User reviews

This is the most impressive of the sitcoms ever done about law enforcement. It is understated, intellectual, comical, & entertaining while dealing with the beat of a group of New York City Dectectives. The show draws its characters well, & defines & redefines them throughout the show.

This show was a slow starter in the ratings, partly because of it's subtle humor, & partly because early on it would get distracted away from the police station with Barney's wife (played by Barbara Barrie). After the first couple of seasons, the show started concentrating more on it's knitting, the police station, & graduated into a more sophisticated comedy.

The recent death of the late Ron Carey reminded me of just how well he played Officier Carl Levitt. His character always behaved like all the Detectives looked down on him, an underling. Carey played that attitude brilliantly.

Hal Linden was always a consummate Captain Miller, always being put on the spot by his team & shooting from the hip at times. Steve Landesburg (Dietrich)was the most intellectual of the detectives always taking a simple conversation & making it complex.

James Gregory as Inspector Luger was alway bugging Barney with stories of the old days he'd have to listen to from a superior. In some ways this was the veteran movie actors best role. Max Gail as Wojo was always being played as stupid but often got the last word in.

Abe Vigoda was perfect as Fish, so good they spun him off from here to his own series. Jack Soo was brilliant as Yemana but sadly death cut his role short in this series, similar to Coach on CHEERS. Ron Glass as Detective Harris was very good as another mainstay on the show. This show had a diverse cast, even Linda Lavin who would go on to play ALICE got a good start on this show.

The writers were brilliant in that they constantly kept developing the characters to the point that when the last show came along, they ended the show with a script where everybody finally got what they wanted in promotions for years, and ended with Barney closing the door on the squad room for the last time.

As this show hits the DVD's, I bet it gets a slow start but once young folks get exposed to it, the sales will pick up speed. The shows are that good.

I am a fairly young person and I was very pleased to find such a wonderful show on DVD. The title of the show through me off, but after reading a bit about the show I was intrigued and bought it.

At first the show mainly focuses on the situations and what the cops are doing, but after a while the show starts to focus only on the squad-room where the detectives convene.

Barney Miller is always getting into other peoples business. When a criminal comes in he Interrogates them and tries to get the whole story out of them and also tries to put his own opinion or label on it.

Most of the stories are very light-hearted, but some do hit close to home. The show is funny, comical, and well played, but some episodes do have a serious vibe at the end of them.

By season three the cast is permanent and the show gets its real humor on. Each detective has an impressive amount of character depth. It was interesting to learn about each of them as I watched all of the episodes. By the end, I felt as if I knew each of them personally.

The only parts of the show I didn't like was Lt. Scanlon. His character was played so well, I truly didn't like him. Inspector Luger was played by a veteran actor, but his character seemed a little dim-witted. By the end of the series, the only set you would see is the squad room. After having visited a couple different stage sets (for example: Barnies apartment, Fish's apartment and the hide-out apartment) it seemed very confining to only use the squad room in the later seasons.

The exits of Fish and Yemada were torture on the show. Fish was great when it came to quick and ironic humor while nick tried to do the same, but his character was never truly replaced.

Overall, I love this show and I continue to watch it often. The humor, the stories, the backgrounds of the people are all interesting and entertaining. This show is recommended for all who love comedy and also recommended for all who wish to enjoy a simple show.

Barney Miller is one of my favorite TV sitcoms and always will be. Acting & writing were top-notch and there always seemed to be a feeling that the cast really enjoyed working together.

There does seem to be one common trait associated with successful sit-coms, from "Andy Griffith," to "All In The Family," to "Barney Miller" to "Cheers." It usually takes a season or two to hash out the delineation of the characters in a show. A period of time is needed to discard what doesn't work or fit until the actors find the characters "niche" or "comfort zone." Barney Miller was a much better series after Fish & Chano left, mainly because those 2 characters seemed to be the main focus in the first couple of seasons. On their departure, the other characters seemed to crystallize and the ensemble became more cohesive. You "knew" how these guys would, or could react in certain situations. I thought the "Mary Tyler Moore Show" was better after Rhoda & Phyllis left. The "Andy Griffith Show" became better when Griffith(to his great credit) began playing it "straighter" when he recognized Don Knotts brilliance. "Cheers" was better after Shelly Long departed, etc.

