# Barney Miller rocks **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 11, 2010, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-miller-rocks/532048 "2010-03-11T00:23:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-miller-rocks/532048/21 "2010-03-11T15:47:23Z")
Johnny Angel writes: \> But that was in 1991, before CSI: Miami. Whereas now we now that all police units contain at least one member who, before making a dramatic speech, cocks his head to the side and takes off his sunglasses. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-miller-rocks/532048/22 "2010-03-11T16:34:26Z")
> [@Johnny\_Angel](#): > > I don’t know about Farina per se, but the book [What Cops Know](http://www.amazon.com/What-Cops-Know-Connie-Fletcher/dp/0671750402/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1268321338&sr=8-1) claimed in its preface that the cops interviewed rated Barney Miller as the most realistic cop show ever. But that was in 1991, before CSI: Miami. You’re kidding about that CSI: Miami thing right? 'Cuz everyone knows CSI: Miami totally ripped off Silk Stalkings. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-miller-rocks/532048/23 "2010-03-11T16:56:06Z")
Cogan uses _spurs_. I don’t know offhand how many seasons Barney Miller ran, but Netflix has Seasons 1-3. Unfortunately, it’s not available for instant streaming. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-miller-rocks/532048/24 "2010-03-11T17:19:10Z")
Harris, “Just admit it, you’re a scum sucker who lives off other people’s suffering.” Lawyer, “Yeah, so what’s your point?” ---
**Author:** ![Chicagojeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@Chicagojeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicagojeff)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-miller-rocks/532048/25 "2010-03-11T17:27:39Z")
yeah Hail. my dad told me when we watched it on abc that is was the most realistic because of the personalities… My fav besides the “brownies” was when Luger got them on the murder squad… And you can’t underestimate what it meant to me a young black kid to see Ron Glass play Harris… he was good looking, dressed sharp… smart and a real arrogant jerk. You just didn’t see a lot of black characters like that then… ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-miller-rocks/532048/26 "2010-03-11T17:45:19Z")
I saw Ron Harris at Dragon\*Con last year, and by the time the question I wanted to ask him occurred to me, it was too late to get in line to ask it. He was talking about his character on _Firefly_ and said that Book had been an agent involved in something that went really, really wrong and had basically run away. I wanted to ask him if it had been a kind of _Blood on the Badge_ situation. ---
**Author:** ![palindromemordnilap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/db5fbb/32.png) [@palindromemordnilap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/palindromemordnilap)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-miller-rocks/532048/27 "2010-03-11T21:44:52Z")
All these comments and nothing yet about Inspector Luger? One of the ultimate characters you love to hate. I usually rank this show in my top 10 faves of all time. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-miller-rocks/532048/28 "2010-03-11T21:47:00Z")
> [@palindromemordnilap](#): > > All these comments and nothing yet about Inspector Luger? One of the ultimate characters you love to hate. See posts 6 and 25. > [@](#): > > I usually rank this show in my top 10 faves of all time. Hell, I credit Arthur Dietrich as one of the three foundations of my entire adult personality. ---
**Author:** ![ministryman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@ministryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ministryman)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-miller-rocks/532048/29 "2010-03-11T21:51:11Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > They also did a great job of combining self-contained episodes with long story arcs. Barney’s marital problems become a long separation become divorce talks but they reconcile, or Harris’s book (“Bob” for “Blood on the Badge”) goes from talked about to released to gets him sued for character defamation to aftermath, Fish’s impending retirement, Inspector Luger’s search for/securing of/relationship with his much younger Filipino wife, etc.. > > Also some great recurring characters: the wolfman who later decides he’s Jesus (or vice versa), the gay couple (this was not only WAY before many other shows had openly gay characters but they even dealt with one of them’s parental rights), “Ray” the bum, the gun nut (can’t remember his name- bald older character actor), etc.. Plus they had some one episode characters that were