Barney Miller 

The Captain of the NYPD 12th Precinct and his staff handle the various local troubles and characters that come into the squad room.

Creators:

Danny Arnold, Theodore J. Flicker

Stars:

Hal Linden, Abe Vigoda, Max Gail

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 103 episodes, 1975-1982

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.

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Plot Keywords:

new york city | police | police squad room | nypd | sitcom | 

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Taglines:

Laugh with Hal Linden as Captain Barney Miller! He really has his hands full with the cops of the 12th precinct.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 August 1974 (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 (170 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

4:3

Did You Know?

Trivia

The original pilot had, with the exception of Linden and Vigoda, an entirely different cast playing characters that were discontinued in the subsequent series. When the pilot was picked up for it's first 13 episode run on ABC the show was recast and different characters were added. Original actor Val Bisoglio, who played Sergeant Grimaldi, was expected to be transitioned to the new cast but was ultimately not offered to continue his Grimaldi role for the regular series. ABC was aware that Bisoglio had once appeared in a pornographic film and did not want to be associated with an actor that might taint the series and the network. He was replaced with Jack Soo's Nick Yemana. Soo and Producer Danny Arnold were well established friends. Both characters occupied the same desk on set.

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Goofs

When the squad room door is opened, a fire hose mounted on the opposite wall in the corridor comes and goes, depending on the episode.

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Quotes

Fish: The doctor said he was very lucky, the bullet just grazed him.
Barney Miller: Where'd she hit him?
Fish: In the inseam.

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Crazy Credits

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

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Connections

Referenced in The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: Pharrell Williams/Priyanka Chopra/Loretta Lynn (2016)

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Soundtracks

Romeo and Juliet: Fantasy Overture
Written by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (as Peter Il'yich Tchaikovsky)
Courtesy of Extreme Music

User Reviews

What Television once was...Funny, Classy, Mature

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

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

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

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

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

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