just never go away, because he sort of jerks the coat open very abruptly. The momentary look of shock that flits over Hal Linden's face, even though the guy is fully dressed under his coat, is so perfect and priceless, I laugh just thinking about it. And I can play it in my mind as if I'd just seen it this evening. A truly great show.
When the lame-ass Dietrich wannabe popped up. The show was about to end and they threw this fool in with the cast. Fortunately, he was only in a few episodes. Other than him, Barney Miller ruled. The storylines were pretty ahead of their time...a sperm bank scenario...medical marijuana. Dietrich and Harris were great, but a great episode was when Fish ate the pot brownie and kicked ass. Few shows could pull off a whole show on only one set. It was infrequently that the action would shift to Barney's office or another site. Overall, aside from the Afro mishap, this is an underrated show.
Never jumped. My 2 faves both involved Dietrich. One was where he was hooked up to a lie detector and started telling this ridiculous story how he was from outer space and the machine read him as telling the truth. The other was when a criminal happened to lock Dietrich in a cell. Barney told Harris to let him out, and Harris says "Right now?". Then Harris says to Dietrich as he opens the door, "All right, I'll give you a break." To which Dietrich replies, "Thanks, RONALD." It loses something if you don't get it immediately, but it was a reference to Ronald McDonald and you deserve a break today. Hilarious stuff, and just the kind of droll humor you'd expect from Dietrich's character.
No, it didn't jump, but it came very close when they brought in Linda Lavin's character and that Deitrich wannabe, Dorsey. Clearly the weakest of the bunch. Levitt making detective was a good short-term move, but demoting him back into uniform was genius! I thought when they turned out the lights at the end of the finale was more than fitting. I could stand to see it again. Is there anyone out there who can make it happen again? PLEASE?
I can't believe no one mentioned the guy in the Witness Protection Program who kept committing crimes. His case agent came in and told him that this time, they were going to move him to Kansas. He asks, "Kansas? What's in Kansas??" And the case agent says, "Wheat!"
Never Jumped. Never, ever even came close. One of the great ensemble casts ever assembled. So many episodes and plots come to mind, but here's one of my favorites: Barney is moving back home with his wife, Liz, after a separation. But, the hotel he's been staying at won't refund him the unused balance of his rent. So, generosity springs from adversity, and Barney offers up his room to some homeless men milling around the stationhouse. Of course, Dietrich had some classic words of wisdom for Barney - "It's not often that you can do something for your fellow man, and stick it to a hotel, at the same time." Priceless.
Someone mentioned the actor Michael Lembeck, and he was very good in that early episode, one of the first I ever saw, and he would've been good as a regular actor on it (his character, at the beginning, was almost a sort of sitcom "Serpico" imitation, if that makes any sense). One of the better later episodes had Barney actually going to jail for not naming an informant (something usually associated with REPORTERS), and it had one moment I liked, because of something it DIDN'T do. When Barney was taken to the cell by the guard, the guard took out a rubber glove, and put it on very tightly. When Barney saw it, and realized what it meant, he gave a grim look, that was only SLIGHTLY funny. To me, this was infinitely better than most of those worn-out "cavity search" jokes, because it was funny and serious BOTH, and Hal Linden's look seemed to capture that just right. One person who hasn't been mentioned here a whole lot is Florence Stanley, who was so great as Bernice Fish. She had one of the best lines about "Fish" of the whole series. He was missing for his last day at work, and she talked to someone in "missing persons", and gave him a picture of Fish. Detective : Do you happen to have a COLOR photograph? Bernice : That IS a color photograph.
I haven't seen the show since the early eighties but after reading the pages of comments I can't believe nobody brought up Wojo's relationship with the amnesiac nun or when they revealed that his name was Stanley -out of town mugging victim. Another episode, they needed a German-English translator to clear up a dispute between a German mother and American adoptive parents. In exquisite deadpan he walks over to her and asks, "Have you seen any good movies lately" in German. I don't think there were subtitles which gave the scene so much more class. Another episode, Wojo and Yemana were looking out at the incoming fog and waxing poetic, (the fog comes in on little cat's feet . . .) then Ron Glass' character, the aspiring writer, says "Thick as Pea Soup". Nobody could beatJack Soo's expressions! There's so may more excellent situations, the guy with the shoe fettish, the guy who flew off the building, the deaf prostitute and her deaf pimp. . . This show was the Jimi Hendrix of sitcoms. Nothing since can approach it.
