“Barney Miller” Character Analysis: Abe Vigoda as Detective Phillip Fish

[Zoneboy]

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The character who most casual fans identify with Barney Miller is Detective Philip Fish. Many people who have never seen the show are aware that Abe Vigoda was part of the cast. This is mostly due to the fact that Vigoda made frequent cameo appearances on Late Night with Conan O'Brien (as well as the fact that he played Tessio in first Godfather movie). However, Vigoda being the sole link for many to Barney Miller is extremely unfortunate. Of the eight seasons that original episodes of Barney Miller were produced, Vigoda was only a part of the cast for three full seasons(he only appeared in the two-part season four opener which was called Good-Bye,Mr.Fish). By the time that Vigoda said his final goodbye on "Barney Miller", he was already starring in his spinoff series Fish. Fish first aired in February 1977, so for a time Vigoda was a regular on both shows. Fish was Vigoda's show created for Vigoda's character, so he was gradually being phased out of the Barney Miller throughout the third season.

By time Vigoda made his exit, his "replacement" (Steve Landesberg as Det. Sgt. Arthur Dietrich) had been introduced to the audience. Dietrich was a recurring character on Barney Miller from the middle of season 2. The reason I put the word replacement in quotations is because Dietrich was an entirely different character from Fish and therefore was not really replacing Fish. The creators of Barney Miller were preparing for the departure of Fish for quite some time. According to Vince Waldron's extremely informative book Classic Sitcoms, Vigoda himself and ABC network executives were pushing the creators to give Fish his own separate show by the second season of Barney Miller. The series Fish only ran for only 34 episodes. This is similar to what happened a few years earlier when McLean Stevenson decided to leave M*A*S*H after only three seasons. But what both Vigoda and Stevenson departing their respective shows when they did, proves that if a show has a great ensemble cast, great directors, and of course great writing, no one person is responsible for the show's success. This is part of why I personally have somewhat of a problem with Vigoda and others who have acted similarly. (But that's just my opinion).

Anyway, let's get away from Vigoda's off-screen problems and get to the ones he had on-screen. Detective Phil Fish is a man who has lived a long life and is tired of it all. He is plagued with aches and pains and often seems as though he could drop dead at any moment. He is often irritated by his overly devoted wife Bernice (played by Florence Stanley). Fish is extremely committed to his work and his colleagues have a lot of respect for him. Even though he is much older than the other 12th precinct detectives. Throughout his three seasons on Barney Miller, Fish was getting closer and closer to retirement. This makes him incredibly uncomfortable because he doesn't know what his life will be like if he is not a police officer. When Fish does retire, Bernice and him adopt 5 foster kids. Fish's post retirement life was not as bad as he though it would be.

Even though his portrayer is still alive, I believe that the character of Fish died in late 1980′s or the early 1990′s. His daughter Beverly made him a grandfather twice over and gave him a great deal of happiness during the final years of his life. Fish didn't see too much of his former coworkers after his retirement. This is mainly because most of them were still in the prime of their careers. The two exceptions to this were Inspector Luger (who retired a few years after Fish did) and of course Barney.

[AB]

Nice article!

[catlover79]

[Miss Lisa]

Aesome find there. I do agree with the article, if you have a great cast, don't break them up, it'll only hurt the original show and fail as a new show on its own. I liked Dietrich, but I would have liked it better if he was just on there without replacing Fish's spot.

[catlover79]

Originally Posted by Miss Lisa

Aesome find there. I do agree with the article, if you have a great cast, don't break them up, it'll only hurt the original show and fail as a new show on its own. I liked Dietrich, but I would have liked it better if he was just on there without replacing Fish's spot.

Well, Fish and Dietrich were on for the same episodes throughout Seasons 3 and 4, because Abe Vigoda was doing both BM and Fish at the same time for awhile. If anything, Steve Landesberg/Dietrich was more a replacement for Gregory Sierra/Chano - since Gregory left way before Abe did.

[Dr. Thong]

I missed Fish after he left. Abe Vigoda should never have left the series.

[sara]

Originally Posted by Miss Lisa

Aesome find there. I do agree with the article, if you have a great cast, don't break them up, it'll only hurt the original show and fail as a new show on its own. I liked Dietrich, but I would have liked it better if he was just on there without replacing Fish's spot.

I think that's true for the most part but not in Barney Miller's case. I've always thought that the majority of fans thought that the show really hit it's stide in the later seasons, and I agree with that. I hate saying this since I love Abe, but Fish was my least favorite of the main guys. Although being a hugh Dietrich fan I might be a tad biased.

[catlover79]

My favorite photo of Abe as Fish:

[MickeyMac]

Originally Posted by Dr. Thong

I missed Fish after he left. Abe Vigoda should never have left the series.

Vigoda leaving and Jack Soo's death were two big blows Barney Miller never really recovered from.

[OH Nuts!]

Fish was a great character and there was a different flavor to the show without him, that's for sure. BUT Hal Linden and the remaining cast were so awesome that the show still trucked on (but of course, was different.)

An example, to me anyways, of a show that really fell apart when someone left was Petticoat Junction. IMO Bea Benedaret was the heart of the show and when she passed it was VERY HARD/next to impossible to fill the void.

[catlover79]

^ As Fish would say: "My very words!"

[Marvo301]

I think it was easier in the case of Barney Miller to replace departing/deceased cast members because of it's setting. I think a certain amount of turnover is quite normal in a police precinct with officers retiring, other being transferred to other precincts etc. So it was easy for the writers to handle the departures and write in new characters smoothly. In the case of Petticaot Junction it was a show about a family and so of course it was much more difficult for the writers and producers to deal with Bea's death since a family member is far more difficult to replace than an employee in a police precinct.

[Mr. Television]

Originally Posted by Marvo301

I think it was easier in the case of Barney Miller to replace departing/deceased cast members because of it's setting. I think a certain amount of turnover is quite normal in a police precinct with officers retiring, other being transferred to other precincts etc. So it was easy for the writers to handle the departures and write in new characters smoothly. In the case of Petticaot Junction it was a show about a family and so of course it was much more difficult for the writers and producers to deal with Bea's death since a family member is far more difficult to replace than an employee in a police precinct.

Plus she was the main character. Barney Miller might have had a more difficult time had Hal Linden died. He was the glue that held the show together.

[catlover79]

Originally Posted by Marvo301

I think it was easier in the case of Barney Miller to replace departing/deceased cast members because of it's setting. I think a certain amount of turnover is quite normal in a police precinct with officers retiring, other being transferred to other precincts etc. So it was easy for the writers to handle the departures and write in new characters smoothly. In the case of Petticaot Junction it was a show about a family and so of course it was much more difficult for the writers and producers to deal with Bea's death since a family member is far more difficult to replace than an employee in a police precinct.

Exactly - in that line of work there is a LOT of turnover. Plus it WAS a show that placed its emphasis on the job, and another nice thing is that the replacements were their own characters with their own identities and quirks, not copycats of their predecessors.

[catlover79]

Originally Posted by Clint Eastwood Fan

Plus she was the main character. Barney Miller might have had a more difficult time had Hal Linden died. He was the glue that held the show together.

You're totally right. I can't even imagine anyone else in the role of Barney!