I guess my ultimate point here is that I wonder how many possibly great shows were axed to early, before reaching that "comfort zone" area of character development? Luckily, "Barney Miller" was not.

"Barney Miller" showed the gritty realism of police work in New York City in the 1970s, albeit with humor. Skits about the impending bankruptcy of the city, some of the futile criminal behavior (man stuck inside ductwork trying to burglarize a store), the mundane day in, day out existence of police officers with the occasional heart-pounding, adrenalin rush of excitement, and of course, what we in the profession called "the hairbags" - the old cops, forever full of stories, content to live in the past as Inspector Lugar exemplifies. To those who say "Barney Miller" is dated, I say the show is a timeless slice of life, and can be set in almost any locale and time period. The cast could not have been picked with any more brilliance, and the production was seamless. I say "Barney Miller" is a classic for the generations.

Of the thousands of American TV sitcoms ever produced, only a small portion of them are genuinely enjoyable and funny 40 years after their production. Barney Miller is one of those shows. More interesting than this fact, however, is that this show has many features atypical of its genre and time period:

1. Virtually all of the action (excepting a handful of scenes and the strange and mostly unenjoyable 'Wojo's Girl' 2-parter) takes place at a single location, the police station. In this way, the show is like a stage play, and of course, stunningly similar to the classic Kirk Douglas play & film 'Detective Story.'

2. There is almost no slapstick, no catchphrases, and no toilet humor.

3. Unlike the most popular sitcoms of the mid-1970's, such as 'All In the Family', 'Good Times', etc. none of the recurring cast play their characters broadly. None of them are shouting tyrants, cartoonish buffoons, dingy housewives, etc. Most of the regular cast played their characters toward the deadpan end of the comedic spectrum. (The recurring Inspector Luger, played by the great James Gregory, is gently buffoonish, but nothing like Ted Baxter or George Jefferson.) One episode is an exception to this rule, 'The Brownies,' which is one of the 10 funniest sitcom episodes ever produced. If you have seen this episode, you know why the characters were played differently this time around, and you know that the essence of the story is seeing the characters behaving different than usual.

4. With the exception of Barbara Barrie as the intermittent presence of the titular character's wife in the early episodes, there are no recurring female characters. (Just an observation, not saying this is a good thing for every sitcom.)

These facts argue in favor of the theory that artists who seek to create something of quality and durability should not always try to imitate. Doing something different can be good.

The writing and the performances are the essence of why this show is good. But also there is the faded paint and rumpled clothes, and the varying degrees of world-weariness in faces of Yamana, Fish, Capt. Miller, and Inspector Luger, which evoke the gritty, working class realities of old New York before a series of quasi-fascist mayors tried to reboot the city as a kind of fantasyland for rich people and tourists.

A final point of interest to which I will draw your attention is gentle and matter-of-fact way in which the cops interact with both 'criminals' and 'victims.' You won't see them trying to intimidate or torture criminals into confessions. There is an implicit message of compassion in this, along with the related notion that when the total circumstances of life are taken into account, the moral differences between people don't seem all that huge.

I always liked Hal Linden.

If you watch the show, you realize he was more of a supporter despite having his name on top. He mostly kept it all moving well. The eye of the 'cane if you will.

This was a very well cast show that had nothing BUT likable characters. Everyone had their quirks.

Wojo was your typical naive youngster. Fish was the cynical vet. Harris your (almost) militant. And Yemena (RIP Jack) the sarcastic one.

Harris was a paradox. One episode had him as a powerful black man while another had him as a staunch republican. Deitrich (Steve Landesberg also RIP) replaced Fish basically. Both in role and personality.

The humor was bone dry.

Great show and I'm glad it's in reruns still.

Every once in a while, we find a "Marriage" that is truly "Made in Heaven!" More often than not the 'Marriage' is figurative, rather than a real one. This is the best way that we know to describe our "victim" in this vivisection, "BARNEY MILLER" (1975-82) To the world at large, "BARNEY MILLER" was a neatly conceived, well written, well cast and neatly presented half-hour sitcom. And this is true; certainly no one could argue that. And it surely was a unique, one of a kind production, no other series being anything quite like it.

