Barney Miller: Difference between revisions
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{{short description|American sitcom}} |
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{{Refimprove|date=November 2007}} |
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{{ |
{{Infobox television |
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| image = Barney Miller.jpg |
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| caption = |
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| caption = |
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| genre = {{Plainlist| |
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| show_name = Barney Miller |
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* [[Sitcom]] |
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* [[Comedy-drama]] |
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| runtime = ''ca.'' 26 min. |
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* [[Police procedural]] |
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| starring = [[Hal Linden]]<br>[[Barbara Barrie]] (1975–1976)<br>[[Abe Vigoda]] (1975–1977)<br>[[Max Gail]]<br>[[Ron Glass]]<br>[[Jack Soo]] (1975–1978)<br>[[Gregory Sierra]] (1975–1976)<br>[[James Gregory (actor)|James Gregory]]<br>[[Steve Landesberg]] (1976–1982)<br>[[Ron Carey (actor)|Ron Carey]] (1976–1982) |
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}} |
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| country = USA |
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| creator = {{Unbulleted list|[[Danny Arnold]] | [[Theodore J. Flicker]]}} |
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| network = [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] |
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| starring = {{Plainlist| |
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| first_aired = January 23, 1975 |
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* [[Hal Linden]] |
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| last_aired = May 20, 1982 |
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* [[Barbara Barrie]] |
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| num_seasons = 8 |
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* [[Abe Vigoda]] |
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| num_episodes = 168 |
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* [[Max Gail]] |
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|}} |
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* [[Ron Glass]] |
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* [[Jack Soo]] |
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* [[Gregory Sierra]] |
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* [[James Gregory (actor)|James Gregory]] |
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* [[Steve Landesberg]] |
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* [[Ron Carey (actor)|Ron Carey]] |
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}} |
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| theme_music_composer = {{Unbulleted list|[[Jack Elliott (composer)|Jack Elliott]] | [[Allyn Ferguson]]}} |
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| opentheme = |
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| endtheme = |
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| composer = {{Unbulleted list|Jack Elliott | Allyn Ferguson}} |
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| country = United States |
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| language = English |
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| company = Four D Productions |
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| num_seasons = 8 |
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| num_episodes = 170 |
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| list_episodes = List of Barney Miller episodes |
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| executive_producer = Danny Arnold |
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| camera = [[Videotape]]; [[Multi-camera setup|multi-camera]] |
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| runtime = 25 minutes |
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| network = [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] |
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| first_aired = {{Start date|1975|01|23}} |
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| last_aired = {{End date|1982|05|20}} |
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| related = ''[[Fish (American TV series)|Fish]]'' |
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}} |
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'''''Barney Miller''''' is |
'''''Barney Miller''''' is an American [[sitcom]] television series set in a [[New York City Police Department]] [[police station]] on East 6th Street in [[Greenwich Village]] ([[Lower Manhattan]]). The series was broadcast on [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] from January 23, 1975, to May 20, 1982. It was created by [[Danny Arnold]] and [[Theodore J. Flicker]]. [[Noam Pitlik]] directed the majority of the episodes. It spawned a [[spin-off (media)|spin-off]] series, ''[[Fish (American TV series)|Fish]]'', that ran from February 5, 1977, to May 18, 1978, focusing on the character [[Phil Fish (fictional character)|Philip K. Fish]]. |
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==Premise== |
==Premise== |
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''Barney Miller'' takes place almost entirely within the confines of the detectives' squad room and Captain Barney Miller's adjoining office of New York City's fictional 12th Precinct, located in [[Manhattan]]'s [[Greenwich Village]].<ref name="sjs750607">{{cite news |first=Bob |last=Garson |work=[[St. Joseph News-Press]] |title=The Law Takes Time Out to Be Human on ABC's Barney Miller |page=S2 |url= https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=GPFbAAAAIBAJ&pg=2161,1289410&dq=fish+vigoda&hl=en |date=June 7, 1975 |access-date=March 23, 2012}}</ref> A typical episode featured the detectives of the 12th bringing in several complainants and/or suspects to the squad room. Usually, there were two or three separate subplots in a given episode, with different officers dealing with different crimes. Rarely, about once a year, an episode would feature one or more of the detectives outside of the walls of the precinct, either on a [[stakeout]] or at their homes. |
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==Cast== |
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About once a year, there would be an episode which featured one or more of the detectives outside of the walls of the 12th Precinct, either on a stakeout or at one of their homes. |
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Primary characters featured on the series: |
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*'''Captain Barney Miller ([[Hal Linden]])''': The sensible captain, who tries to remain sane while dealing with the foibles of his staff, and the unending stream of budget problems, paperwork, and criminal activity that seem to make up his job. |
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*'''Det. Sgt. Philip K. Fish ([[Abe Vigoda]])''': Crotchety, nearing-retirement [[Jewish-American]], who is in poor health, but whose experience makes him a very good detective. |
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*'''Det. Stanley "Wojo" Wojciehowicz ([[Max Gail]])''': Naive, gung-ho but goodhearted [[Polish-American]], who gradually transforms from a macho ex-marine into a sensitive character who tries to see things from different points of view. |
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*'''Det. Sgt. Ron Nathan Harris ([[Ron Glass]]'''): Ambitious, intellectual [[African-American]], who lives well beyond his means, and who frequently seems more preoccupied with his career as a writer than with his police work. |
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*'''Det. Sgt. Nick Yemana ([[Jack Soo]])'''; Philosophical, wisecracking [[Japanese-American]], who is noted for his gambling habit, and for making extremely bad coffee for the other members of the squad. |
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*'''Det. Sgt. Chano Amanguale ([[Gregory Sierra]])''': A dauntless, beleaguered [[Puerto Rican people|Puerto Rican]] detective, who is very emotionally attached to his job. |
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*'''Det. [[Arthur Dietrich]] ([[Steve Landesberg]])''': An intellectual detective, with a calm unflappable nature, and a seemingly endless supply of knowledge on a wide array of subjects. |
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*'''Deputy Inspector Frank Luger ([[James Gregory (actor)|James Gregory]])''': Miller's rambling, out-of-touch and unapologetically old-school superior, who frequently drops by the precinct to chat with Barney. |
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*'''Officer Carl Levitt ([[Ron Carey (actor)|Ron Carey]])''': A diminutive and obsequious uniformed officer, who constantly passive-aggressively badgers Miller about being promoted to detective. |
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*'''Elizabeth Miller ([[Barbara Barrie]])''': Barney's wife, a social worker. Intended to be a regular character, and listed in the opening credits during Seasons 1 and 2, Liz was seen fairly infrequently on the show. She was, however, often referred to, and Barney would often be seen (and heard) on the phone with Liz. |
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<i>(Other supporting characters are detailed below.)</i> |
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The show's focus was split between the detectives' interactions with each other and with the suspects and witnesses they detained, processed, and interviewed. Some typical conflicts and long running plotlines included Miller's frustration with red tape and paperwork, his constant efforts to maintain peace, order, and discipline, and his numerous failed attempts to get a promotion; Harris's preoccupation with outside interests, such as his living arrangements but mainly his novel ("Blood on the Badge"), and his inability to remain focused on his police work; Fish's age-related health issues, marital problems, and reluctance to retire; Wojciehowicz's impulsive behavior and love life; Luger's nostalgia for the old days with partners Foster, Kleiner and Brown; Levitt's quest to become a detective (which was eventually successful); the rivalry between the precinct's resident intellectuals, Harris and Dietrich and continually — but reliably — bad coffee (usually made by Yemana). |
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Decades after its cancellation, ''Barney Miller'' retains a devoted following among real-life police officers, who appreciate the show's emphasis on dialogue and believably quirky characters, and its low-key portrayal of cops going about their jobs. During his appearance on [[Jon Favreau]]'s [[Independent Film Channel]] talk show ''[[Dinner for Five]]'', [[Dennis Farina]], who worked as a [[Chicago]] policeman before turning to acting, called ''Barney Miller'' the most realistic cop show ever seen on television. Hal Linden has told interviewers that he is still occasionally called "Captain" by working police officers.{{fact|date=December 2010}} |
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==Cast== |
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===Regulars=== |
===Regulars=== |
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[[File:Barney Miller cast 1974.jpg|thumb|left|A scene from the season 3 episode “Hash”. Left to right: Ron Glass, Jack Soo, Abe Vigoda (back to the camera), Hal Linden, Max Gail.]] |
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{| class="wikitable" |
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{| class="wikitable" style="width:98%" |
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!width=8%|Actor |
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|- |
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!width=20%|Character |
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!Actor |
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!width=6%|Seasons |
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!Character |
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!width=60%|Notes |
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!Seasons |
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| [[Hal Linden]] |
| [[Hal Linden]] |
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| Captain Barney Miller |
| Captain Bernard "Barney" Miller |
