Barney Miller...

[the G-man]

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

But Dietrich was an alien...

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.

That is a good line.

That being said, and I admit my memory of that episode might be fuzzy after so many years, but wasn't the real point of that episode as much about Dietrich's status as an occupational dilettante as about his conscience? IIRC, there was an exchange between him and Barney about how Dietrich had a tendency to "get into the wrong field," get challenged by something and then quit. While you quote doesn't necessarily contradict that, it might have distracted from the point the writers seemed to be making, which about Dietrich coming to terms with being a career cop and that, in fact, he was suited for the job.

The only guy on any modern cop show that looked like he could perhaps fit in with Barney Miller would be Lenny Briscoe. He seemed to have a similar sense of humour.

Dutch and Wyms from the Shield would have been quite at home (and probably much happier) transferring into the 12th Precinct.

 

[Forbin]

One of my favorite lines was from an episode where a bad guy had taken over the squad room at gunpoint. Dietrich and, I think, a mime who was in the room at the time, were put in the cage together. The mime holds his arms out and says "Ya know, I can do a decent 'man holding a rifle'." Dietrich says "Can you do 'man lying dead on the floor'?" The mime says no. Dietrich says dryly, "Then don't do 'man holding rifle'."

 

[Warped9]

I shudder to think what Luger was like in his heyday.

 

[Push The Button]

I shudder to think what Luger was like in his heyday.

Luger would have been a patrolman in the 1940's. I bet he busted his share of skulls back in the day.

 

[scotpens]

One of my favorite episodes was the one with the fish-out-of-water Amish farmer. Instead of going for cheap laughs (which, let's face it, is easy to do with the Amish), the writers managed to give the character some dignity while still mining humor from his situation.

I loved Barney Miller. Well written, with well developed and likeable characters. A comedy, but dealt with serious subject matter. Gave a great impression of grimy disgusting 1970's New York City by showing only a broken down old squad room and the parade of criminals and crazies that moved through it every week.

Indeed, although Barney Miller was produced entirely in Los Angeles, it felt like a New York show. The people looked and talked like New York people. The show smelled like New York.

 

[Warped9]

One of my favorite episodes was the one with the fish-out-of-water Amish farmer. Instead of going for cheap laughs (which, let's face it, is easy to do with the Amish), the writers managed to give the character some dignity while still mining humor from his situation.

Harris: What do folks do on a Saturday night?
Amish: Hmm. I have nine children. That's in the bible.

I shudder to think what Luger was like in his heyday.

Luger would have been a patrolman in the 1940's. I bet he busted his share of skulls back in the day.

It's also possible Luger wasn't nearly so rough-and-tough as he he makes out to be and embellishes his glory days. That's certainly been known to happen.

 

[J.T.B.]

It's also possible Luger wasn't nearly so rough-and-tough as he he makes out to be and embellishes his glory days. That's certainly been known to happen.

Well, in the episode when there was a staffing shortage and the plainclothes guys had to put on uniforms and go on patrol, Luger immediately roughed up a suspect without cause and Barney had to intervene.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I shudder to think what Luger was like in his heyday.

Luger would have been a patrolman in the 1940's. I bet he busted his share of skulls back in the day.

Wonder if he had a partner named Colt.

 

[sojourner]

Sounds like an 80's detective show, Luger and Colt.

 

[Forbin]

Actually Luger talked about is old partner all the time. Can't bring his name to mind now.

 

[Warped9]

Kleiner, Foster and Brown. Take your pick.

 

[Vendikarr]

I've sometimes thought it would be cool if Castle did a Barney Miller crossover -- say, have Ron Glass show up as Harris and talk about how much the 12th has changed since his day.

Not to mention that it would be another Firefly reunion.

That was implicit. It's why I picked Glass instead of someone else.

Castle has done the occasional episode where they've needed to talk to an old arresting officer. Having former Detective Harris come in would be fun.

 

[Forbin]

Kleiner, Foster and Brown. Take your pick.

Brownie! Good old Brownie. Ended up a veg-eh-ta-bul layin' there in a hospital bed.

(or something like that )

 

[Turtletrekker]

I've sometimes thought it would be cool if Castle did a Barney Miller crossover -- say, have Ron Glass show up as Harris and talk about how much the 12th has changed since his day.

IIRC, Barney Miller's 12th precinct was closed down in the final episode. Something about the site being a historical landmark?

 

[Christopher]

^Maybe they opened a new 12th Precinct to supervise the same part of the city? It is clearly a different building.

 

[Harvey]

You know, I've read that Barney Miller changed focus once it got going, shifting away from Miller's home life and putting a much greater emphasis on the squad room.

I bring this up because I just watched the first episode tonight ("Ramon") and I wasn't crazy about it. Is the general consensus that the series got better as it went along?

 

[Warped9]

Yes, in the beginning they did feature some of Barney's home life, but even during the first season they drifted away from it. And, yes, while the early goings were still enjoyable the series did get better as it progressed. Harris went from being something of a cliche (even then) to more believably fleshed out and more believably presented. All the characters improved although Barney, Fish and Luger were pretty consistent. Dietrich was a godsend.

 

[Harvey]

I'll give it another chance, but the first episode didn't grab me (in contrast, I just cranked through most of the first two seasons of The Bob Newhart Show, which I really enjoyed from get-go).

 

[Warped9]

There is a measure of continuity in the series as previous guest characters sometimes show up again. Marty, the gay petty thief is one of them. And Marty eventually gets a regular boyfriend. There's also Cotterman who owns a local liquor store. A few others.

Even so if you like you could start with Season 3 and go forward from there. I believe Dietrich becomes a regular in Season 3 and Wojo starts becoming less thick.

 

[Harvey]

Well, I've borrowed seasons one and two from work, so I'll watch a few more there before I decide whether or not to take it back for seasons three and four.