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.

---

Plot Keywords:

cult favorite | intellectual | new york city | eastern philosophy | police officer | 

---

Taglines:

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

---

Genres:

Comedy | Drama

---

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

In Christmas 1976 episode,the young woman call Nick "Jack" before she leaves,when she did,Nick says,"It's Nick" and then the live audience laughs."Jack" was a namesake for Jack Soo,Nick Yeamana's actor.

---

Quotes

Captain Barney Miller: [while getting ready for a stakeout] Fish, we're going to have to draw special weapons.
Wojo: [Extremely excited about being allowed to go on his first stakeout] Hey, let me do it! I'll go down to the armory. Let's see, what do we need? Shotguns! Tear gas! Gas masks!
[He leaves the squadroom to go draw the weapons]
Fish: [Observing Wojo's enthusiam about the weapons] Nice boy.
Captain Barney Miller: It takes so little to make him happy.

---

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

"Barney Miller"....A Quality Series that was one of the best to come out of the 1970's and survived the early 1980's

If there was a great TV show that emphasize the decade of the 1970's,the situation comedy series "Barney Miller",was just that. This was a quality series that became one of television's greats. In perspectives,"Barney Miller" was a show that changed dramatically during the course of its seven year run,despite the fact that its plot,setting and basic cast remained the same. This was a show that quickly became one of the biggest hits for the ABC-TV network,producing 170 episodes during its seven year run on the network from the premiere episode on January 23,1975 until the final episode of the series on May 20,1982. The series was created by Danny Arnold,who served as the executive producer along with Theodore J. Flicker. Arnold also served as one of the writers of the show along with Chris Hayward. The series was produced by Arnold's production company Four D Productions in association with the ABC Television Network(the series was filmed in front of a studio audience at ABC Television Center in Hollywood).

The show was about a detective squad at a precinct house in New York City's Greenwich Village,and often the strange people from the community went in and out their door each week. At the beginning of the series,the pace of the police department was fast and the comedy a bit loud.,and the emphasis was one-on-one liners and quirkiness rather than on real characters. Captain Barney Miller(Hal Linden)was head of the precinct,very put-upon and overworked,but nevertheless always wise and friendly. Wojo(Max Gail)was the well meaning detective who was a bit lacking in smarts. Harris(Ron Glass)was funny,fashion-conscious,and cool,while Yemana(Jack Soo)was much more introverted,though he also would provide the occasional witty commentary. Fish(Abe Vigoda,who was on the show for two seasons before being spun off into their own show "Fish")was the elder statesmen,the old man on the verge of retirement who had more ailments than you could imagine. Chano(Gregory Sierra)was the normal of the bunch after Barney,and always tried to have a positive outlook despite being constantly exposed to the less inspiring side of life. Other characters that appeared were Barney's wife Liz(Barbara Barrie),Barney's supervisor Chief Inspector Frank Luger(James Gregory),and Officer Carl Levitt(Ron Carey),and Detective Arthur Dietrich(Steve Landesberg).

The detectives were racially mixed,which,at the show's inception,would occasionally provide for some comedy. Other detectives came and went after an episode or two,especially during the very early years of the series. Its amazing that "Barney Miller" survived,but it laid the groundwork for what was great comedy and the awards that this show received: It won the DGA Award from the Directors Guild of America in 1981,and it won back-to-back Emmys for Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series(Hal Linden)in 1979,1980,and 1982. Not to mention winning the Peabody Award in 1979,and the Golden Globe for Best Television Comedy or Musical Series twice in 1976 and 1977.

Almost all of the action took place in the squad room and Barney's adjoining office,despite the fact that the station seemed very small considering its location. "Barney Miller" during the seven seasons that it ran on ABC,became a literate,well-written show with interesting characters and story lines mixed in with some grand comedy. In its later years it unfortunately suffered from "social-cause-of-the-week",syndrome by way of a'la' Lou Grant and every other socially conscious show that exploded onto TV screens in the mid-1970's and early 1980's. This was a series that is highly recommended as one of the best to come out of the 1970's and survived until its demise in the early 1980's.