But it is something else, also. Just ask any of your friends or neighbors who are Cops. If they are close as friends, neighbors or fellow-parishioners, he'll probably level with you. He or She will tell you that "BARNEY MILLER" is quite possibly the closest thing to the comings and goings-on in a real Police Station. All truly serious matters excluded, most incidents that require involvement or intervention by the Police are not of a major incident class, but rather ones originating out of domestic, neighbor relations and petty offenses, usually calling for court summonses (tickets).

That's not to say that the matters are not important, especially to those who may find themselves in the middle of such a situation. And it is here that we find the headwaters of the humor that grow from a trickle to a great, mighty raging river of laughter.

Like every story, the dynamics owe their origin to one of two sources. Hence, we have them to be either Character Driven or Situation (story) Driven. It would appear that "BARNEY MILLER" owes its vitality to tapping the sap from both sides of the equation.

To start with, just look at the line-up of characters that reported for duty at one time or another to the 12th Precinct of the NYC Police Department. They were: Det. Sgt Nick Yemana (Jack Soo), Det. Phil Fish (Abe Vigoda), Det. Stan Wojciechowicz "Wojo"(Max Gail), Det. Ron Harris (Ron Glass), Det. Sgt. Arthur Dietrich (Steve Landesberg), Officer Carl Levitt (Ron Carey), Det. Sgt. Chano Amenguale (Gregory Sierra).

Like most of the series with large ensemble casts of regulars, they did not all appear at the same times, but rather there was an orderly procession of replacement characters brought on to take the place of those who have moved on.

Additionally, we had some recurring roles which were of importance to the series longevity. We had Mrs. Elizabeth Miller, Barney's wife (Barbara Barrie), Lt. Scanlon of Internal Affairs (George Murdock), Mrs. Fish (Florence Stanley) and the lovable, always enjoyable Inspector Luger (James Gregory).

Oh yeah, we almost forgot Captain Barney Miller of the 12th Precinct's Detective Squad. As the Skipper of 'the Ship' we had former Clarinet Player and Veteran of the Musical Theatre, Hal Linden. As the lead and the guy in charge, Hal was perhaps the perfect choice. He did whatever was required of him and did it well. So, we saw him taking on various roles; funny man, straight man, stern leader, understanding co-worker or just a Husband.

"BARNEY MILLER" did a fine job of mixing many New York specific elements and yet having a wide, wide appeal. The Production Crew took a generous helping of ethnically based humor, especially in the characterizations. So we saw a generous mixture of Jewish, Italian, Black, Irish, Polish and Puerto Rican humor and characters, And as for the set being the Detective Squad Room & Holding Pen of the 12th Precinct for 90 % of the time, it was nearly perfect. The Police Station's being one, central easily recognizable location. The characters, be they regulars or guest starring actors, would move naturally into and out of this "center stage" As a final analysis, we view this series as a virtual masterpiece of a series. And the Creative Team of Danny Arnold, Theodore J. Flicker, Chris Hayward and their associated Writers, we think that they have given us a true New York Story; not the New York of people like Katie Couric, Bryant Gumbel or Diane Sawyer; but rather the real New York of real, every day New Yorkers.

Barney Miller is my favorite show of all times. It's too bad that this show is locked away in some studio vault rather than being shown as re-runs. Unlike M*A*S*H, which started to get dry past the 1976 season and focused less on comedy and more on leftist views, Barney Miller got better. Although it was completely unrealistic in the way detectives work, handling calls that patrol officers, not detectives handle, it was very realistic into the type of people that police officers deal with on a daily basis and the human emotions that go along with it. The show continued to stay solid, despite losing some excellent regular cast members like Gregory Sierra (reasons unk), Abe Vigoda(TV show Fish) and Jack Soo(passed away). My fault with the show is that they brought in so many new detectives that you came to like but were gone after a few episodes - Detectives Wilson, Licori, Wentworth, Battista and Dorsey, but it's still not enough to diminish my feelings about what a great show this was and I still enjoy watching it on DVD today, as I did on regular TV when it first aired.

I watch reruns whenever I get the chance..it has to be one of the all around funny and entertaining shows.