fantastic: the housewife who created a bomb and innocently asks “does that sound like it would work?” or “Alfred Royce… the People’s Candidate”, etc.. > > Truly inspired show. I wish TV Land or some other oldies network would resurrect it because I don’t think it’s in syndication where I live. > > My favorite lines were from the hash brownie episode- > > Nick: Barney… Barney… Barney… was your mother from Kelearney? > > and later > > Nick: Mushy mushy. > > Both were of the “you have to see it to know why it’s funny”. Same episode: > > Fish: First time in twenty years I’ve felt good… and it was illegal. Brownies! I still chuckle just thinking about that episode, and Fish jumping over a building to catch a perp. Why can’t they make shows like that today? No green/blue screen. No CGI. Just a cast and a laugh track. Sigh. ---
**Author:** ![ministryman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@ministryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ministryman)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-miller-rocks/532048/30 "2010-03-11T21:52:48Z")
> [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](#): > > There needs to be an all Night Court/Barney Miller network. But you’d have to add Hill Street Blues and Dragnet. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-miller-rocks/532048/31 "2010-03-11T21:54:59Z")
One of my favorite moments- may have been the murder squad episode mentioned above- was when Jack Dodson, character actor best known as Howard Sprague on _Andy Griffith_, played a serial killer who murdered barbers who gave him bad haircuts. While Wojo is typing the paperwork ‘Howard’ is telling him “You have a good haircut… so even… nice natural flow to it… God, I don’t even want to ask how many barbers _you_ had to kill.” I think he later played a gun collector whose collection was stolen but who was surprisingly reluctant to press charges. They found out the collection included lots of illegal machine guns, a bazooka, rocket launchers, grenades, etc., and this was long before militia nuts were common news. One of the greatest things was the set and the furniture. Every desk looked like it was picked up in a school salvage yard and probably was, and completely what you’d expect and underfunded detective’s unit in a broke city (NYC was majorly broke during part of the run and this was in the plot) to furnish. On the _Roots_ episode I remember (why do I remember?) Harris was also pissy that his great-great-grandmother ran a liquor store in Ohio. “I want some kings in my bloodline and I want them _now_!” Another favorite moment was when Levitt was unexpectedly assigned upstairs for the day and was in his police uniform. He wanted to be plain clothes so he rented a sky blue tux at the rental shop across the street. The episodes where Harris and Dietrich shared an apartment were funny. “I cannot stand that man, I’m going to shoot him dead before this is over, he has more annoying habits than anybody I’ve ever known… though I will give him this, he makes one hell of a quiche Lorraine”. And the episode when Harris lost everything in the lawsuit and the man keeps singing happy songs. Harris, drunk, fumbles around and says “Where’s my gun!?” ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-miller-rocks/532048/32 "2010-03-11T22:01:07Z")
Deitrich, to Yamana : So, what city is your family from? Omaha. That’s funny. We have a city in Nebraska named that. ---
**Author:** ![kath94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/67e7ee/32.png) [@kath94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kath94)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-miller-rocks/532048/33 "2010-03-11T22:29:34Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > See posts 6 and 25. > > Hell, I credit Arthur Dietrich as one of the three foundations of my entire adult personality. I had \*such \*a crush on Steve Landesberg. Until I spoke to him at work one day (call center) and he was an arrogant jerk. Ruined my teenage crush memories right there. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-miller-rocks/532048/34 "2010-03-11T22:30:54Z")
> [@kath94](#): > > I had \*such \*a crush on Steve Landesman. Until I spoke to him at work one day (call center) and he was an arrogant jerk. Ruined my teenage crush memories right there. ☹ I hate when that happens. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-miller-rocks/532048/35 "2010-03-11T22:56:40Z")
The werewolf scene is classic, but it didn’t include the best line. Yamana: “What’s wrong with that guy?” Harris : “He thinks he’s a werewolf.” Yamana; (completely deadpan) “I’ll put down some papers.” Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-miller-rocks/532048/36 "2010-03-11T23:32:29Z")