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| {{center| 1–8 }} |
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|[[ |
|[[Max Gail]] |
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| style="white-space:nowrap;" | Detective 3rd Grade (later Sergeant) <br /> Stanley Thaddeus "Wojo" Wojciehowicz |
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|Detective [[Phil Fish|Philip K. Fish]] |
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| |
| {{center| 1–8 }} |
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|Vigoda was a regular for the first three seasons. Though still in the opening credits, he appeared in only about half of the episodes in the last half of Season 3. (The character was simultaneously seen on the spin-off show ''Fish'' at this same time.) Fish "retired" as of Season 4, Episode 2, though he returned for two guest appearances, one later in Season 4 and one in Season 7. |
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|- |
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|[[Max Gail]] |
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|Detective Stan "Wojo" Wojciehowicz |
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| <center> 1–8 |
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| |
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|- |
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|[[Ron Glass]] |
|[[Ron Glass]] |
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|Detective |
|Detective 1st Grade (later Sergeant)<br /> Ron Nathan Harris |
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| {{center| 1–8 }} |
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|[[James Gregory (actor)|James Gregory]] |
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|Deputy Inspector Franklin D. Luger |
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| {{center| 1–8 }} |
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|- |
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|[[Abe Vigoda]] |
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|Sergeant [[Phil Fish (character)|Philip K. Fish]] |
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| {{center| 1–4, 7 }} |
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|- |
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|[[Jack Soo]] |
|[[Jack Soo]] |
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| style="white-space:nowrap;" | Sergeant Nick Yemana |
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| |
| {{center| 1–5 }} |
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|A regular in Seasons 1 to 5. After Soo died on January 11, 1979 (midway through Season 5), a special memorial episode was aired, with the actors breaking character and recalling their favorite Yemana scenes. The episode ended with entire cast raising their coffee cups in tribute. |
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|- |
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|[[Barbara Barrie]] |
|[[Barbara Barrie]] |
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|Elizabeth "Liz" Miller |
|Elizabeth "Liz" Miller |
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|style="white-space:nowrap;text-align:center;"|1–2, 4, 5 |
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| <center> 1–2, 5 |
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|Though appearing in only a handful of episodes after the pilot, Barrie received billing in the opening credits of every episode in Seasons 1 and 2. Often mentioned, her character returned for a two-part guest appearance in Season 5. |
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|- |
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|[[Gregory Sierra]] |
|[[Gregory Sierra]] |
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|Sergeant Miguel "Chano" Amenguale |
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| {{center| 1–2 }} |
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|[[Steve Landesberg]] |
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|[[James Gregory (actor)|James Gregory]] |
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|Sergeant Arthur P. Dietrich |
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|Deputy Inspector Franklin D. Luger |
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| |
| {{center| 2–8 }} |
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|A regular character throughout the series, usually seen in about a third to a half of any given season's episodes. Gregory was only listed in the opening credits during Season 4; in other seasons, he was listed as a "Special Guest" in the closing credits. |
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|[[Ron Carey (actor)|Ron Carey]] |
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| [[Steve Landesberg]] ‡ |
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|Detective Sergeant [[Arthur Dietrich]] |
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| <center> 2–8 |
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|Landesberg was first seen as a one-shot character, a priest, in Season 2. Later that year, he appeared in one episode as Dietrich, a transfer from the 33rd when budget cuts closed that precinct. He became a semi-regular in Season 3 and a full-time cast member from Season 4 onwards. |
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|- |
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| [[Ron Carey (actor)|Ron Carey]] ‡ |
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|Officer Carl Levitt |
|Officer Carl Levitt |
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| {{center| 3–8 }} |
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|Carey first appeared as a perp, Angelo "The Mole" Molinari, in the last episode of Season 2. He began his role as a recurring character, Officer Levitt, in Season 3, becoming a full-time cast member by Season 4. |
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===Recurring characters=== |
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‡ <small>''Landesberg and Carey both made one-shot guest appearances in other roles before being cast in their regular series roles. </small>'' |
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===Recurring characters=== |
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====Other officers and staff==== |
====Other officers and staff==== |
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{| class="wikitable" |
{| class="wikitable" style="width:98%" |
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|- |
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!width=12%|Actor |
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!Actor |
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!width=16%|Character |
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!Character |
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!width=6%|Seasons |
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!Seasons |
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!width=60%|Notes |
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|[[Milt Kogan]] |
|[[Milt Kogan]] |
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| style="white-space:nowrap;" | Desk Sergeant Kogan |
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|Officer Kogan |
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| {{center| 1–2 }} |
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|Though not seen after Season 2, Kogan (the downstairs desk sergeant) was frequently referred to throughout the series run. |
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|Paul Lichtman |
| style="white-space:nowrap;" | Paul Lichtman |
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|Mr. Beckman, the building repairman |
|style="white-space:nowrap;"| Mr. Beckman, the<br />building repairman |
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| {{center| 1–2 }} |
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|[[George Murdock (actor)|George Murdock]] ‡ |
|[[George Murdock (actor)|George Murdock]] ‡ |
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|Lt. Ben Scanlon, Internal Affairs |
|Lt. Ben Scanlon,<br />Internal Affairs |
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|style="white-space:nowrap;text-align:center;"| 2, 4–8 |
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|A member of the [[Internal affairs (law enforcement)|Internal Affairs Department]], the eternally suspicious Scanlon was not attached to the 12th Precinct. His visits from headquarters involved trying to find corruption inside the 12th Precinct. |
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|[[Linda Lavin]] |
|[[Linda Lavin]] |
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|Detective Janice Wentworth |
|Detective Janice Wentworth |
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| {{center| 1, 2 }} |
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|After a short run as a regular guest on ''Barney Miller'' (beginning with Episode 8 of the first season, "Ms. Cop"), Lavin left the series to star in ''[[Alice (TV series)|Alice]]''. Wentworth's name can still be seen on the staff duty roster through most of Season 3. |
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|[[June Gable]] |
|[[June Gable]] |
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|Detective Maria Battista |
|Detective Maria Battista |
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| {{center| 3 }} |
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|Short-lived addition to the 12th Precinct's detective room, lasting only 2 episodes |
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| [[Mari Gorman]] ‡ |
| [[Mari Gorman]] ‡ |
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| style="white-space:nowrap;" | Detective Roslyn Licori |
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| {{center| 4, 8 }} |
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|Gorman made a guest appearance (Season 4, Episode 3) as an amateur prostitute housewife, and then, after a three episode run as Licori, in Season 4, she played another recurring role on the show during Season 8, that of Mrs. Binder, wife of frequent precinct visitor Bruno Binder. |
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|[[Dino Natali]] |
|[[Dino Natali]] |
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|Officer |
|Officer Zitelli |
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| {{center| 4–7 }} |
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|Becomes a recurrent character after Barney gets involved to save him from Scanlon's wrath after Scanlon, who is determined to fire him, learns he is gay. |
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| [[Paul Lieber]] ‡ |
| [[Paul Lieber]] ‡ |
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|Detective Eric Dorsey |
|Detective Eric Dorsey |
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| {{center| 7 }} |
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|Another short-run detective (3 episodes). |
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| [[Ed Peck]] |
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|Patrolman Slater |
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| {{center| 3, 5 }} |
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‡ |
‡ {{Small|''Murdock, Gorman, and Leiber all made guest appearances in other roles in addition to their regularly recurring series roles.''}} |
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====12th Precinct regulars==== |
====12th Precinct regulars==== |
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The 12th Precinct had a number of regular complainants, habitués of the holding cell, or other people who often dropped by. Characters seen on three or more episodes included: |
The 12th Precinct had a number of regular complainants, habitués of the holding cell, or other people who often dropped by. Characters seen on three or more episodes included: |
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{| class="wikitable" style="width:98%" |
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{| class="wikitable" |
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! |
!Actor |
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! |
!Character |
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!style="white-space:nowrap;"|No. of<br />Appear-<br />ances |
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!width=6%|# of appearances |
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! |
!Seasons |
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!width=60%|Notes |
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|- |
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|[[Jack DeLeon]] |
|[[Jack DeLeon]] |
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|Marty Morrison |
|Marty Morrison |