Well, I guess beauty really is in the eye of the beholder. THIS beholder still finds Barney Miller THE most overrated "comedy" show in the history of television -- even after 40 years. It's even worse than Night Court, no mean feat. (Interestingly[?], Night Court was created by Reinhold Weege, who worked earlier on Barney Miller.) The writing is stilted, the dialog dull, and the situations contrived. The cramped set looks like it's smaller than a walk-in closet. The laugh-track runs on steroids. The characters are walking clichés, and there are usually too many per episode. Hal Linden as B.M. is miscast; so is Barbara Barrie as his wife. Abe Vigoda's character makes me want to hurl the moment he appears on screen. Max Gail's mentally-challenged "Wojo" is an affront to Polish folks everywhere. I could go on, but why beat a dead horse?

"Barney Miller" was a show that changed dramatically during the course of its run, despite the fact that its plot, setting, and basic cast remained the same.

The show dealt with a detective squad at a precinct house in New York City and the often strange people from the community who went in and out their door. At the beginning of the series, the pace was fast and the comedy a bit "loud," and the emphasis was on one-liners and quirkiness rather than on real characters. Barney was the captain of the precinct, very put-upon and overworked, but nevertheless always wise and friendly. Wojo was the well-meaning detective who was a bit lacking in smarts. Harris was funny, fashion-conscious, and cool, while Yemana was much more introverted, though he would also provide the occasional witty commentary. Fish was the old man on the verge of retirement who had more ailments than you could imagine. Chano was perhaps the most "normal" of the bunch after Barney, and always tried to have a positive outlook despite being constantly exposed to the less inspiring side of life.

The detectives were racially mixed, which, at the show's inception, would occasionally provide for some comedy, though ethnic humor was largely dispensed with after the first season. Other detectives came and went after an episode or two, especially during the very early years.

By the end of the run, the pace of the show had slowed down somewhat. The precinct house was now very leisurely for a police station in Manhattan. Conversations became more relaxed as well, and you got the idea that the directors were trying to show human interaction as it often was, with people thinking before they spoke. The dialog became wittier and the characterization much more subtle. Barney was now more of a real person, the pressures of life seemingly affecting him more, and he would even get a bit frustrated with his immediate underlings. Harris, with whom Barney now clashed from time to time, had become successful financially and was becoming more attuned to the cultural side of things. He had developed into something of a snob, and was also less and less interested in police work as the series went on. Chano had moved on early, Fish retired (and had briefly had his own show), and the actor who played Yemana died, inspiring a half-hour tribute to actor Jack Soo by the rest of the cast. Dietrich was Fish's replacement, and was the intellectual of the group (one Monday morning he chit-chatted about how he had gone to the Goethe Festival over the weekend). His (often in-depth) knowledge on every conceivable subject was an extreme nuisance to Harris, but proved helpful to Barney in official matters. Wojo, by the end of the run, was no longer the loud, sex-driven brute he had been before, but rather a soulful and sensitive person, prompting Harris, in one of the show's great inside jokes, to proclaim in the final episode: "He is so MUCH improved!"

Popping in occasionally was Inspector Luger, Barney's immediate superior, a man who yearned for the old days of police work, when men were men (and died like men) and there wasn't all this "concern" for the suspect. Though Luger never changed, Barney's reaction to him did: where he once considered him as an amusing relic from the past of the city's police force, he later saw him as dangerously out of touch and a potential threat to police-civilian relations. And he turned out to be just that: at a protest by Hasidic Jews at the station house, Luger suggested that they all disperse, go home and "take a shave." The protest immediately turned into a riot.

The obsequious Officer Carl Levitt became a regular after a few seasons, always trying to become a detective, but continually rejected, apparently because of his height. And every once in a while there was a visit from Lt. Scanlon of Internal Affairs, who delighted in the hunt and, especially, the smell of blood.

Almost all the action during the run of the show took place in the squad room (which contained a single jail cell) and Barney's adjoining office. Despite the fact that the squad seemed very small considering its location (not to mention not very busy!), the viewer got the feeling that he was really in a run-down precinct house. The office was cramped, and the furniture old and in dire need of replacement. Papers and files lay around for so long that you actually got used to them being where they were, and the advertisement for boxing posted on the wall next to the stairs seems never to have been updated in seven years.

