Barney Miller...

[Forbin]

Barney just came around again in our dinnertime sitcom DVD schedule. Beginning season 5 last night. And there was Mr Cotterman, brought in for having a fight with the storeowner next door, who was an Arab. Some "Six Minute War" jokes and some commentary on the Middle east situation.

You're right, I have notice Wojo getting less cliche "big dumb guy" and having more subtle and wry humor.

 

[Warped9]

^^ That Cotterman episode has quite a downbeat note in it, too, later in the episode.

 

[Marsden]

It really does get into more of a "groove" in season 3. That's not always a good thing, but it is in this case. And I really didn't miss Barney's wife or home life, and I don't think I was alone. She did show up once or twice, so she didn't get Chucked, but it was at the squad room.

There's a small paralell with Star Trek, in the first season they have more characters and in later seasons they settled down on the main ones with some occasional guests.

 

[J.T.B.]

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).

I think it will pay off for you if you stick with it into season 2. Originally the show was more centered on Barney and his life, but pretty soon they shifted to an ensemble situation almost exclusively contained in the squadroom. The characters really developed strongly and there was a good battery of recurring characters, too.

In the '70s ABC had kind of a reputation for lowbrow programming (Charlies Angels, Three's Company, Laverne and Shirley...) but Barney Miller and later Taxi were as good as any ensemble TV of the era.

Speaking of "Bob Newhart," Noam Pitlik, Mr. Gianelli from Dr. Hartley's group, directed more than half of the Barney Millers.