Oh, people, people! Abe Vigoda was hilarious as Fish on Barney Miller. Maybe it’s because I always think of him as the heavy Tessio in The Godfather, but he was funnier than an orangutan with the hiccups with that deadpan expression on his face. I stopped watching it when he left the series.
Barney Miller: After stumbling upon people's comments about this show i fell compelled to reply; It was clever without being particularly funny - hard to relate to and also lacked any credibility. I grew up with this show at a time when there wasnt much on TV even in So calif., 3 major networks and PBS on your rabbit ears. Even so BM (lol) wasnt painless to watch and you only did so if you had absolutely nothing else to do. Likeable characters but in all honesty, tedious very ditto even in reruns. Better than a lot of other TV, thats all.
This show NEVER JUMPED! Most think this. It is ashamed it was taken off when it was. So suddenly. What I do not understand is back when the show was still on--it also seemed well viewed in syndication on week nights. I rarely see it on syndication anymore. Sure sometimes TV land may show it briefly but for the most part I never see this in syndication. Barney Miller was outstanding!
Never Jumped! Besides being one of the few shows to portray mature adults and their problems in anything resembling a dignified way, it was brilliantly written and hilarious. Steve Landesberg handled the "savant" gag, so frequently abused on other shows, like a real pro. The parade of New Yorkesque weirdos, lowlifes, lost souls and creatures from the inner depths lent color and verisimilitude to the show. Few programs could pull off plots that were entirely dialogue-driven, with virtually no action (merely described off-screen events), a dreary, static set that never varied or rotated, and, for the most part, the absence of typical American sitcom "insult" humor. Astonishing that it ran so long.
A rarity: Twin jumps occurred for "Barney Miller." The true "jump the shark" moment was when Abe Vigoda left for that detestable spin-off, "Fish" (a show that should have served as a proper omen for the evils of "Full House"). But the absolutely knell of death was Sgt. Levitt going from an occasionally-recurring bit gag to a character one wanted to lock in that bathroom down the hallway, then call the demolition crew to raze the place. Too bad they missed that plot wrinkle in the last show. Toss in Inspector Luger's increasingly evident early-onset Alzheimer's (or at least that's about as funny as it was), and it's no surprise that the show was written down as abruptly as it was. When Vigoda was induced to leave for a starring role --- a move similar in short-sightedness to McLean Stevenson with "Hello, Larry" --- the long, slow slide began, but that last season was hellish.
After Jack Soo (Nick Yemana) died, and the numbers of detectives of the ol' one-two dwindled to five. After J-T-S, the show shortly began giving more air time to lesser and more poorly written characters Levitt (Ron Carey) and Luger (James Gregory).
I don't believe this show EVER jumped. One of my favorite moments was when they arrested a guy for disturbing the peace or something,and he said he was a breathairian,and all you needed to live was oxygen. He sees Dietrick eating a sandwich and asks him for a bite,to which Dietrick replies,"You just had some air!"
Two classic quotes from the show I haven't seen mentioned... Fish, when asked how long he's been married, replies slowly, "All my life". And Luger, when he is having colde feet when about to be married to Agnes (which he pronounces Ag-o-ness as in Ag-o-ny), says to Barney: "It's not the marrying part Barney... it's the Ag-o-ness part". Ok - maybe not a word for word quote, but I haven't heard that line in a good 20 years.
Favorite Harris line: "If you can't afford to go first class, CHARGE IT" This show was the BEST, Jerry, the BEST!
I feel bad for saying it, but I have to agree with others that it was better without Fish. I was just a kid at the time, mind you, and I wonder if I would appreciate what he added to the mix more, now. A classic among classics.
I distinctly remember the gay cop episode. They had discovered which cop was gay, and everyone was acting all mature and cool with it, and levit all quiet in the back, goes, "I'm gay"!" it was teh last line of the last show of one season. Left us hanging all summer. Was he being sarcastic? Was he being truthfull? We would have to wait to find out. I think I never did find out.
I watch the reruns if Fish is around, but that's about it. Sometime around things changed rapidly--Dietrich would have been great as a recurring guest, but not every week. I hated Levitt and The Inspector. But for me the killer was Wojo's bad toupee and the change in his voice, and the whole energy level of the show went from sitcom to Waiting for Godot. That and how many times can you have a nut take over the entire office and threaten to kill everyone? It seemed like every 3rd episode had that plot.