Junkie: Dollar for dollar, heroin is by far the best addiction to have on a working man’s salary. Steve Landesbergh played a con man dressed as a priest on an episode before he joined the cast as Dietrich. I liked one Detective Luger episode when his problem du jour was that he didn’t know what to do with his savings now that he was old and didn’t really need it for anything. Barney advised him to “go wild when you retire, do everything you ever thought about doing, travel, see the world”, etc., mainly because he wanted to get rid of him. Then Luger mentions that he’s left his estate to Barney and that he’s not talking about a few thousand dollars but a small fortune (several hundred thousand dollars). Luger: But you’re right… I think I should have a blast. Barney: Yes. Absolutely. Well… within reason… This was also a sitcom that used actual dollar amounts instead of the more common trick of writing down salary/house prices/etc. on a piece of paper. I remember when Barney’s building went condo the price they wanted for his 3 BR apartment was outrageous- something like (I don’t remember the exact amount) $135,000 and the audience actually went “ooh”. Assuming Barney lived in Manhattan (I don’t remember if he did or not) I’d love to know how much the same place would sell for today. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-miller-rocks/532048/37 "2010-03-11T23:56:35Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > This was also a sitcom that used actual dollar amounts instead of the more common trick of writing down salary/house prices/etc. on a piece of paper. I remember when Barney’s building went condo the price they wanted for his 3 BR apartment was outrageous- something like (I don’t remember the exact amount) $135,000 and the audience actually went “ooh”. > Assuming Barney lived in Manhattan (I don’t remember if he did or not) I’d love to know how much the same place would sell for today. I was watching an old episode of _Pyramid_ from ca. 1985 the other day and the contestant (who was a real estate agent) went to the winner’s circle and got the $25,000. When they came back from commercial one of the celebs pointed out that at 3% commission, he would have had to sold a house for [implied OMG] $855,000 to make what he just made. I imagine that wouldn’t be too hard to do in Southern California today. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-miller-rocks/532048/38 "2010-03-12T00:39:15Z")
That show was one of the really, really, great ones. The two scenes that stick out for me both involve Dietrich. 1. One of their clients was talking about werewolves, ghosts, UFOs, or something similar. He told Dietrich, “you probably think I’m crazy.” Dietrich went into one of his rants outlining that many intellectuals believe that stuff, and as he enumerates, the crook thinks he has somebody sympathetic, and says, 'yes, yes, YES" and jumps up on the last yes. When he jumps up, Dietrich jumps up, reaching for his gun! The next one was when Dietrich saves Harris’ life. Harris is loathe to be indebted to the pompous Dietrich, keeps asking how he may repay Dietrich. Dietrich keeps saying ‘forget it.’ Finally, after more badgering, Dietrich says ‘Can I call you Ron?" Harris: "No!’ That’s about all I got. Best wishes, hh ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-miller-rocks/532048/39 "2010-03-12T00:41:27Z")
> [@ministryman](#): > > But you’d have to add Hill Street Blues and Dragnet. Isn’t that one called “Criminal Minds?” best wishes, hh ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-miller-rocks/532048/40 "2010-03-12T00:44:35Z")
I guess I’m a minority of one here, but I like Levitt. I love his plainclothes outfits (remember that goofy hat?), the way he stands with his chin elevated to appear taller, and his spin-move out the door when exiting. The only one I could sorta do without was Scanlon. Just a bit over the top. Luger is awesome, especially when he reminisces about the old days (Foster, Brownie, Kleiner), and the way he stamps his foot when he shakes your hand or makes a point. Or, how he always refers to Levitt as ‘Levine’. 🙂 One recent episode I saw was when Harris was mistaken for a criminal and was shot at by a rookie uniformed cop. During the discussion it became clear that the misunderstanding occurred because Harris is black. His anger was actually a bit scary. Then, the awkwardness in the squad room between Harris and the others was palpable; they eventually talked it out in a very well-written and convincing manner. Just another example that the show was more than just a sit-com; it was groundbreaking. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-miller-rocks/532048.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-miller-rocks/532048.md?page=3)