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| {{center| 8 }} |
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| {{center| 1–8 }} |
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|Marty, a gay man. is arrested for snatching purses in the series' first episode. Later he is occasionally brought in as a suspect, other times a complainant. |
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|[[Alex Henteloff]] ‡ |
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|Arnold Ripner |
|Arnold Ripner |
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|{{center|7 }} |
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|{{center|1–8 }} |
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|An ambulance-chasing attorney, Ripner visited the precinct whenever he had a client to defend. (He also sometimes visited just to drum up business amongst those in the holding cell.) Ripner later sued Harris for Harris' depiction of him in his novel ''Blood On The Badge''. |
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|- |
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|[[Stanley Brock]] ‡ |
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|Bruno Binder |
|Bruno Binder |
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|{{center|7 }} |
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|{{center|4–8 }} |
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|- |
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|A vigilante frequently in trouble for his overzealous ways. |
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|[[Jack Somack]] |
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|Mr. Cotterman |
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|{{center|6 }} |
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|{{center|2–5, 7 }} |
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|- |
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|Ray Stewart |
|Ray Stewart |
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|Darryl Driscoll |
|Darryl Driscoll |
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|{{center|5 }} |
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|{{center|2–8 }} |
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|Marty's somewhat more sensible and grounded lover, who lent Marty moral support during his visits to the precinct. |
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|style="white-space:nowrap;"|[[John Dullaghan]] ‡ |
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|Jack Somack |
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|Mr. Cotterman |
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|<center>6 |
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|<center>1–5 |
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|Owner of the frequently-robbed Cotterman's Liquor Store. |
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| [[John Dullaghan]] ‡ |
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|Ray Brewer |
|Ray Brewer |
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|{{center|5 }} |
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|{{center|5–8 }} |
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|A lonely transient, Ray stopped by the precinct during open houses to talk and sample the coffee. |
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|- |
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| J.J. Barry ‡ |
| J.J. Barry ‡ |
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|Arthur Duncan |
|style="white-space:nowrap;"|Arthur Duncan |
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|{{center|4 }} |
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|{{center|7–8 }} |
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|- |
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|A small-time crook and frequent arrestee. |
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| [[Ralph Manza]] ‡ |
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|Leon Roth |
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|{{center|4 }} |
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|{{center|3–8 }} |
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|- |
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| [[Doris Roberts]] ‡ |
| [[Doris Roberts]] ‡ |
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|Harriet Brauer |
|Harriet Brauer |
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|{{center|3 }} |
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|{{center|4–7 }} |
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|Along with her husband Phillip, a frequent complainant. |
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|- |
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|Peter Hobbs |
|[[Peter Hobbs (actor)|Peter Hobbs]] |
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|Philip Brauer |
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|{{center|3 }} |
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|{{center|4–7 }} |
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|- |
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|[[Paula Shaw]] |
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| Ralph Manza ‡ |
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|Paula Capshaw |
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|Leon Roth |
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|{{center|3 }} |
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|{{center|3–4 }} |
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|- |
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|A blind shoplifter who was caught on several occasions. |
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|[[Carina Afable]] |
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|Perlita Avilar |
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|{{center|3 }} |
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|{{center|8 }} |
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|} |
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==Pilot== |
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‡ <small>''The actor also was cast in at least one other role at some point during the series run.''</small> |
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The series was born out of an unsold [[television pilot]], ''The Life and Times of Captain Barney Miller'', that aired on August 22, 1974, as part of an [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] summer [[anthology series]], ''Just for Laughs''. Linden and Vigoda were cast in their series roles; no other eventual cast members were present. [[Abby Dalton]] played Barney Miller's wife, Liz, while [[Val Bisoglio]], Rod Perry, and a pre-''[[Hill Street Blues]]'' [[Charles Haid]] rounded out the cast of the pilot. Guest stars included Mike Moore, Chu Chu Mulave, Henry Beckman, Buddy Lester, Michael Tessier and Anne Wyndham.{{Citation needed|date=August 2024}} |
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The pilot script was later largely reused in the debut episode "Ramon". For this reworked episode, Bisoglio's lines were more or less evenly split between the new characters of Yemana and Chano, while Haid's character of Kazinski became Max Gail's Wojciehowicz. Rod Perry's character, Sgt. Wilson, was replaced by Harris in the reworked episode, although Wilson would reappear one more time in the first-season episode "Experience" before disappearing from the series entirely. Abby Dalton was replaced by Barbara Barrie as Liz, and Henry Beckman's character of Uncle Charlie was dropped entirely. The rest of the guest cast (Moore, Malave, Lester, Tessier and Wyndham) reprised their roles in the debut episode.{{Citation needed|date=August 2024}} |
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Note that [[Buddy Lester]] plays a [[bookie]] in three episodes, but twice the bookie is called Harry and once Sidney. It is not clear whether this was meant to be the same character. |
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Unlike the remainder of the series, the pilot was shot on film at [[CBS Studio Center]], where the sets of the 12th Precinct and the Miller apartment were originally built.{{Citation needed|date=August 2024}} When the show went into regular production in late 1974, it was recorded on videotape. The sets were moved to the [[ABC Television Center]] in Hollywood, where they remained until production ended in 1982.{{fact|date=August 2024}} |
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Seen in two episodes apiece were delusional "werewolf" Mr. Stefan Kopeckne; Yacov Berger ([[Nehemiah Persoff]]); and [[Exhibitionism|Flasher]] Lyle W. Farber ([[Ron Feinberg]]). |
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The pilot was never broadcast in syndication. It was released in 2011 as part of Shout Factory's complete series set on DVD. |
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====Fish's family==== |
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Fish's wife Bernice made an appearance from time to time in Seasons 1 to 3. In Seasons 1 and 3 she was played by [[Florence Stanley]] (in a total of six appearances); in Bernice's only Season 2 appearance she was portrayed by [[Doris Belack]]. In that episode, Fish also had a grown daughter named Beverly played by Emily Levine. Also seen as recurring characters in Season 3 were group home children Jilly ([[Denise Miller]]) and Victor ([[John Cassisi]]), who would eventually become Fish's foster children. In 1977, the Fishes were [[Spin-off (media)|spun off]] into their own show, ''[[Fish (TV series)|Fish]]''. |
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==Episodes== |
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====Barney's family==== |
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{{Main|List of Barney Miller episodes}} |
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In addition to Barney's wife Liz, Barney's son David (Michael Tessier) and daughter Rachel ([[Anne Wyndham]]) appeared in the pilot. Barney's children were written out of the show after the first episode (though they were still often mentioned), while his wife made appearances through the second season. Wyndham also reprised her role in two later episodes. |
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{{:List of Barney Miller episodes}} |
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==Pilot== |
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The series sprang from an unsold [[television pilot]], ''The Life and Times of Captain Barney Miller'', that aired on August 22, 1974 as part of an [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] summer [[anthology]], ''Just for Laughs''. Linden and Vigoda were cast in their series roles; no other eventual cast members were present. [[Abby Dalton]] played Barney Miller's wife, Liz. The pilot script was later largely re-used in the debut episode "Ramon". |
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==Opening theme== |
==Opening theme== |
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The show's theme music is an [[instrumental]] in a [[jazz fusion]] style, written by [[Jack Elliott (composer)|Jack Elliott]] and [[Allyn Ferguson]]. The theme opens with a distinctive [[bass line]] performed by [[studio musician]] [[Chuck Berghofer]]. The bass line was improvised by Berghofer at the request of producer Dominik Hauser: "Can you do something on the bass? This guy is a cop in New York. Can we just start it out with the bass?"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.notreble.com/buzz/2015/04/23/stories-behind-the-songs-chuck-berghofer/|title=Stories Behind the Songs: Chuck Berghofer|date=23 April 2015 |access-date=15 March 2018}}</ref> Several versions of the theme were used during different seasons.<ref>{{cite web|title=Barney Miller Theme (All Versions)|website = [[YouTube]]| date=26 June 2013 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=II71tmVsKrE| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211114/II71tmVsKrE| archive-date=2021-11-14 | url-status=live}}{{cbignore}}</ref> |
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The theme plays over scenes of the Manhattan [[skyline]], followed by shots of the characters and opening credits. Season 1 opened and closed with a shot of [[Midtown Manhattan]] as seen from [[Weehawken, New Jersey]]. Season 2 onward opened with a shot of [[Lower Manhattan]] as seen from [[Brooklyn Heights]], with a barge being towed in the foreground, and closed with a shot of the [[Midtown Manhattan]] skyline as seen from [[Long Island City]]. |
