"Barney Miller"

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Wyatt Burp

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I knew this show was good but rarely watched it when it was on. Now two episodes are on every night in order at 10:00 and I'm hooked.This is a great and timeless show.What a perfect balance of personalities on it with Hal Linden excellent as the anchor, or nucleus. And virtually every scene is done in the one room. They are on You Tube but they are more special watching them the old fashion way.
 
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I think it was realistic because even in the big city, every case isn't a triple homicide. They didn't get too hung up emotionally on their cases like Sipowitz.... And there were the personalities. Some fairly insightful, some of them not so bright. A good cross section. Just about every detective bureau has a Fish, a Barney, a Wojo, an Inspector Luger and sometimes there's a Scanlon, only those types are usually more ambitious. And there's often a uniform guy hanging around just dying to be a detective. I worked with a few "Deitrich's" and "Harris's" too.

Never worked with too many NYPD Blue or Hill Street Blues types. Except for their personal problems, which were common, their characters were WAY too intense.
 
I remember it being said that LAPD thought it was a comedy, and NYPD thought it was a documentary. When it was first on, I identified with Wojo. Now, I identify with Fish. Some times with Inspector Luger. I used to tell my friends that Barney Miller was the most realistic cop show ever on TV.
 
jag312 said:
I remember it being said that LAPD thought it was a comedy, and NYPD thought it was a documentary. When it was first on, I identified with Wojo. Now, I identify with Fish. Some times with Inspector Luger. I used to tell my friends that Barney Miller was the most realistic cop show ever on TV.
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100% Documentary. Life in the sixth precinct was a real-life comedy. Anyone who says California has all the nuts has never been to the West Village. :)
 
My F-I-L was a CID in the Army Reserve/NG for 27 years, and a civilian officer/sergeant for about 35. It was the only Cop show they ever watched in his house!

His wife was a crime scene investigator for 20+ years and couldn't stand those shows!

Ivan
 
TomkinsSP said:
100% Documentary. Life in the sixth precinct was a real-life comedy. Anyone who says California has all the nuts has never been to the West Village. :)
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Hey there! With a name like Tomkins SP (Square Park?) I would have figured you for the ninth precinct on fifth street kind of guy? I lived on St. Mark's between first and second...
 
My F-I-L was Army CID for 27 years in the Reserves/NG, and a civilian Officer/Sargent for around 35. Barney Miller was the only cop show ever watched in his home!

His wife was a crime scene investigator for 20 years and absolutely hated the CSI shows!

Ivan
 
NMPinNYC said:
Hey there! With a name like Tomkins SP (Square Park?) I would have figured you for the ninth precinct on fifth street kind of guy? I lived on St. Mark's between first and second...
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Yes, remember the "its better without the 'p' campaign"?
BM was set in the sixth. I grew up in the fifth and 23d, had my first place of my own in the sixth. Started our family in the ninth, about two blocks from St. Brigids.
 
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I was a uniformed guy, on lend/lease , to our Detective Division. As the bottom of the totem pole guy I usually was assigned all the same nut job cases, they so often showed in Barney Miller.

So for me, that show was THE most accurate portrayal of what it was like to be an East Coast cop , in the late 1970's. LOL.
 
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Fish as the old guy. Who spent a lot of time in the bathroom very realistically wore a shoulder holster.Quicker and safer dropping your pants in a public restroom.I come from a small Dept and we have some of the same type of personality's
 
Thanks for posting this. I was a teenager when it was on. I remember liking it. But I should watch it now that I'm older. I'm sure there are more things to appreciate than a teenager could.

That being said, I happen to remember one scene like it was yesterday. At the time I thought this was about the funniest thing I'd ever seen. "Hold on a minute. I need to get a pencil." <searches on his desk> "OK....go ahead." Bwahahaha.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w292xE1uWcQ"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w292xE1uWcQ[/ame]
 
Zipdog said:
Can't remember what kind of weapons they had on their belt.
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They appear to be Colt Detective Specials. Harris once wore a nickel/ivory version, perfect for his character. At one point the grips changed looking like later Colt Det. Specials. Then Barney's gun started to look like a Cheif's Special Smith.
I started watching after Fish was gone and right before Jack Soo's death. My fave. characters are "Harris" and "Dietrich" and then Barney Miller.
 
Back in that era one of my neighbors was a cop going on 30 years, and he just loved the show. Said a lot of truth in that series.

His favorite character was Fish. Said the shoulder holster made sense, especially when going to the bath room, just unhook the belt snap and your pants were free to move. No letting the gun hit the floor like what happens a lot from what he said.

I found a cops gun in the bathroom of the gas station I worked Part Time at. Cop took it off his belt and laid it in the sink. i called the cop shop and discretely told my Lieutenant friend and he went to the radio and told the gun looser to go to the station and pick up a package. Kept him out of trouble.:)

If that above paragraph seems familiar I mentioned it a couple years back.:D
 
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