Barney Miller

Barney Miller (also known as The Life and Times of Captain Barney Miller) was a comedy television series set in a New York City police station. It starred Hal Linden, Barbara Barrie (for two seasons), Abe Vigoda, Max Gail, Ron Glass, Jack Soo, Steve Landesberg, Ron Carey and James Gregory (actor). The show ran from 1975 to 1982 on ABC.

Hal Linden starred as Captain Barney Miller, who tried to remain sane while running a police station populated by pessimistic retirement-age Philip K. Fish (Vigoda), naive Stanley "Wojo" Wojohowicz (Gail), suave African-American Ronald Nathan Harris (Glass), philosophical Japanese-American Nick Yemana (Soo), detective wannabe Carl Levitt (Carey) and befuddled superior Inspector Franklin Luger (Gregory). In the first series only, Gregory Sierra played neurotic Puerto Rican Detective Chano Amangual; his character was replaced by soi-disant intellectual Arthur P. Dietrich (Landesberg) from the second series on.

Recurring characters included Barney's son David (Michael Tessier) and daughter Rachel (Anne Wyndham); Officer Kogan (Milt Kogan); the gay couple Marty Morrison (Jack DeLeon) and Darryl Driscoll (Ray Stewart); attorney Arnold Drake Ripner (Alex Henteloff); Detective Janice Wentworth (Linda Lavin); Detective Eric Dorsey (Paul Lieber); Detective Maria Battista (June Gable); Officer Rosslyn Licori (Mari Gorman); gay police officer Zatelli (Dino Natali); Internal Affairs Lt. Ben Scanlon (George Murdock); Inspector Kelly (Dick O'Neill); liquor store owner Mr. Cotterman (Jack Somack); vigilante Bruno Binder and his wife (Stanley Brock and Mari Gorman); building superintendent Beckman (Paul Lichtman); group home children Jilly (Denise Miller) and Victor (John Cassisi); werewolf Mr. Kopeckne (Kenneth Tigar); blind man Leon Roth (Ralph Manza); Sidney the bookie (Buddy Lester); married couple Phillip and Harriet Brauer (Peter Hobbs and Doris Roberts); rabbi Yacov Berger (Nehemiah Persoff); Ray Brewer (John Dullaghan); crook Arthur Duncan (J.J. Barry); Mr. Lukather (Judson Morgan).

The following exchange captures a lot of the show's spirit: Harris is talking to Barney and gets a feeling of deja vu. He says something like: "We probably had this exact same conversation ten years ago. Hell, you were probably wearing the same suit!" Harris leaves Barney all alone, Barney thinks for a moment, then checks inside his lapel and says: "A good suit should last ten years." You just know it is the same suit.

After two seasons, Barney Miller's family was written out of the show, and Barrie left. From time to time, Phil Fish's wife Bernice (Florence Stanley) was shown. In 1977, the characters of Phil and Bernice Fish were spun off onto their own show, Fish.

In 1979, Jack Soo died. His character was so beloved by the audience and his fellow actors, that, following his death, a special memorial episode aired.