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The distinctive opening notes of the [[bass line]] of [[Jack Elliott (composer)|Jack Elliott]] and [[Allyn Ferguson]]'s theme music, performed by [[studio musician]] Jim Hughart,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/natlib/ihas/warehouse/jots/200028017/0001.pdf |title=Jazz on the Screen |first=David |last= Meeker |publisher=Library of Congress |accessdate=2008-02-25}} Page 82</ref> are played over a shot of the New York [[skyline]] as seen from the water of [[Upper New York Bay]] — from Season 2 on, with a garbage barge being towed in the foreground<!--as per DVDs of Seasons 1 & 2--no garbage barge in first-season credits--> — followed by shots of the characters. Several slightly different versions of the theme featuring minor variations in composition and performance were used during different seasons. The closing credits featured a different shot of the skyline. |
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The theme song was ranked No. 23 and No. 27, respectively, by ''[[Complex (magazine)|Complex]]'' and ''[[Paste (magazine)|Paste]]'' magazines, in their lists of "best TV theme songs".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.complex.com/pop-culture/2012/02/the-50-best-tv-show-theme-songs/barney-miller|title=The Best TV Theme Songs|website=Complex|access-date=15 March 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2017/05/the-50-best-tv-theme-songs.html?a=1|title=The 50 Best TV Theme Songs of All Time|access-date=15 March 2018}}</ref> |
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==Production== |
==Production== |
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As the show progressed, and especially by the final seasons, the program became unusual for its increasing resemblance to a stage play, in that its scenes almost never strayed from the single set of the precinct station's squadroom, with its prominent open-barred [[jail cell|holding cell]], and Miller's adjoining office. Almost all of the action and dialog took place on this single set. Characters came and went, but they were virtually never shown outside or in other buildings. Moreover, each episode in the later seasons usually took place within the course of a single workday. Thus, ''Barney Miller'' tended to obey two of the three [[classical unities]] of drama, unity of place and unity of time. The third unity, unity of action, was not followed, since each episode had multiple subplots. |
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===Staging=== |
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The show became notorious in the industry for its marathon taping sessions.<ref>[http://www.oldtvtickets.com/archives1/2010/04/barney_miller.html Barney Miller entry], Old TV Tickets blog</ref> In the beginning, it was taped in front of a studio audience. After the audience left, creator and executive producer [[Danny Arnold]] would begin to rewrite and restage scenes, sometimes heavily so; a taping session that began in the afternoon or early evening would then continue on into the early morning hours. Max Gail referred to this in the Jack Soo retrospective episode; he remarked that one of the clips shown was a scene that "we finished around 2:30 in the morning." In a 1977 [[blooper]], a crew member mentions it being 3:15 a.m. |
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Production of ''Barney Miller'' deliberately resembled a theatrical stage play; scenes rarely strayed from the precinct station's squad room, with its prominent open-barred [[jail cell|holding cell]], and Miller's adjoining office. The room was said to be on the second or third floor, depending on the episode. Clutter was plentiful and much of it seemed immobile over the years, including a coat hanging on a clothes rack near Harris' desk. A handful of episodes (fewer than a dozen of 170) were partially or fully set in other locations, including a stakeout location ("Stakeout"), a hospital room ("Hair"), an undercover operation ("Grand Hotel"), a jail (three separate rooms in "Contempt"), a hotel room ("Chinatown"), and the apartments of Barney ("Ramon" and "Graft"), Chano ("The Hero"), Fish ("Fish") and Wojo ("Wojo's Girl"). In "The DNA Story", we finally see the inside of the men's room. ''Barney Miller'' tended to obey two of the three [[classical unities]] of drama: unity of place and unity of time. The third unity, unity of action, was not followed, since each episode had multiple subplots. |
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''Barney Miller'' was one of the few sitcoms of the period that occasionally mentioned the then-current year or allowed the audience to infer the then-current year. |
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==Ratings== |
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{{col-begin}}{{col-break}} |
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*1974–1975: #70 {{nb10}} |
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*1975–1976: #38 |
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*1976–1977: #17 |
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*1977–1978: #18 |
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{{col-break}} |
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*1978–1979: #16 |
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*1979–1980: #21 |
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*1980–1981: #33 |
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*1981–1982: #54 |
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{{col-end}} |
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===Taping=== |
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==Awards and honors== |
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''Barney Miller'' was notorious for its marathon taping sessions.<ref>[http://www.oldtvtickets.com/archives1/2010/04/barney_miller.html Barney Miller entry] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100504012907/http://www.oldtvtickets.com/archives1/2010/04/barney_miller.html |date=May 4, 2010 }}, Old TV Tickets blog</ref> Early seasons were recorded before a live studio audience and used a [[laugh track]] for sweetening reactions during post-production. Creator and executive producer [[Danny Arnold]] would then rewrite and restage entire scenes after the audience departed, actively looking for quieter, subtler moments that would not play well before a crowd; a taping session that began in the afternoon or early evening would then continue into the early morning hours. Max Gail referred to this in the Jack Soo retrospective episode aired on May 17, 1979, remarking that one of the clips shown was a scene that "we finished around 2:30 in the morning." In a 1977 [[blooper]], a crew member mentions it being 3:15 a.m. |
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''Barney Miller'' won the [[Directors Guild of America Awards|DGA Award]] from the [[Directors Guild of America]] in 1981. |
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Writer Tom Reeder described working on the show: |
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The series won a [[Primetime Emmy Award]] for [[Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series|Outstanding Comedy Series]] in 1982, after it was concluded. It also won Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series in 1980 and Outstanding Directing in a Comedy or Comedy-Variety or Music Series in 1979, and was nominated for numerous others. |
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{{blockquote|text=Danny Arnold was the creator of the show, and especially in the early years, he was a marvel. When he was "on", he could spin out entire scenes, ad-libbing dialogue—and great jokes—for every character. By the time those scenes got to script form, though, he obsessively rewrote them. |
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That's true of a lot of showrunners, but Danny couldn't seem to stop himself. Sometime during season 2 (or maybe it was 3) the show was no longer taped in front of an audience, partly because the script was rarely done by show night. When one season began, six pages were in print. Not six scripts—six pages of one script. |
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This meant that on the day the show was taped, the actors would hang around on the stage, waiting for pages to be sent down. Then—sometimes at 2 a.m.—they would have to learn new scenes. Ron Carey (Officer Levitt) would get his fairly quickly: "Here's your mail, Captain." On the other hand, poor Steve Landesberg (Dietrich) might have to memorize long speeches explaining how nuclear fission works. |
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In the early years, Danny benefited from the heroic writing efforts of [[Chris Hayward]], who was a veteran writer, and rookies Tony Sheehan and [[Reinhold Weege]] who, like me, didn't know any better. They were the ''Barney Miller'' writing staff. My agent wisely turned down Danny's annual offers of staff jobs, negotiating freelance assignments (so-called "multiple deals") for me instead. Even so, the pace was frantic—on one assignment I was given 3 hours to write the story outline. On another occasion, a friend came into my office at ABC-Vine Street and said, "Hey, Reeder, want to go get some lunch?" I pointed to the paper in my typewriter and said, "This script is on the stage—thanks anyway."<ref>[http://kenlevine.blogspot.com/2011/10/barney-miller-inside-look.html Barney Miller: An Inside Look], By Ken Levine blog guest entry"</ref>}} |
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Employing a live audience became impractical as lengthy reshoots became commonplace. By Season 4, only a quiet laugh track was used when necessary. |
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It won the [[Golden Globe Award]] for [[List of Golden Globe Awards: Television, Best Series, Musical/Comedy|Best Television Comedy or Musical Series]] in 1976 and 1977, and was nominated for various other Golden Globe Awards. |
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===Barney Miller's wife=== |
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The show won the [[Peabody Award]] in 1979. |
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When ''Barney Miller'' premiered in January, 1975, actress [[Barbara Barrie]] was hired as a regular cast member to play Liz Miller, Barney's wise, faithful, and loving wife. She received second billing in the opening credits after Hal Linden. During that half-season, Barrie appeared in seven episodes out of thirteen. At that time, the premise of the show was to focus on Barney's career as a police captain at the 12th precinct as well as his home life with his wife and children. |
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At the start of the 1975–76 season, when it became evident that storylines at the 12th precinct were taking precedence, Barrie went to producer Danny Arnold and asked to be released from the show. Arnold reluctantly agreed and Barrie appeared in only two episodes that year: “The Social Worker", which was the second episode of the second season, and the holiday installment “Happy New Year”. But she continued to receive second billing in the opening credits throughout the second year. |
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==DVD releases== |
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[[Sony Pictures Home Entertainment]] has released the first 3 seasons of ''Barney Miller'' on DVD in Region 1. Season 1 was released on January 20, 2004, to slow sales, and Sony decided not to release any more seasons. However, the decision was later reversed and Season 2 was released in 2008 (four years after the release of Season 1), followed by Season 3 the following year. |
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In the third season, Barrie's character as well as Barney's children were occasionally mentioned but never seen. In the spring of 1978, Barrie returned to the series as a guest star reprising her role of Liz Miller in the episode “Quo Vadis”. In that episode, Barney gets shot on duty, but survives his attack virtually unharmed. Liz, upset by the incident and unable to stand the pressures of being a policeman's wife, gives Barney an ultimatum to either give up his police job so they can move to a safer neighborhood or end their marriage. At the end of the episode, Barney and Liz separate. |
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Season 1 was released on DVD in Region 4 on December 20, 2006.<ref>[http://www.dvdorchard.com.au/product.asp?PND=143433 Region 4 release date] identified at DVD Orchard</ref> |
