# Help me ID this Barney Miller episode **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [November 25, 2025, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-barney-miller-episode/1025113 "2025-11-25T04:11:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2025, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-barney-miller-episode/1025113/1 "2025-11-25T04:11:25Z")
I’ve never seen it, but it was recounted to me a long time ago. So details may be off. They arrest a guy who robbed a bank (or something) just before the statute of limitations expires. The guy makes some sort of comment about how he was expecting the police station to be more like “Dragnet”. He had hidden out in an apartment above a diner for seven years. Detrich asks him what he did for all that time. He said he made potholders. Detrich remarks, “And you were the one who got burned”. When the guy registers confusion, Detrich explains, “Hey, you wanted Dragnet”. TIA. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2025, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-barney-miller-episode/1025113/2 "2025-11-25T04:14:01Z")
I remember that one, I’ll find the episode for you. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2025, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-barney-miller-episode/1025113/3 "2025-11-25T04:14:37Z")
_Uniform Day_ ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2025, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-barney-miller-episode/1025113/4 "2025-11-25T04:16:21Z")
Thank you both. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2025, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-barney-miller-episode/1025113/5 "2025-11-25T04:19:09Z")
[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/BarneyMillerS6E17](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/BarneyMillerS6E17) Recap ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2025, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-barney-miller-episode/1025113/6 "2025-11-25T05:09:31Z")
That is so weird. I was just thinking of this exact episode earlier today. I remember the guy saying he was afraid to go out, because he knew they’d be looking for him and Dietrich says he started last Thursday or something like that. I can’t even remember what brought it to mind. ---
**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:** [November 25, 2025, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-barney-miller-episode/1025113/7 "2025-11-25T13:25:02Z")
This isn’t the only episode in which a person is let off because it’s beyond the statue of limitations. That also happens in the episode at the beginning of the video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9SrR89SoIU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9SrR89SoIU) . This video isn’t a “Season 2025” episode as the title of the video claims. It’s apparently a bunch of episodes from various years of the show. The episode I’m referring to is the first one in the video. In this case the person is let off because his crime happened 25 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2025, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-barney-miller-episode/1025113/8 "2025-11-25T14:38:22Z")
Not what happened in _Uniform Day_ though. Here after almost 7 years of hiding the criminal was caught. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2025, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-barney-miller-episode/1025113/9 "2025-11-25T14:52:48Z")
> [@Greg\_Charles](#): > > I remember the guy saying he was afraid to go out, because he knew they’d be looking for him and Dietrich says he started last Thursday or something like that. As I recall, Dietrich was trying to clear up a bunch of cold cases before the statute of limitations expired. I don’t remember if he was successful with any others. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2025, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-barney-miller-episode/1025113/10 "2025-11-25T21:14:21Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > As I recall, Dietrich was trying to clear up a bunch of cold cases before the statute of limitations expired. Dietrich is my favorite character. In some ways, he is me. I like the times when Barney turns to him for an explanation. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2025, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-barney-miller-episode/1025113/11 "2025-11-25T21:43:33Z")
If I could be any Barney Miller character, it would be Dietrich. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2025, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-barney-miller-episode/1025113/12 "2025-11-25T22:04:54Z")
And to this day I can never watch a Gregory Peck movie without interjecting “go away, Beverly is busy!” ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2025, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-barney-miller-episode/1025113/13 "2025-11-25T22:40:26Z")
> [@F.U.Shakespeare](#): > > If I could be any Barney Miller character, it would be Dietrich. That may be true of many of us. “Pedantics R Us”😀 ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2025, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-barney-miller-episode/1025113/14 "2025-11-25T22:46:51Z")
I remember one episode in which a suspect was ranting about the Trilateral Commission or the Council on Foreign Relations. At the end of his rant, Dietrich simply said, “I’ll bring it up at the next meeting” (implying that he was a member of the group). ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2025, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-barney-miller-episode/1025113/15 "2025-11-25T22:58:31Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > At the end of his rant, Dietrich simply said, “I’ll bring it up at the next meeting” (implying that he was a member of the group). But he was smiling his little smile, so…. but there were many thousands of people working for them, so who knows?