"Barney Miller," during its run, became a literate, well-written show with interesting characters and story lines. In its later years it unfortunately suffered from "social-cause-of-the-week" syndrome, à la Lou Grant, but it also knew when it was taking itself just a little too seriously, and the episode would often allow a well-timed and witty remark by Dietrich to lighten the atmosphere a bit.

"Barney Miller" is highly recommended, especially in daily reruns, where you can see its steady development into a fine television series.

Barney Miller was more than a cop show. It had heart and soul, with an ensemble cast that could rise on any occasion. Sadly Jack Soo passed away during the run of this fine series, with the cast giving a testimonial in a very special episode dedicated to Jack..

The bass in the opening theme was top form for sure.

I watched this show growing up and still love it. Great cast and story lines. It really is a time capsule of New York in the 70's in many ways. Although many young views may see it as dated or slow it's worth remembering that this show is over 40yrs old as of this post and like many vintage shows gives a glimpse into that distant past. It also shows a police force changing its attitudes about law enforcement and changing social values. The shows a mix of drama with comedy.. I must agree with another reviewer that the actress who plays his wife was a very strange casting choice. I thing they were attempting to show them as an upwardly mobile couple. The The only thing i don't like is the loud laugh track, which is still used in shows today. Glad they recently released high quality dvd's of this show as previously i had to make do with grainy downloaded copies.

Such a great show, so funny, yet there were times when you saw these actors really act. Award winning for a reason, and just great TV.

Having watched all the episodes on DVD, I realize once again just how good the program was. The dvds I had were taken off the air (from TVLand). Since some people might be uncomfortable with unauthorized dvds I hesitate to mention my source. However, if you email me I can give it to you.

I was going to sell the dvds after seeing all 170 episodes,but have decide to keep them. In a while seeing them again will be just fine.

I remembered this show with fondness from when it first was air, and was disappointed to see that it was nowhere to be found on TV. It had been on TVLand where I saw one episode, but that was it. It was gone. The folks at TVLand explained that they were having trouble getting affordable rights to the program.

Imagine my pleasure at finding a DVD set of the complete series. It seems to have been taken off the air and the quality is less than perfect.

If you might be interested in purchasing this email me privately and I will point you in the right direction. I got a wonderful bargain price, the the price seems to have gone up.

What a brilliant show! Rivals "All In The Family" for the title of best sitcom EVER! The writing and directing were always top-notch, and it featured, arguably, the best cast in sitcom history. The main cast was outstanding, led by the great Hal Linden in one of the all-time best straight-man performances. The other regulars - Ron Glass, Max Gail, Jack Soo, Steve Landesberg, the ageless Abe Vigoda, Gregory Sierra, Ron Carey, and James Gregory - were absolutely second-to-none; when you factor-in the "Danny Arnold Players" - the endless wave of veterans and newcomers who did outstanding turns as guest actors for eight years, then this cast had no equals. Just as funny, poignant, and outrageous in reruns today as it was when it debuted in January of 1975. It's a time capsule of television excellence that's STILL lauded by the law enforcement community as the best, most realistic depiction of police life ever. This show will never be equaled...

I was a cop for 30 years. Whenever people asked me what show portrays cops the best. I would say for Detectives, Barney Miller is damn close. When I became a Detective I was a young 28 year old kid and all the other Detectives were 50 and above. They were hilarious.

The trivia says real cops think this is the most realistic show on Earth but Wojo is a walking joke too dumb to believe. And most police officers don't attack suspects calling them names and talking down to them. They also don't steal a taxi cab and destroy it and do 50,000 in damage to public property chasing a misdemeanor suspect without being fired.

Rather a cold blooded choice of names for a guy with an IQ of 93. I'm sure many were offended by the stereotype. And if they hadn't already insulted law enforcement enough they bring in Levitz and the Inspector.

Sad that such a great potential was brought down by bad character choices.

This show was one of the reasons why the ABC would dethrone the CBS, as the number one network in prime time in the latter 1970's.

Barney Miller depicted the day to day workings of a typical New York City detectives unit. Void of overly melodramatic urban drama, and the now all too over played "tough guy" act, Barney Miller was touted as being a fair portrayal of the life of a detective (with much more levity of-course).

