They don't make cop shows like 'Barney Miller' any more

[Brian Damage]

The show was all about the characters. They had stereotypical attributes, sure, but they also stood out as real people, even with a laugh track. Here are a few classic moments from the series:

Jack Soo's Nick Yemana was known for his bad coffee, but in one episode he reveals to Barney that he is using rain water that's leaking through the ceiling to make a fresh pot. "It's coming through the ceiling, that moldy, termite-infested ceiling!" protests Barney. "It filters out the impurities," Yemana insists.

Abe Vigoda, who played Phil Fish, is still with us today, at age 90. But even in the 1970s, Fish was the oldster of the precinct. In a touching scene, Barney tells him he doesn't think of him as old, but as experienced. "In an emergency, you'd be the first one I'd call," the captain says loyally. "You should call me first, I need time to put my teeth in," Fish responds.

Steve Landesberg's brainy Arthur Dietrich always had a little too much information. When a young black teenager called him "honky," he's not offended, instead he explains the word's etymology. (Who knew it derived from the nasal tone African-Americans believed Caucasians speak with?) His explaination unnerves the kid more than a deluge of profanity ever could have.

Hal Linden's calm and cool Captain Barney Miller held the entire station together, but when he erupted, stand back. He once threatened to stuff a towel in the mouth of a loudmouthed guy in the jail cell. When the guy blasted back that he wasn't scared, Miller's response was "You haven't seen our towel!"

In a classic episode, Wojo's girlfriend made brownies for the squad, but this being the 1970s, they were hash brownies. When Miller finds out, he orders Ron Glass' always cool and classy Nathan Harris to have them analyzed. Which he does, by tossing another one in his mouth. "NOT THAT WAY!" howls Miller. He later tells Harris to "stay home till you feel better." "OK, Barn, I'll stay, but I ain't never gonna feel no better," a herbally happy Harris announces.

Max Gail's Stan Wojciehowicz's was a gentle soul, one who often seemed too kind for a police job. In one episode, Miller tries to explain racism to Harris by using a Polish joke. The gag is funny, but the scene itself is less humorous than it is sweet. "Well I thought (racial) differences weren't important," Wojo says. "They're not, but they are." Miller responds, only confusing the matter further.

There were so many more New York-set shows in the 1970s, it seemed, and the issues surrounding Puerto Rican immigrants and those of Puerto Rican descent were everywhere. In one "Barney Miller" scene, Gregory Sierra's Chano Amanguale, himself Puerto Rican, chastises a Puerto Rican teen for getting in trouble. He complains to the kid that when a fellow Puerto Rican gets in trouble, he feels he has to hide his own background, and puts on a classy British accent to show how he manages that.

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/44991851

[catlover79]

Great article - thanks for posting it!!