EssenceStory Well Deserved Praise

SincereFinest disgusting, overrated, pointless

Ariella Broughton It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Fulke Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

raysond 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.

happipuppi13 One bad review in the lot... and it doesn't take a genius to notice that it's formed of simple malice. Not to mention that this person probably has not watched this entire series,but maybe just some of the episodes. Speaking as one who watched this show starting with episode 1,I know better. Just like the others here know it too.Barney Miller in it's day,was a one of kind sitcom. Just like M*A*S*H was it's own entity,as was "All In The Family" (before the spin-offs),Barney and the men of the 12th Precinct,were a most unusual and eclectic comedy ensemble.None of these characters are airheads,they are each funny for their character traits,imperfections and personalities.Barney Miller is an honest man,doing an honest job and trying to control the chaos the police work can bring as well as keeping these somewhat eccentric characters in line.Harris is an educated black man in a blue collar job trying to work his way up as a serious writer and author. Wojo,who can be a little slow to grasp things,is a well meaning good guy lug.Fish is a veteran cop in his 60s (Abe Vigoda was only in his 40s at the time)and has a supremely dry wit. Amangual (Gregory Sierra) was a wise guy but a good detective and it was quite the dramatic episode when he killed someone with his gun.Deitrich,Fish's replacement had the same dry wit but also a kind of humor that comes out of left field. Yemana (Jack Soo) and his bad coffee,is the great running gag of the show (because even though it's lousy,no one else tries to make it.)Thebittersweet moment in the series was when the cast made a special episode as a tribute to Jack Soo when he suddenly passed on. It may have been a one man retrospective but it was no less touching. Especially when they all raised their coffee cups at the end.The other recurring characters : Wentworth (Linda Lavin,later of "Alice")a female cop trying to fit in with the men ,which in the 70s was still a new & uncommon idea. Inspector Frank Lugar,played to the hilt by veteran actor James Gregory whom before he retired logged in over 170 acting credits. TV and Movies,most notably,"The Manchurian Candidate" playing a Senatorial candidate who's not fit for the job and a pawn in the game of politics ,besides.Officer Carl E. Levitt (Ron Carey),a cop short in stature and longing to be a detective himself. Who gets on Barney's last nerve in repeated (and sometimes obnoxious) attempts to be promoted to detective. Internal Affairs Man 'Scanlon' (who once asked Harris sarcastically,"How's everything down in Funkytown?!" ),was always trying to dig up dirt on the otherwise ,nearly squeaky-clean 12th precinct. Actor George Murdock was only in 12 shows but made Scanlon a man you love to hate.There was recurring character Marty and his same gender lover Darryl Driscoll. Both are delightfully loony but still are given human qualities and not played as homo-sexual stereotypes. After eight seasons,the old 1-2 closed up. The farewell show,saw the menre-assigned to different locales in New York,instead of being kept together. The detectives and now Detective Sgt. Levitt all said their farewells to Barney and exited out the door. Barney stayed to close up shop. The last moments were Barney glancing at different desks,recalling fondly Fish,Amangual,Wentworth and(with a despaired look on his face) Yemana. The final scene is simply Barney taking one last look at the squad room and shutting out the lights. Then...a long round of applause ,which plays over the end credits and is actually recorded audience applause ,as the show had not been 'live' before an audience' in 4 years.Lame show?? Hardly. As for only 1 Emmy win? In the '70s it was up against shows like M*A*S*H,All In The Family,Mary Tyler Moore and Taxi...and that's a pretty tough bunch to beat out! In '81,it was just their year.It also won a Golden Globe Award and the highly prestigious Peabody Award. (Which oddly enough was also won by the show "South Park" this year!)The show deserves a better place in TV history as well as the fact it should have been nominated and won more Emmys. ( 06/16/09 ) : I'm hoping that with 3 seasons out in stores now,they'll all be available on DVD very soon.)06.25.2015 (edit) : Season 8 DVD due out in July. (END)

daleo I have been a fan since 1975. I to am amazed at the apathy from the mfrs. of this DVD. I would like to see this series continued as I to have season one and have been waiting for season two's re-lease far to long. Come on studio heads. Get off your wallet and give us devoted fans of Barney Miller some hope. You got off Mary Tyler Moore and now it has done very well. You folks as a rule do a poor job of letting the public in general know about a future re-lease of these series. Put adds in places that your average Joe might be alerted to the fact that his favorite show of all time was about to be re-leased. So many of my friends were Andy Griffith fans but were unaware that the first three seasons had been re-leased. Your average Joe does not pursue this info like I do. I go to tvshowsondvd.com all the time for up to date news on Series that are about to be re-leased. Thanks for listening.

jprice-4 Barney Miller(Hal Linden) is a police captain of the NYPD 12th Precient and all the great characters like Det. Phil Fish(Abe Vigoda), Det. Ron Harris(Ron Glass), Det. SGT. Stan Wojciehowicz(Max Gail), Det. Nick Yemana(Jack Soo), Det. SGT. Chano Amenguale(Gregory Sierra),Det. Arthur Dietrich(Steve Landesburg), Officer Levitt(Ron Carey), and Inspector Luger(James Gregory).The best cop sitcom of the 1970s.The best.I give it *****.