By Todd Garbarini
Like most children of the 1970s,
television viewing was a big part of my week. Beginning at 7:30 PM and ending two and-a-half hours later, my family’s Thursday
nights consisted of That’s Hollywood,
Mork and Mindy, Angie, Barney Miller, and
Carter Country. Not having seen Barney Miller until well into its sixth season, I just assumed that
the entire show took place in the police station. Now that the show’s entire series is available
in a DVD box set, courtesy of the fine folks at Shout! Factory, my initial
impressions of the show were proven wrong. The pilot episode features Barney Miller’s family, specifically his
wife, played with charm by Barbara Barrie. Abe Vigoda, Maxwell Gail, and Ron Glass appear
from the get-go, and guest star Chu Chu Malave, who played Maria’s boyfriend
who tackles Al Pacino in Dog Day
Afternoon (1975), and (of all things) the delivery boy who seduces Bobbie
Bresee in Mausoleum (1983), plays an
out-of-control prisoner who commandeers Fish’s gun and holds the precinct
hostage.
During the initial episodes, Barney Miller feels like it is trying to
find its way, and it gets much funnier as it progresses into later seasons. If it were made today it more than likely
would have been axed after a few lackluster-performing episodes. To think that it lasted eight seasons
illustrates just how different the television landscape was back in the 1970s. What is most surprising is the level of
diversity among the ethnic groups that were represented early on in the
show. Although this is so commonplace
now, it was sort of a watershed back then: Gregory Sierra as the Puerto Rican
detective Chano; Max Gail as Polish Detective Stan "Wojo"
Wojciehowicz; African-American Ron Glass as Harris (my personal favorite); Jack
Soo as the deadpan Japanese-American Yemana; and Abe Vigoda as Fish - I cannot
think of him in anything except The
Godfather (1972).
Where the show always shined for me even
at a young age was in the characterizations of both the detectives and the
silly perps who made their way through the 12th Precinct in Greenwich Village. Ron Carey as Levitt and James Gregory as
Inspector Luger always made me laugh when they showed up. This was not a show of one-liners, but rather
one that dealt with a multitude of topics and situations and made them truly
laugh-out-loud funny. The term “sitcomâ€
really fits this show as the humanity and hilarity that ensues comes from the
characters, not punch lines.
The first three seasons of Barney Miller had been released on DVD by
Sony, but due to lackluster sales the remaining five seasons were
neglected. Shout! Factory, on the other hand,
has put together a beautiful DVD box set which belongs in the collection of all
fans of the show. The entire series of
168 episodes is provided on 25 DVD’s and comes with a beautiful booklet that
details the names of each and every episode and the original airdate. There is a half-hour
look back at the show with Hal Linden, Max Gail, and Abe Vigoda; a half-hour description
about the character’s creations; a featurette about the show’s writing; the
show’s original, unaired pilot with Charles Haid(!); and all 13 episodes of Abe
Vigoda’s short-lived spin-off series Fish
from 1977.
Shout! Factory has done an
extraordinary job of putting together this collection which was obviously done
with a great deal of care and foresight. Highly recommended.
I would love to see the same treatment bestowed
upon on T.J. Hooker, a favorite of
mine from my teen-age years. This was another
show that Sony released and abandoned after only the first two seasons made
their way to DVD. Fingers crossed!
Click here to order discounted from Amazon