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During the 1978–79 season, Barrie made her final appearance on ''Barney Miller'' in the Christmas show “Toys”. In that episode, Liz meets Barney at the 12th precinct on Christmas Eve to discuss celebrating the holidays with their children, leading up to the possibility of a reconciliation. After this episode, Liz is never seen again, but toward the end of the fifth season, Barney happily announces to his staff that he and Liz have ended their separation and that he is moving back to their apartment. Despite Barrie's absence, her character continues to be mentioned throughout the rest of the show's run. |
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===Fish=== |
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In the first season of ''Barney Miller'', the character of Fish (played by [[Abe Vigoda]]) proved so popular that ABC was considering a spin-off as early as October 1975. The series, ''Fish'', premiered on February 5, 1977. It focused on the domestic side of Fish's life as he and his wife Bernice (played by [[Florence Stanley]]) became foster parents to five racially mixed children known as "Persons in Need of Supervision" (PINS). Fish continued to appear sporadically in the second half of Season 3 of ''Barney Miller'' while also starring in ''Fish''. During the 1977–78 season, Fish officially retired from the NYPD in Season 4, Episode 2 episode of ''Barney Miller''. ''Fish'' had reasonably good ratings but did not match ''Barney Miller'''s. ABC was going to renew the show for a third season, but, according to cast member [[Todd Bridges]], Vigoda demanded more money than the producers were willing to pay. As a result, ABC canceled ''Fish'' in May 1978 without a series finale. Vigoda did not return to ''Barney Miller'' as a regular cast member, but in the spring of 1981, he did make a final appearance as Fish as a guest in the seventh-season episode "Lady and the Bomb", thus giving his character some closure. |
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===Wojo Pilot=== |
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After ''Fish'' was canceled, a special one-hour episode of ''Barney Miller'' aired on January 25, 1979. It was created as a pilot episode for another possible ''Barney Miller'' spin-off to star series regular Max Gail. Titled “Wojo's Girl”, the first half of the episode was set at the 12th precinct in which Wojo (played by Gail) decides to have his girlfriend Nancy, a former prostitute (played by Darlene Parks), live with him. The second half of the installment takes place entirely in Wojo's apartment as he and Nancy try and struggle to adjust to living together. The pilot did not sell, Park's character of Nancy was never seen again and Gail remained with ''Barney Miller'' until the series ended in the spring of 1982. |
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===Linda Lavin=== |
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Shortly after the premiere of ''Barney Miller'' in early 1975, actress [[Linda Lavin]] guest starred as Detective Janice Wentworth on the eighth episode "Ms. Cop". Her character in that installment went over very well with audiences and Lavin was brought back as a semi-regular for ''Barney Miller'''s second year. During that season, a romance began at the 12th precinct between Detective Wentworth and Detective (Wojo) Wojciehowicz (played by Max Gail). However, at the same time, Lavin had just completed a television pilot for [[CBS]] called ''[[Alice (American TV series)|Alice]]'', which was based on the [[Academy Award]]-winning film ''[[Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore]]''. The pilot quickly sold to CBS and they included it on their schedule for the 1976–1977 season. As a result, Lavin left ''Barney Miller'' at the end of the show's second season. ''Alice'' ran for nine years on CBS and immediately established Lavin as a television star. Lavin never returned to ''Barney Miller'' although her character of Detective Janice Wentworth was briefly seen in a flashback in the last episode of the series "Landmark: Part 3". |
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===Death of Jack Soo=== |
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Towards the end of the fourth year, [[Jack Soo]] was diagnosed with esophageal cancer and was absent for the last five episodes of the 1977–78 season. To help fill the void during his medical leave, actress Mari Gorman was brought in for three installments as Officer Rosslyn Licori. Cast member Ron Carey's role of Officer Carl Levitt was also expanded at this time to compensate for Soo's absence. Soo returned to ''Barney Miller'' at the start of the 1978–79 season but his cancer had already metastasized and spread very quickly. As a result, he was only able to complete nine episodes that year. By the time he taped his last appearance which was the installment "The Vandal" that aired on November 9, 1978, Soo's illness was quite evident in his rapid weight loss. Two months later, he died on January 11, 1979, at the age of 61. The fifth-season finale "Jack Soo: A Retrospective" aired on May 17, 1979, and was a tribute to him. For this installment, the cast of ''Barney Miller'' led by Hal Linden appeared as themselves on the 12th Precinct office set as they fondly shared stories and reminiscences about Soo as an actor and as a friend. At the end of the episode, the cast raised their coffee cups in loving memory of Jack Soo. |
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===Paul Lieber=== |
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During the seventh season, in an attempt to fill the void left by Jack Soo, a new character was added to ''Barney Miller''. In November, 1980, actor Paul Lieber was cast as Detective Sergeant Eric Dorsey. Dorsey had a jaded, cynical attitude who initially alienated his colleagues at the 12th precinct by assuming they were all corrupt. Even though he eventually realized that his convictions were not true, the character was not popular with viewers. As a result, Lieber's tenure on the show lasted only a few weeks with his character of Dorsey reassigned to another precinct. Lieber had in fact made a previous appearance on ''Barney Miller'' in a small role as a gunman during the previous season episode "The Architect". |
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===LGBT=== |
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Marty and Darryl were among the earliest recurring gay characters on American television. Danny Arnold worked closely with the Gay Media Task Force, an activist group that worked on [[LGBT]] representation in media, in developing the characters.<ref>Capsuto, p. 122</ref> Initially both characters were presented in a stereotypically effeminate manner but in later appearances Darryl began dressing and speaking in a more mainstream fashion.<ref>Capsuto, pp. 148—49</ref> Officer Zitelli's coming out was not the first gay storyline on American television, but was a memorable one. |
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===Slow ratings growth=== |
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The series took a while to become a hit, but ABC supported it anyway.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://o.canada.com/2013/07/24/the-state-of-tv-today-on-the-eve-of-the-tv-critics-association-summer-meeting-in-los-angeles-nobody-knows-anything/ |title=Netflix helps shift Hollywood's business model |publisher=O.canada.com |date=2013-07-24 |access-date=2014-08-25}}</ref> |
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In the 1975 "The Courtesans" episode (S1 E5) with [[Nancy Dussault]], creator/producer/showrunner [[Danny Arnold]] threatened to quit his own show, if network [[censorship|censors]] removed a risque line. The network relented and the resulting [[publicity]] over the [[X rating|x-rated]] episode that was banned in two markets ensured the series' ratings survival, according to [[Hal Linden]].<ref name=Foundation>{{cite web|title=Hal Linden Actor, Min 30-34|url=https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/interviews/hal-linden?clip=73386#highlight-clips |access-date=December 21, 2020 |publisher = Television Academy Foundation 'The Interviews'|last = Harrington|first = Amy|date = July 2, 2013}}</ref> |
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Danny Arnold ended production of ''Barney Miller'' in 1982 after eight seasons for fear of repeating storylines; the show was not canceled by the network. |
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==Reception by police== |
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''Barney Miller'' retains a devoted following among real-life police officers, who appreciate the show's emphasis on dialog and believably quirky characters, and its low-key portrayal of cops going about their jobs. In a 2005 op-ed for the ''New York Times'', New York police detective Lucas Miller wrote: |
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{{blockquote|text=Real cops are not usually fans of cop shows. [...] Many police officers maintain that the most realistic police show in the history of television was the sitcom ''Barney Miller'', [...] The action was mostly off screen, the squad room the only set, and the guys were a motley bunch of character actors who were in no danger of being picked for the N.Y.P.D. pin-up calendar. But they worked hard, made jokes, got hurt and answered to their straight-man commander. For real detectives, most of the action does happen off screen, and we spend a lot of time back in the squad room writing reports about it. Like Barney Miller's squad, we crack jokes at one another, at the cases that come in, and at the crazy suspect locked in the holding cell six feet from the new guy's desk. Life really is more like ''Barney Miller'' than ''[[NYPD Blue]]'', but our jokes aren't nearly as funny.<ref>Miller, Lucas (2005). [https://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/01/opinion/01miller.html "Watching the Detectives"]. 1 March 2005, accessed 31 October 2012.</ref>}} |
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Similarly, during his appearance on [[Jon Favreau]]'s [[Independent Film Channel]] talk show ''[[Dinner for Five]]'', [[Dennis Farina]], who worked as a [[Chicago]] police officer before turning to acting, called ''Barney Miller'' the most realistic cop show ever seen on television.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://voices.suntimes.com/arts-entertainment/memories-of-dennis-farina/ |work=Chicago Sun-Times |title=Chicago – Chicago : News : Politics : Things To Do : Sports |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140719102335/http://voices.suntimes.com/arts-entertainment/memories-of-dennis-farina/ |archive-date=2014-07-19 }}</ref> |
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==Awards and honors== |
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''Barney Miller'' won a [[Directors Guild of America Awards|DGA Award]] from the [[Directors Guild of America]] in 1981. The series won a [[Primetime Emmy Award]] for [[Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series|Outstanding Comedy Series]] in 1982, after it ended. It received six other nominations in that category, from 1976 to 1981. The series won Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series in 1980 (in addition to nominations in 1976, 1977 and 1982), Outstanding Directing in a Comedy or Comedy-Variety or Music Series in 1979, and was nominated for a number of others.<ref>{{cite web | url= http://www.emmys.com/award_history_search?person=&program=Barney+Miller&start_year=1949&end_year=2013&network=144&web_category=All&winner=All | title = ''Barney Miller'' Emmy Awards and Nominations | publisher = [[Academy of Television Arts & Sciences]] | access-date= September 5, 2013}}</ref> It won [[Golden Globe Award]]s for [[List of Golden Globe Awards: Television, Best Series, Musical/Comedy|Best Television Comedy or Musical Series]] in 1976 and 1977 (from a total of seven nominations),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hfpa.org/browse/?param=/film/23674|title=Barney Miller: 7 Nominations, 2 Wins|website=Golden Globe Awards Official Website|access-date=January 27, 2014}}</ref> and won a [[Peabody Award]] in 1978.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.peabodyawards.com/award-profile/barney-miller|title=Barney Miller Peabody Award Citation|website=George Foster Peabody Awards|access-date=September 18, 2014}}</ref> In 2013, ''[[TV Guide]]'' ranked ''Barney Miller'' at No. 46 on its list of the 60 best series of all time.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tvguide.com/news/tv-guide-magazine-60-best-series-1074962/ |title=TV Guide Magazine's 60 Best Series of All Time|work=TV Guide}}</ref> |
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==Home media== |
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[[Sony Pictures Home Entertainment]] has released the first three seasons of ''Barney Miller'' on DVD in Region 1. Season 1 was released on January 20, 2004, to slow sales, and Sony decided not to release any more seasons. However, the decision was later reversed and Season 2 was released in 2008 (four years after the release of Season 1), followed by Season 3 in 2009. |
