Barney Miller...

[Warped9]

Recently I've been taking a trip back watching Barney Miller episodes on YouTube.

At one time I was really into this series. Unlike a lot of things from those days I find this series still works for me. The series was generally written as adult level humour (for the time) and it still works overall. There are some stereotypes that wouldn't fly today, but I find a lot of the subject matter and much of the humour is still viable and relevant.

I also find it amusing that apparently a lot of real life police officers think Barney Miller is possibly the most realistic portrayal of actual police work by showing how much routine and paperwork is involved, action is largely occasional and the parade of eccentric characters within the police force and the public.

 

[Marsden]

I love that show! It's one of my all time favorites. Even though he wasn't there in the begining, I like Dietrich. I missed Chano after he left, and of course Yemana.

And Inspector Luger, popping in on Barney from time to time. They even had "regular customers"

 

[auntiehill]

I think this belongs in Gen Media, not Science Fiction.

 

[Christopher]

I think you meant this thread for TV & Media. I saw it in SF & Fantasy and wondered if it was about Monte Markham in "The Seven Million Dollar Man."

But yeah, I was a loyal viewer of Barney Miller growing up, though I haven't revisited it in ages. It was intriguing to me, once I was in high school and learning about drama and stuff, how much the show ended up obeying two of the three classical unities of drama: Unity of place, in that every episode (after the first couple of seasons) took place in a single location (well, with two main rooms, a hallway, and a restroom), with any action happening elsewhere being described after the fact; and unity of time, in that every episode (again, after the first couple of seasons) took place during a single evening shift. The one unity it didn't obey was unity of action, in that it had two or three subplots per episode rather than just one plot.

 

[Warped9]

I like Dietrich.

Yep, Dietrich rocked!

And, oops, I did intend it for General Media. I guess the mods can easily move it.

I used to watch this in reruns after work way back. Some years later I was going through a phase of having difficulty getting to sleep. It so happened at that time Barney Miller was being rerun at 10:30pm on some local station (I don't remember which) and I'd watch it while I lay in bed then turn the light out afterward. I found it helped me sleep by putting me in a good and relaxed mood such that I fell asleep quickly and easily shortly after.

I also love the parade of character actors that were so familiar then but are now long forgotten.

 

[Silvercrest]

I think this belongs in Gen Media, not Science Fiction.

But it had Shepherd Book!

 

[Warped9]

While the characters themselves were eccentric and quirky the portrayals as well as the humour was generally low key. The show constantly illuminated life's endless irony and absurdity.

 

[sojourner]

I always considered Night Court to be sort of a spiritual sequel series to Barney Miller.

 

[Warped9]

^^ Conceptually, but the execution was distinctly different.

 

[Christopher]

Night Court's creator, Reinhold Weege, was a longtime writer and producer on Barney Miller, and its theme composer, Jack Elliott, co-wrote the BM theme with Allyn Ferguson (with whom he also co-wrote the Charlie's Angels theme). Plus they had occasional writers and directors in common. And of course they were both about different parts of the New York City criminal justice system (oh, wow, now I want someone to do a Law & Order titles mashup featuring the 12th Precinct gang as "Law" and Harry's courtroom as "Order").

But yes, they were immensely different in tone and execution. Barney was more naturalistic, often bordering on drama, while Night Court was a zany, cartoony farce that bent reality to the breaking point.

 

[Warped9]

I can't recall where, but I did read somewhere that Abe Vogoda's portrayal of Fish as a weary and ailing detective was apparently quite different from his real self who was actually quite spry and athletically active.

 

[Mysterion]

I like Dietrich.

Yep, Dietrich rocked!

And, oops, I did intend it for General Media. I guess the mods can easily move it.

Stretching for an SF connection, and speaking of Sgt. dietrich: One of my favorite punchlines is in the epsiode where they arrest the guy claiming to be a time-traveler from the future. As they are leading him off to Bellevue at the end of the episode, the guy does this double-take on Dietrich. Dietrich introduces himself. Increduously, the time traveler responds "THE Arthur Dietrich!? I'm honored, sir!", and they take him away. And everyone kind of gives this look at Dietrich who just smiles, shrugs, and walks away. Hilarious everytime even if it 40 years old.

 

[Warped9]

I like Dietrich.

Yep, Dietrich rocked!

And, oops, I did intend it for General Media. I guess the mods can easily move it.

Stretching for an SF connection, and speaking of Sgt. dietrich: One of my favorite punchlines is in the epsiode where they arrest the guy claiming to be a time-traveler from the future. As they are leading him off to Bellevue at the end of the episode, the guy does this double-take on Dietrich. Dietrich introduces himself. Increduously, the time traveler responds "THE Arthur Dietrich!? I'm honored, sir!", and they take him away. And everyone kind of gives this look at Dietrich who just smiles, shrugs, and walks away. Hilarious everytime even if it 40 years old.

I LOVE that episode! Even after all this time it still cracks me up.

 

[Velocity]

I liked the episode where the guy claimed he was turning into a werewolf and he was howling and climbing the bars of the cage and Yemana was buying into it.

 

[DWF]

There's an ep. where Dietrich took a lie detector test an as a test he said he was along time ago in a galaxy far, far away. He admitted he was joking but the giving the test said the needle didn't move.

 

[SiddFinch1]

Barney Miller was well done. Haven't seen it in years....and I loved night court..

 

[Christopher]

Dietrich was awesome. He was smart and cool and funny. And I admired his conscience too. I still remember the episode where he had to shoot someone in the line of duty and felt really guilty about it and considered resigning because of it, because he thought he hated violence too much to be qualified to carry a gun. That was one of those times when I came up with a line I would've written into the script given a chance. I wanted Barney to tell Dietrich that there was nobody he'd trust more with a gun than the person who least wanted to use it.

 

[jespah]

Barney Miller was voted as never having jumped, on the old Jump the Shark site.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/30/a...s-on-the-beat-in-a-complete-dvd-set.html?_r=0

Love that show.

 

[Neroon]

I think this belongs in Gen Media, not Science Fiction.

But it had Shepherd Book!

And Londo Mollari (okay, only in 2 eps)

So with that thought in mind, I've called a squad car to extradite this thread to TVM

 

[Trimm]

I only discovered Barney Miller in reruns, but I would rank it among my all time favorites. Two things have always struck me about the show. First, how naturallistic the humor was. The comedy is rarely, if ever, driven by gags or punchlines. All the laughs seem to spring from one liners and conversations you could easily see real people having. Secondly, the show, epecially when the focus permanantly shifted away from Barney's home life, really feels like a one act play on tv. Having virtually all the action taking place in the squadroom, often showing only the events of a single day. There are quite a few classic BM eps you could stage live today and turn out brilliant.