Even though it was first and foremost a comedy series, the writers gave us a much needed balance by injecting a bit of drama into the plot and characters themselves. This dramatic element was so well done, that it added to character development, and provided for more laughter. Their witty dialog rarely left the viewer disappointed, or without a laugh, and with entertainment being the key factor of any Television production, the cast of Barney Miller delivered in episode after episode.

However, the show was produced during a time when crime in NY City was being managed with a overly diplomatic approach. An experiment that would prove it self to be disastrous, effectuated lectures by some of the shows characters, demonstrating an endorsement of this new more "liberal" approach to fighting crime.

There is not much out there today that even comes close to what we had in Barney Miller. It seems that todays Television lacks respect for their audience, as cheap sexual gags, and one liners dominate the sitcom landscape, and leave us with vacuous and cloddish jocularity.

Barney Miller will however, be an example of what Television once was. A time when mature, plot driven humor was demanded, and the crude and immature was rejected.

Worked with veteran cops and they all agreed that of all cop shows this one was most realistic about daily work conditions in precinct. I worked at major US cop shop for 5 years and I agree!

Barney Miller was and is a classic sitcom and pretty influential as an ensemble-type of format. As Capt. Miller, Hal Linden provided the perfect foundation of stability within the NYPD 12th Precinct. The series saw some detectives come and go, typical of any workplace. Anyone watching this evolving series will enjoy Wojo, Harris, Nick and "DD". I also found Inspector Luger to be one hell of a character and tip my hat to TV and movie veteran James Gregory. The guy was a real scene-stealer in all the right ways.

The writing was fresh, had substance and was damn funny. The award-winning creators, directors and writers...a group of professionals who clearly know their craft. These behind-the-scene peers also must have been the nicest group to work with - they allowed Abe Vigoda to showcase the definitive "obnoxious actor" persona. The Fish schtick was tiring from day one, got worse as the episodes piled up and only found cleansing once that character departed. Sorry, tell me I'm wrong.

Onto more pleasant observations. Watch each show for "guest appearances" by a myriad of fine actors, many quite familiar for their past/future artistic success. All-in-all, a great binge.

First of all, let me say that the 8 is because the quality of the show is great. It's genuinely funny, although it's funny in that sort of Rodney Dangerfield sort of way. The humour comes from the delivery of one-liners at appropriate times. Often emulated, but rarely duplicated in terms of its humour value. They must have had an exceptionally strong team of comedic writers. Being that it only uses one type of joke, though, it can get a little repetitive and predictable.

The setup is fairly interesting, trying to humanise a police force by focusing on the dead or moribund breed of cop in the US that is the ethical policeman trying his best to see that justice is served in a fair and polite way.

But for me the most interesting part of this show is the real substantial diversity of the cast. The core casts consists of a black cop, a Japanese cop, an old cop, a Hispanic cop, an ethnic white cop (Polish), and the requisite WASP-looking one along with two of the wives of members of the precinct. Ethnic (or geriatric, in the case of Fisch) qualities are sometimes subtly, sometimes crudely inserted, but certainly none are taken to the level of caricatures.

Before this time, ethnic characters were mostly invisible on TV. After this time there would be more diversity on TV, but they would be segregated onto their own shows and ethnicities outside of the main cast of the show would usually only appear as bit caricatures until probably the 2010s. Not that it's any better, as from that point what appears on TV is basically a whitewashed cast that is visually multi-ethnic but really just acts the same and has the same culture.

Now this show wasn't perfect, but it really worked. It had charm, humour, and heart and did it with a genuinely diverse cast - without ignoring or whitewashing their differences. I wonder why the concept didn't catch on after this. Society would probably be farther along if this type of thing had been done more often. Good try from Hollywood, but they should have been more responsible with their power, which they have always misused.

Honourable Mentions: Superstore (2015) picks up where Barney left off, 40 years later. It's not the same, though. The characters are of different ethnicities, but they might as well all be of the same ethnicity. Ethnic differences are rarely, if ever allowed to be shown and they're basically all whitewashed. Funny mainstream media still doesn't get it or doesn't care after all these decades.