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[[Shout! Factory]] acquired the rights to the series in 2011 and subsequently released a complete series set on October 25, 2011. The 25-disc set features all 168 episodes of the series as well as bonus features and the first season of the Abe Vigoda spin-off, ''[[Fish (U.S. TV series)|Fish]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Barney-Miller-The-Complete-Series/15636 |title=Barney Miller DVD news: Announcement for Barney Miller – The Complete Series |publisher=TVShowsOnDVD.com |date=2011-11-07 |access-date=2014-08-25 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150503043333/http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Barney-Miller-The-Complete-Series/15636 |archive-date=2015-05-03 }}</ref> |
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In 2014, Shout! began releasing individual season sets, season 4 was released on January 7, 2014,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://tvshowsondvd.com/news/Barney-Miller-Season-4/19039 |title=Barney Miller DVD news: Announcement for Barney Miller – The Complete 4th Season |publisher=TVShowsOnDVD.com |access-date=2014-08-25 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140816105429/http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Barney-Miller-Season-4/19039 |archive-date=2014-08-16 }}</ref> season 5 on May 13, 2014.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Barney-Miller-Season-5-Box-Art/19427 |title=Barney Miller DVD news: Box Art for Barney Miller – The Complete 5th Season |publisher=TVShowsOnDVD.com |access-date=2014-08-25 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140402090704/http://tvshowsondvd.com/news/Barney-Miller-Season-5-Box-Art/19427 |archive-date=2014-04-02 }}</ref> Season 6 on December 9, 2014.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.shoutfactory.com/tv/comedy/barney-miller-season-six|title=Shout! Factory – Barney Miller: Season Six|work=shoutfactory.com|access-date=23 September 2015}}</ref> and Season 7 on April 7, 2015,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Barney-Miller-Season-7/20627|title=Barney Miller DVD news: Announcement for Barney Miller - The Complete 7th Season - TVShowsOnDVD.com|work=tvshowsondvd.com|access-date=23 September 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925123242/http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Barney-Miller-Season-7/20627|archive-date=25 September 2015}}</ref> followed by the eighth and final season on July 7, 2015.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tvshowsondvd.com/news/Barney-Miller-Season-8/20921|title=Barney Miller DVD news: Announcement for Barney Miller - The Final Season - TVShowsOnDVD.com|work=tvshowsondvd.com|access-date=23 September 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150921112435/http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Barney-Miller-Season-8/20921|archive-date=21 September 2015}}</ref> |
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Season 1 was released on DVD in Region 4 on December 20, 2006. |
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{| class="wikitable" |
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| The First Season |
| The First Season |
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| style="text-align:center;"|13 |
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| January 20, 2004 |
| January 20, 2004 |
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|- |
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| The Complete Second Season |
| The Complete Second Season |
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| |
| style="text-align:center;"|22 |
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| January 22, 2008 |
| January 22, 2008 |
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|- |
|- |
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| The Complete Third Season |
| The Complete Third Season |
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| |
| style="text-align:center;"|22 |
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| March 17, 2009 |
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| March 17, 2009<ref>[http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Barney-Miller-Season-3-News/11094 ''Barney Miller'' Season 3 News] at tvshowsondvd.com</ref> |
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|- |
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| The Complete Fourth Season |
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| style="text-align:center;"|23 |
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| January 7, 2014 |
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|- |
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| The Complete Fifth Season |
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| style="text-align:center;"|24 |
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| May 13, 2014 |
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|- |
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| The Complete Sixth Season |
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| style="text-align:center;"|22 |
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| December 9, 2014 |
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|- |
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| The Complete Seventh Season |
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| style="text-align:center;"|22 |
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| April 7, 2015 |
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|- |
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| The Complete Eighth Season |
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| style="text-align:center;"|22 |
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| July 7, 2015 |
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|- |
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| The Complete Series |
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| style="text-align:center;"|168 |
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| October 25, 2011 |
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|} |
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==Notes |
==Notes== |
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{{notelist}} |
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==References== |
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{{reflist}} |
{{reflist}} |
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<!--spacing--> |
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==External links== |
==External links== |
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{{wikiquote}} |
{{wikiquote}} |
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{{Commons category|Barney Miller}} |
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*{{ |
* {{IMDb title|0072472}} |
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* {{IMDb title|id=0445529|title=The Life and Times of Captain Barney Miller}} |
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Latest revision as of 06:49, 11 December 2024
Barney Miller | |
---|---|
Genre | |
Created by | |
Starring | |
Theme music composer | |
Composers |
|
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 8 |
No. of episodes | 170 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producer | Danny Arnold |
Camera setup | Videotape; multi-camera |
Running time | 25 minutes |
Production company | Four D Productions |
Original release | |
Network | ABC |
Release | January 23, 1975 May 20, 1982 | –
Related | |
Fish |
Barney Miller is an American sitcom television series set in a New York City Police Department police station on East 6th Street in Greenwich Village (Lower Manhattan). The series was broadcast on ABC from January 23, 1975, to May 20, 1982. It was created by Danny Arnold and Theodore J. Flicker. Noam Pitlik directed the majority of the episodes. It spawned a spin-off series, Fish, that ran from February 5, 1977, to May 18, 1978, focusing on the character Philip K. Fish.
Premise
[edit]Barney Miller takes place almost entirely within the confines of the detectives' squad room and Captain Barney Miller's adjoining office of New York City's fictional 12th Precinct, located in Manhattan's Greenwich Village.[1] A typical episode featured the detectives of the 12th bringing in several complainants and/or suspects to the squad room. Usually, there were two or three separate subplots in a given episode, with different officers dealing with different crimes. Rarely, about once a year, an episode would feature one or more of the detectives outside of the walls of the precinct, either on a stakeout or at their homes.
Cast
[edit]Regulars
[edit]Actor | Character | Seasons |
---|---|---|
Hal Linden | Captain Bernard "Barney" Miller | 1–8
|
Max Gail | Detective 3rd Grade (later Sergeant) Stanley Thaddeus "Wojo" Wojciehowicz |
1–8
|
Ron Glass | Detective 1st Grade (later Sergeant) Ron Nathan Harris |
1–8
|
James Gregory | Deputy Inspector Franklin D. Luger | 1–8
|
Abe Vigoda | Sergeant Philip K. Fish | 1–4, 7
|
Jack Soo | Sergeant Nick Yemana | 1–5
|
Barbara Barrie | Elizabeth "Liz" Miller | 1–2, 4, 5 |
Gregory Sierra | Sergeant Miguel "Chano" Amenguale | 1–2
|
Steve Landesberg | Sergeant Arthur P. Dietrich | 2–8
|
Ron Carey | Officer Carl Levitt | 3–8
|
Recurring characters
[edit]Other officers and staff
[edit]Actor | Character | Seasons |
---|---|---|
Milt Kogan | Desk Sergeant Kogan | 1–2
|
Paul Lichtman | Mr. Beckman, the building repairman |
1–2
|
George Murdock ‡ | Lt. Ben Scanlon, Internal Affairs |
2, 4–8 |
Linda Lavin | Detective Janice Wentworth | 1, 2
|
June Gable | Detective Maria Battista | 3
|
Mari Gorman ‡ | Detective Roslyn Licori | 4, 8
|
Dino Natali | Officer Zitelli | 4–7
|
Paul Lieber ‡ | Detective Eric Dorsey | 7
|
Ed Peck | Patrolman Slater | 3, 5
|
‡ Murdock, Gorman, and Leiber all made guest appearances in other roles in addition to their regularly recurring series roles.
12th Precinct regulars
[edit]The 12th Precinct had a number of regular complainants, habitués of the holding cell, or other people who often dropped by. Characters seen on three or more episodes included:
Actor | Character | No. of Appear- ances |
Seasons |
---|---|---|---|
Jack DeLeon | Marty Morrison | 8
|
1–8
|
Alex Henteloff ‡ | Arnold Ripner | 7
|
1–8
|
Stanley Brock ‡ | Bruno Binder | 7
|
4–8
|
Jack Somack | Mr. Cotterman | 6
|
2–5, 7
|
Ray Stewart | Darryl Driscoll | 5
|
2–8
|
John Dullaghan ‡ | Ray Brewer | 5
|
5–8
|
J.J. Barry ‡ | Arthur Duncan | 4
|
7–8
|
Ralph Manza ‡ | Leon Roth | 4
|
3–8
|
Doris Roberts ‡ | Harriet Brauer | 3
|
4–7
|
Peter Hobbs | Philip Brauer | 3
|
4–7
|
Paula Shaw | Paula Capshaw | 3
|
3–4
|
Carina Afable | Perlita Avilar | 3
|
8
|
Pilot
[edit]The series was born out of an unsold television pilot, The Life and Times of Captain Barney Miller, that aired on August 22, 1974, as part of an ABC summer anthology series, Just for Laughs. Linden and Vigoda were cast in their series roles; no other eventual cast members were present. Abby Dalton played Barney Miller's wife, Liz, while Val Bisoglio, Rod Perry, and a pre-Hill Street Blues Charles Haid rounded out the cast of the pilot. Guest stars included Mike Moore, Chu Chu Mulave, Henry Beckman, Buddy Lester, Michael Tessier and Anne Wyndham.[citation needed]
The pilot script was later largely reused in the debut episode "Ramon". For this reworked episode, Bisoglio's lines were more or less evenly split between the new characters of Yemana and Chano, while Haid's character of Kazinski became Max Gail's Wojciehowicz. Rod Perry's character, Sgt. Wilson, was replaced by Harris in the reworked episode, although Wilson would reappear one more time in the first-season episode "Experience" before disappearing from the series entirely. Abby Dalton was replaced by Barbara Barrie as Liz, and Henry Beckman's character of Uncle Charlie was dropped entirely. The rest of the guest cast (Moore, Malave, Lester, Tessier and Wyndham) reprised their roles in the debut episode.[citation needed]
Unlike the remainder of the series, the pilot was shot on film at CBS Studio Center, where the sets of the 12th Precinct and the Miller apartment were originally built.[citation needed] When the show went into regular production in late 1974, it was recorded on videotape. The sets were moved to the ABC Television Center in Hollywood, where they remained until production ended in 1982.[citation needed]
The pilot was never broadcast in syndication. It was released in 2011 as part of Shout Factory's complete series set on DVD.
