It actually had a kind of sweet final version in the final episode as Luger’s giving everybody their new assignments. Wojo I remember was reassigned to the K9 division, Harris and Dietrich etc to X and Y division, then he says
LUGER: Levine, you’re going to…
LEVITT: Inspector, for the last time, it’s Officer Levitt…
LUGER: No, actually it’s now Detective Levitt.
He finally got promoted.
Barney Miller is one of my favorite TV shows. I watched it every chance I got when I was growing up, and having watched a bunch of them on hulu.com in the past year, my youthful enthusiasm seems to have been totally justified.
I heard quite a lot that police officers consistently vote this show as “the most realistic” cop show ever, and I never have had cause to doubt that.
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I mean, how cool is that? Twenty or thirty years after the show, and people still refer to him as “Captain Miller”. That fucking rocks.
Trivia: when Max Gail first started on the series he was, understandably, leary about buying a house he couldn’t afford, but he did buy a lot with an ocean view in Malibu. Since just the lot took everything he could afford, he lived on it in a teepee!
As the show went on he began building a house, doing much of the work himself (he had a background in construction) and still lives there. There was an episode of Bob Villaa few years ago that toured the home. (The wife on that tour is his second; his first wife died of cancer soon after Barney Miller ended and he became a stay at home dad.)
I remember that episode, and thinking Gail’s house rocked.
P.S., “a few years ago” in this case is “something like 15 years ago.”
That totally oversimplifies the character. If his sunglasses happen to be off when he delivers his speech, then he puts them back on.
He was Mr. Kopechne as the werewolf, and he was also Mr. Kopechne as a possessed guy. IIRC, in the latter episode, someone says, “You were here a few years ago, weren’t you, Mr. K?” or words to that effect.
The rest did treat him somewhat condescendingly, which did get my sympathy. But he did have his bad moments. The worst was talking to Barney about an opening in the squad when one of the others was reported as shot, I think. Seriously clueless and horrible timing.
But I loved the episode where he interprets the deaf hooker’s signing. Her lawyer signs high praise for Levitt (via him) to Barney, including, “I’m surprised that such a talented man is still a patrol officer” or something like that.
Inspector L hears Nick was shot “in the cheek” (“Not that cheek”)
“They shot him just because he is Japanese?”
In case you ever wondered if Harris was gay, this clip where he chokes Wojo’s chicken should answer it.
As a professional baker myself I liked the episode when someone complained about a local bakery that was selling pastries in “obscene shapes.”
The funniest part was that they were never shown or described. You just saw the look on people’s faces when they saw them. I think it was Yemana who said, “I never would have thought of putting poppyseeds there.”
There’s one episode that epitomizes to me why Barney Miller wasn’t just a good show, but one of the greats. My description won’t give it justice.
The perp of the week is a ventriloquist who takes his dummy everywhere. The funny bit has been done by other shows, where the characters find themselves responding to the dummy, who consistently insults everyone, much to the chagrin of the ventriloquist. It’s the ending that was great, though. There was a heartwarming scene where Barney convinces the ventriloquist that he has to learn to speak for himself, and to let the dummy go. It’s kind of hearbreaking when the ventriloquist finally lays the dummy down.
Then, after a few seconds of silence,
you hear the dummy croak, “Water.(cough cough) Water.” And the ventriloquist ecstatically hugs the dummy.
Both good. But my favorite line from that episode was Yemana throwing his arm around Barney’s shoulder and saying “Hey, let’s go down to the beach and shoot some clams.”
I always thought Hal Linden was incredibly hot - that great smile and sexy eyes. Even though I was in high school when this show was on, I thought he was a fabulously sexy “older man”.
My favorites were the ones when the guys cross-dressed to work “park detail” - especially Harris, who fought it because he had to shave his mustache. When he came out dressed like a woman, the rest of the guys were stunned! Barney told him he “looks lovely”! And Harris said something to the effect of, “I want to look good…but not BETTER.”
Classic TV, I wish they would bring it back on TV Land.
I loved this show back in the '70s and I’m loving it now on the reruns. Two things I’ve been noticing on rewatching:
First, Barney was hot. This totally went over my head back in the '70s when I was a teenager. But now? Ding-DONG!
Second, most everybody was so average looking! Modern cops shows have pretty unrealistic looking casts. The female cops all look like super-models, and half of the male cops look like pretty boys… On Barney Miller everybody just looked like plain folks. Hot as Barney was, he was still normal-people-hot, not ridiculously-Brad-Pittesque-hot. Wojo was supposed to be the squad hottie and he wouldn’t even make 3rd-tier hot status on a modern cop show.
Just watched the hash brownie episode on DVD.
Barney: “Harris, go home until you feel better.”
Harris: “I’ll go home, but I ain’t never gonna feel no better!”
I started watching Barney Miller when I was 17. By the time it was over, I was married. I don’t think I missed an episode, but a lot happened in that time.
One thing I liked about the show was the topical humor. It was funny then. It’s funny now. And that’s the striking part.
The only difference, based on premise, is that Lexington and 59th may not be the hell-hole it once was. But I don’t live in NYC and I can only go by the dialogue.
I’m surprised they’ve never done a reunion show.
I’m not talking about one with a plot and writers but the kind where the cast sits around and talks about the shows. For a show that went off the air almost 30 years ago it’s surprising how many of them are still alive; the only regulars I can think of who have died since the show left the air are Levitt and Luger.
I only vaguely remember the spin-off Fish. I know it was cancelled quickly, which would imply Barney fans didn’t care for it, and I know it involved Fish and Bernice (Florence Stanley, who is dead) taking in foster kids- never a good sign- but does anybody know if it was any good?
The writing made it work.
I’ve been collecting the DVD sets, too.
I remember watching Fish for half a season or so, did nothing for me. Fish himself, though beloved by many Barney Miller fans, was only mildly amusing to me, and Bernice I could do without. Add a bunch of unfunny, bratty kids and you have a show that, to me, holds no interest whatsoever. It actually lasted two seasons (and is not on DVD).
Yes, they took an amusing minor character and killed his appeal by making him the center of a show.
That would be my go-to channel FOREVER.