Barney Miller (1974–1982)

The captain of a city police station and his staff handle the various local troubles and characters that come to the building.

Creators:

Danny Arnold, Theodore J. Flicker

Stars:

Hal Linden, Steve Landesberg, Abe Vigoda

Won 2 Golden Globes. Another 7 wins & 43 nominations.

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Hal Linden	...	Capt. Barney Miller (171 episodes, 1974-1982)
Max Gail	...	Det. Stan 'Wojo' Wojciehowicz (170 episodes, 1975-1982)
Ron Glass	...	Det. Ron Harris (164 episodes, 1975-1982)
Steve Landesberg	...	Det. Sgt. Arthur Dietrich (124 episodes, 1975-1982)
Ron Carey	...	Officer Carl Levitt (121 episodes, 1976-1982)
Jack Soo	...	Det. Sgt. Nick Yemana (101 episodes, 1975-1979)

Storyline

Barney Miller is the kind of cop we'd all like to run into. He is always sensible. He maintains order over a squad room of detectives who gamble for a hobby, get hit on by anything in skirts, go to renaissance philosophy conventions for fun, and would really prefer to be writing. Nearly all of the action takes place in the squad room where the citizens and criminals are brought in to complicate the mix.

---

Plot Keywords:

police | intellectuals | bad coffee | unseen wife | wacky gueststars | 

---

Taglines:

One of the Funniest Police Shows Ever

---

Genres:

Comedy | Drama

---

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 January 1975 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Life and Times of Captain Barney Miller

Filming Locations:

ABC Television Center - 4151 Prospect Avenue, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Four D Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min 30 min (170 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

4:3

Did You Know?

Trivia

One of the props used on the police station set was a chalkboard used to show whether the policemen were on-duty or off-duty. When the show ended, the chalkboard was donated to the Smithsonian Television Museum. In addition to the names of the characters on the show, the board listed other names which were those of technicians who worked on the show's crew. The Smithsonian also has the police badges used by the actors (signed by producer Danny Arnold) and Jack Soo's coffee mug.

---

Quotes

Barney Miller: [after Chano and Fish return from a bank robbery and Chano is acting very strangely] What happened?
Fish: Two armed men. One with a shotgun. One with a handgun. Shot a guard. Held six people hostage and threatened to kill them if we didn't let them go. It'd have gone on all day if *someone* didn't get inside.
Barney Miller: Apparently someone did.
Fish: Chano... killed both of them.

---

Crazy Credits

At different times in the production of the series Max Gail was credited as both Max Gail and Maxwell Gail.

---

Connections

Referenced in Jeopardy!: Episode #26.194 (2010)

User Reviews

A classic for the generations

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