Episodes
[edit]Season | Episodes | Originally aired | Rank | Rating | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
First aired | Last aired | |||||
1 | 13 | January 23, 1975 | May 1, 1975 | 68[2] | 14.7[3] | |
2 | 22 | September 11, 1975 | March 18, 1976 | 37[5] | — | |
3 | 22 | September 23, 1976 | March 31, 1977 | 17 | 22.2 | |
4 | 23 | September 15, 1977 | May 18, 1978 | 17 | 21.4[b] | |
5 | 24 | September 14, 1978 | May 17, 1979 | 15 | 22.6[c] | |
6 | 22 | September 13, 1979 | May 8, 1980 | 20 | 20.9[d] | |
7 | 22 | October 30, 1980 | May 21, 1981 | 34 | 18.4 | |
8 | 22 | October 29, 1981 | May 20, 1982 | 54[6] | — |
Opening theme
[edit]The show's theme music is an instrumental in a jazz fusion style, written by Jack Elliott and Allyn Ferguson. The theme opens with a distinctive bass line performed by studio musician Chuck Berghofer. The bass line was improvised by Berghofer at the request of producer Dominik Hauser: "Can you do something on the bass? This guy is a cop in New York. Can we just start it out with the bass?"[7] Several versions of the theme were used during different seasons.[8]
The theme plays over scenes of the Manhattan skyline, followed by shots of the characters and opening credits. Season 1 opened and closed with a shot of Midtown Manhattan as seen from Weehawken, New Jersey. Season 2 onward opened with a shot of Lower Manhattan as seen from Brooklyn Heights, with a barge being towed in the foreground, and closed with a shot of the Midtown Manhattan skyline as seen from Long Island City.
The theme song was ranked No. 23 and No. 27, respectively, by Complex and Paste magazines, in their lists of "best TV theme songs".[9][10]
Production
[edit]Staging
[edit]Production of Barney Miller deliberately resembled a theatrical stage play; scenes rarely strayed from the precinct station's squad room, with its prominent open-barred holding cell, and Miller's adjoining office. The room was said to be on the second or third floor, depending on the episode. Clutter was plentiful and much of it seemed immobile over the years, including a coat hanging on a clothes rack near Harris' desk. A handful of episodes (fewer than a dozen of 170) were partially or fully set in other locations, including a stakeout location ("Stakeout"), a hospital room ("Hair"), an undercover operation ("Grand Hotel"), a jail (three separate rooms in "Contempt"), a hotel room ("Chinatown"), and the apartments of Barney ("Ramon" and "Graft"), Chano ("The Hero"), Fish ("Fish") and Wojo ("Wojo's Girl"). In "The DNA Story", we finally see the inside of the men's room. Barney Miller tended to obey two of the three classical unities of drama: unity of place and unity of time. The third unity, unity of action, was not followed, since each episode had multiple subplots.
Barney Miller was one of the few sitcoms of the period that occasionally mentioned the then-current year or allowed the audience to infer the then-current year.
Taping
[edit]Barney Miller was notorious for its marathon taping sessions.[11] Early seasons were recorded before a live studio audience and used a laugh track for sweetening reactions during post-production. Creator and executive producer Danny Arnold would then rewrite and restage entire scenes after the audience departed, actively looking for quieter, subtler moments that would not play well before a crowd; a taping session that began in the afternoon or early evening would then continue into the early morning hours. Max Gail referred to this in the Jack Soo retrospective episode aired on May 17, 1979, remarking that one of the clips shown was a scene that "we finished around 2:30 in the morning." In a 1977 blooper, a crew member mentions it being 3:15 a.m.
Writer Tom Reeder described working on the show:
Danny Arnold was the creator of the show, and especially in the early years, he was a marvel. When he was "on", he could spin out entire scenes, ad-libbing dialogue—and great jokes—for every character. By the time those scenes got to script form, though, he obsessively rewrote them.
That's true of a lot of showrunners, but Danny couldn't seem to stop himself. Sometime during season 2 (or maybe it was 3) the show was no longer taped in front of an audience, partly because the script was rarely done by show night. When one season began, six pages were in print. Not six scripts—six pages of one script.
This meant that on the day the show was taped, the actors would hang around on the stage, waiting for pages to be sent down. Then—sometimes at 2 a.m.—they would have to learn new scenes. Ron Carey (Officer Levitt) would get his fairly quickly: "Here's your mail, Captain." On the other hand, poor Steve Landesberg (Dietrich) might have to memorize long speeches explaining how nuclear fission works.
In the early years, Danny benefited from the heroic writing efforts of Chris Hayward, who was a veteran writer, and rookies Tony Sheehan and Reinhold Weege who, like me, didn't know any better. They were the Barney Miller writing staff. My agent wisely turned down Danny's annual offers of staff jobs, negotiating freelance assignments (so-called "multiple deals") for me instead. Even so, the pace was frantic—on one assignment I was given 3 hours to write the story outline. On another occasion, a friend came into my office at ABC-Vine Street and said, "Hey, Reeder, want to go get some lunch?" I pointed to the paper in my typewriter and said, "This script is on the stage—thanks anyway."[12]
Employing a live audience became impractical as lengthy reshoots became commonplace. By Season 4, only a quiet laugh track was used when necessary.
Barney Miller's wife
[edit]When Barney Miller premiered in January, 1975, actress Barbara Barrie was hired as a regular cast member to play Liz Miller, Barney's wise, faithful, and loving wife. She received second billing in the opening credits after Hal Linden. During that half-season, Barrie appeared in seven episodes out of thirteen. At that time, the premise of the show was to focus on Barney's career as a police captain at the 12th precinct as well as his home life with his wife and children.
At the start of the 1975–76 season, when it became evident that storylines at the 12th precinct were taking precedence, Barrie went to producer Danny Arnold and asked to be released from the show. Arnold reluctantly agreed and Barrie appeared in only two episodes that year: “The Social Worker", which was the second episode of the second season, and the holiday installment “Happy New Year”. But she continued to receive second billing in the opening credits throughout the second year.
In the third season, Barrie's character as well as Barney's children were occasionally mentioned but never seen. In the spring of 1978, Barrie returned to the series as a guest star reprising her role of Liz Miller in the episode “Quo Vadis”. In that episode, Barney gets shot on duty, but survives his attack virtually unharmed. Liz, upset by the incident and unable to stand the pressures of being a policeman's wife, gives Barney an ultimatum to either give up his police job so they can move to a safer neighborhood or end their marriage. At the end of the episode, Barney and Liz separate.
During the 1978–79 season, Barrie made her final appearance on Barney Miller in the Christmas show “Toys”. In that episode, Liz meets Barney at the 12th precinct on Christmas Eve to discuss celebrating the holidays with their children, leading up to the possibility of a reconciliation. After this episode, Liz is never seen again, but toward the end of the fifth season, Barney happily announces to his staff that he and Liz have ended their separation and that he is moving back to their apartment. Despite Barrie's absence, her character continues to be mentioned throughout the rest of the show's run.
Fish
[edit]In the first season of Barney Miller, the character of Fish (played by Abe Vigoda) proved so popular that ABC was considering a spin-off as early as October 1975. The series, Fish, premiered on February 5, 1977. It focused on the domestic side of Fish's life as he and his wife Bernice (played by Florence Stanley) became foster parents to five racially mixed children known as "Persons in Need of Supervision" (PINS). Fish continued to appear sporadically in the second half of Season 3 of Barney Miller while also starring in Fish. During the 1977–78 season, Fish officially retired from the NYPD in Season 4, Episode 2 episode of Barney Miller. Fish had reasonably good ratings but did not match Barney Miller's. ABC was going to renew the show for a third season, but, according to cast member Todd Bridges, Vigoda demanded more money than the producers were willing to pay. As a result, ABC canceled Fish in May 1978 without a series finale. Vigoda did not return to Barney Miller as a regular cast member, but in the spring of 1981, he did make a final appearance as Fish as a guest in the seventh-season episode "Lady and the Bomb", thus giving his character some closure.
Wojo Pilot
[edit]After Fish was canceled, a special one-hour episode of Barney Miller aired on January 25, 1979. It was created as a pilot episode for another possible Barney Miller spin-off to star series regular Max Gail. Titled “Wojo's Girl”, the first half of the episode was set at the 12th precinct in which Wojo (played by Gail) decides to have his girlfriend Nancy, a former prostitute (played by Darlene Parks), live with him. The second half of the installment takes place entirely in Wojo's apartment as he and Nancy try and struggle to adjust to living together. The pilot did not sell, Park's character of Nancy was never seen again and Gail remained with Barney Miller until the series ended in the spring of 1982.
Linda Lavin
[edit]Shortly after the premiere of Barney Miller in early 1975, actress Linda Lavin guest starred as Detective Janice Wentworth on the eighth episode "Ms. Cop". Her character in that installment went over very well with audiences and Lavin was brought back as a semi-regular for Barney Miller's second year. During that season, a romance began at the 12th precinct between Detective Wentworth and Detective (Wojo) Wojciehowicz (played by Max Gail). However, at the same time, Lavin had just completed a television pilot for CBS called Alice, which was based on the Academy Award-winning film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. The pilot quickly sold to CBS and they included it on their schedule for the 1976–1977 season. As a result, Lavin left Barney Miller at the end of the show's second season. Alice ran for nine years on CBS and immediately established Lavin as a television star. Lavin never returned to Barney Miller although her character of Detective Janice Wentworth was briefly seen in a flashback in the last episode of the series "Landmark: Part 3".
Death of Jack Soo
[edit]Towards the end of the fourth year, Jack Soo was diagnosed with esophageal cancer and was absent for the last five episodes of the 1977–78 season. To help fill the void during his medical leave, actress Mari Gorman was brought in for three installments as Officer Rosslyn Licori. Cast member Ron Carey's role of Officer Carl Levitt was also expanded at this time to compensate for Soo's absence. Soo returned to Barney Miller at the start of the 1978–79 season but his cancer had already metastasized and spread very quickly. As a result, he was only able to complete nine episodes that year. By the time he taped his last appearance which was the installment "The Vandal" that aired on November 9, 1978, Soo's illness was quite evident in his rapid weight loss. Two months later, he died on January 11, 1979, at the age of 61. The fifth-season finale "Jack Soo: A Retrospective" aired on May 17, 1979, and was a tribute to him. For this installment, the cast of Barney Miller led by Hal Linden appeared as themselves on the 12th Precinct office set as they fondly shared stories and reminiscences about Soo as an actor and as a friend. At the end of the episode, the cast raised their coffee cups in loving memory of Jack Soo.
Paul Lieber
[edit]During the seventh season, in an attempt to fill the void left by Jack Soo, a new character was added to Barney Miller. In November, 1980, actor Paul Lieber was cast as Detective Sergeant Eric Dorsey. Dorsey had a jaded, cynical attitude who initially alienated his colleagues at the 12th precinct by assuming they were all corrupt. Even though he eventually realized that his convictions were not true, the character was not popular with viewers. As a result, Lieber's tenure on the show lasted only a few weeks with his character of Dorsey reassigned to another precinct. Lieber had in fact made a previous appearance on Barney Miller in a small role as a gunman during the previous season episode "The Architect".
LGBT
[edit]Marty and Darryl were among the earliest recurring gay characters on American television. Danny Arnold worked closely with the Gay Media Task Force, an activist group that worked on LGBT representation in media, in developing the characters.[13] Initially both characters were presented in a stereotypically effeminate manner but in later appearances Darryl began dressing and speaking in a more mainstream fashion.[14] Officer Zitelli's coming out was not the first gay storyline on American television, but was a memorable one.
Slow ratings growth
[edit]The series took a while to become a hit, but ABC supported it anyway.[15]
In the 1975 "The Courtesans" episode (S1 E5) with Nancy Dussault, creator/producer/showrunner Danny Arnold threatened to quit his own show, if network censors removed a risque line. The network relented and the resulting publicity over the x-rated episode that was banned in two markets ensured the series' ratings survival, according to Hal Linden.[16]
Danny Arnold ended production of Barney Miller in 1982 after eight seasons for fear of repeating storylines; the show was not canceled by the network.
Reception by police
[edit]Barney Miller retains a devoted following among real-life police officers, who appreciate the show's emphasis on dialog and believably quirky characters, and its low-key portrayal of cops going about their jobs. In a 2005 op-ed for the New York Times, New York police detective Lucas Miller wrote:
Real cops are not usually fans of cop shows. [...] Many police officers maintain that the most realistic police show in the history of television was the sitcom Barney Miller, [...] The action was mostly off screen, the squad room the only set, and the guys were a motley bunch of character actors who were in no danger of being picked for the N.Y.P.D. pin-up calendar. But they worked hard, made jokes, got hurt and answered to their straight-man commander. For real detectives, most of the action does happen off screen, and we spend a lot of time back in the squad room writing reports about it. Like Barney Miller's squad, we crack jokes at one another, at the cases that come in, and at the crazy suspect locked in the holding cell six feet from the new guy's desk. Life really is more like Barney Miller than NYPD Blue, but our jokes aren't nearly as funny.[17]
Similarly, during his appearance on Jon Favreau's Independent Film Channel talk show Dinner for Five, Dennis Farina, who worked as a Chicago police officer before turning to acting, called Barney Miller the most realistic cop show ever seen on television.[18]
Awards and honors
[edit]Barney Miller won a DGA Award from the Directors Guild of America in 1981. The series won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series in 1982, after it ended. It received six other nominations in that category, from 1976 to 1981. The series won Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series in 1980 (in addition to nominations in 1976, 1977 and 1982), Outstanding Directing in a Comedy or Comedy-Variety or Music Series in 1979, and was nominated for a number of others.[19] It won Golden Globe Awards for Best Television Comedy or Musical Series in 1976 and 1977 (from a total of seven nominations),[20] and won a Peabody Award in 1978.[21] In 2013, TV Guide ranked Barney Miller at No. 46 on its list of the 60 best series of all time.[22]
Home media
[edit]Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has released the first three seasons of Barney Miller on DVD in Region 1. Season 1 was released on January 20, 2004, to slow sales, and Sony decided not to release any more seasons. However, the decision was later reversed and Season 2 was released in 2008 (four years after the release of Season 1), followed by Season 3 in 2009.
Shout! Factory acquired the rights to the series in 2011 and subsequently released a complete series set on October 25, 2011. The 25-disc set features all 168 episodes of the series as well as bonus features and the first season of the Abe Vigoda spin-off, Fish.[23]
In 2014, Shout! began releasing individual season sets, season 4 was released on January 7, 2014,[24] season 5 on May 13, 2014.[25] Season 6 on December 9, 2014.[26] and Season 7 on April 7, 2015,[27] followed by the eighth and final season on July 7, 2015.[28]
Season 1 was released on DVD in Region 4 on December 20, 2006.
DVD Name | Ep # | Release Date |
---|---|---|
The First Season | 13 | January 20, 2004 |
The Complete Second Season | 22 | January 22, 2008 |
The Complete Third Season | 22 | March 17, 2009 |
The Complete Fourth Season | 23 | January 7, 2014 |
The Complete Fifth Season | 24 | May 13, 2014 |
The Complete Sixth Season | 22 | December 9, 2014 |
The Complete Seventh Season | 22 | April 7, 2015 |
The Complete Eighth Season | 22 | July 7, 2015 |
The Complete Series | 168 | October 25, 2011 |
Notes
[edit]- ^ Tied with Ironside and Hot l Baltimore
- ^ Tied with Fantasy Island.
- ^ Tied with The ABC Sunday Night Movie.
- ^ Tied with Charlie's Angels.
References
[edit]- ^ Garson, Bob (June 7, 1975). "The Law Takes Time Out to Be Human on ABC's Barney Miller". St. Joseph News-Press. p. S2. Retrieved March 23, 2012.
- ^ "The TV Ratings Guide: 1974-75 Ratings History".
- ^ "The TV Ratings Guide: 1974-75 Ratings History".
- ^ Clawson, J. (August 11, 2017). "1974-75 Ratings History". The TV Ratings Guide. Retrieved June 20, 2018.
- ^ "The TV Ratings Guide: 1975-76 Ratings History".
- ^ Clawson, J. "1981-82 Ratings History". The TV Ratings Guide. Retrieved June 20, 2018.
- ^ "Stories Behind the Songs: Chuck Berghofer". 23 April 2015. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
- ^ "Barney Miller Theme (All Versions)". YouTube. 26 June 2013. Archived from the original on 2021-11-14.
- ^ "The Best TV Theme Songs". Complex. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
- ^ "The 50 Best TV Theme Songs of All Time". Retrieved 15 March 2018.
- ^ Barney Miller entry Archived May 4, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, Old TV Tickets blog
- ^ Barney Miller: An Inside Look, By Ken Levine blog guest entry"
- ^ Capsuto, p. 122
- ^ Capsuto, pp. 148—49
- ^ "Netflix helps shift Hollywood's business model". O.canada.com. 2013-07-24. Retrieved 2014-08-25.
- ^ Harrington, Amy (July 2, 2013). "Hal Linden Actor, Min 30-34". Television Academy Foundation 'The Interviews'. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
- ^ Miller, Lucas (2005). "Watching the Detectives". 1 March 2005, accessed 31 October 2012.
- ^ "Chicago – Chicago : News : Politics : Things To Do : Sports". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on 2014-07-19.
- ^ "Barney Miller Emmy Awards and Nominations". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved September 5, 2013.
- ^ "Barney Miller: 7 Nominations, 2 Wins". Golden Globe Awards Official Website. Retrieved January 27, 2014.
- ^ "Barney Miller Peabody Award Citation". George Foster Peabody Awards. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
- ^ "TV Guide Magazine's 60 Best Series of All Time". TV Guide.
- ^ "Barney Miller DVD news: Announcement for Barney Miller – The Complete Series". TVShowsOnDVD.com. 2011-11-07. Archived from the original on 2015-05-03. Retrieved 2014-08-25.
- ^ "Barney Miller DVD news: Announcement for Barney Miller – The Complete 4th Season". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Archived from the original on 2014-08-16. Retrieved 2014-08-25.
- ^ "Barney Miller DVD news: Box Art for Barney Miller – The Complete 5th Season". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Archived from the original on 2014-04-02. Retrieved 2014-08-25.
- ^ "Shout! Factory – Barney Miller: Season Six". shoutfactory.com. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
- ^ "Barney Miller DVD news: Announcement for Barney Miller - The Complete 7th Season - TVShowsOnDVD.com". tvshowsondvd.com. Archived from the original on 25 September 2015. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
- ^ "Barney Miller DVD news: Announcement for Barney Miller - The Final Season - TVShowsOnDVD.com". tvshowsondvd.com. Archived from the original on 21 September 2015. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
External links
[edit]- Barney Miller
- 1970s American multi-camera sitcoms
- 1970s American police comedy television series
- 1970s American workplace comedy television series
- 1975 American television series debuts
- 1980s American multi-camera sitcoms
- 1980s American police comedy television series
- 1980s American workplace comedy television series
- 1982 American television series endings
- Best Musical or Comedy Series Golden Globe winners
- American English-language television shows
- Fictional portrayals of the New York City Police Department
- Fictional New York City Police Department captains
- Fictional New York City Police Department detectives
- Peabody Award–winning television programs
- Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series winners
- Television characters introduced in 1974
- Television series by Sony Pictures Television
- Television shows set in Manhattan
- American Broadcasting Company sitcoms
- American Broadcasting Company comedy-dramas
- 1970s American comedy-drama television series
- 1980s American comedy-drama television series