Barney Miller

[GunarSailors]

I cant help myself...
[ame]https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LKubY_IC7xw[/ame]

 

[crazyphil]

I cant help myself...
Barney Miller Hash - YouTube

That's a good one Gunar. Thanks.

 

[LDM]

Love that old school shoulder rig Fish (Abe Vigoda) is wearing.

 

[rednichols]

Love that old school shoulder rig Fish (Abe Vigoda) is wearing.

Phil got me looking when he first posted his thread, and I realised that Fish is seen with his shoulder holster on one side or the other! Appears to be a righty worn whichever way suited the scene (just leave the pistol out of the holster in scenes where the righty is under the right arm).

 

[PPCSHOOTER]

The detectives in my precinct during the 70's and 80's had these little holsters that barely held on to the model 36s they had on their belts. It was a wonder they never fell out. I guess between the little holsters, the cigars, raincoats and pinky rings that was the sign on a true NYPD detective. Oh yea I almost forgot about the cheap suits.

IN CHICAGO, THEY ALSO HAD BAD TOUPEES. I MEAN REALLY BAD ONES. JP

 

[crazyphil]

I have read that Barney Miller was one of the most authentic police TV
programs.

Hal Linden and his character Barney Miller where/are left handed.
But in most scenes he is shown carrying his gun just behind his
right hip for a right hand draw.

He is shown entering his office with a black holster on his hip
and coming out of his office with a brown holster.

He is supposed to be carrying a snub nose .38 revolver,
but the Bucheimer Sheriff holster looks long enough for
a 4" barrel.

In one scene the stocks on his revolver looks like the plow handle
shape of a Peacemaker.

So much for the authenticity. At least where his gun and holsters
are concerned.

 

[soFlaNative]

Good show, haven't seen a rerun in some time.
Recall one scene where Fish left the room after relaying to Barney where at one time he was able to drop a coin from the back of his hand, draw his weapon and shoot the coin before it hit the floor. Barney tried, fumbled the draw then kind of waved the gun at the fallen coin.
I can't remember which hand or the holster position.

 

[Not Getting Any Younger]

My dad still watches reruns of Barney Miller.
I watch them with him when I'm there.

I remember there was a spin-off - "Fish" I think it was.
Abe Vigoda played Fish. I think he was retired. His wife 'Bernice' was hilarious, and they had a several foster kids.

I think it only lasted one or two seasons.

I'm going to have to pay more attention to the holsters and guns the next time I watch "Barney Miller"!

 

[Buford57]

I started seeing the reruns on TV again about a year ago and have a bunch recorded to watch while I am down for a week or two.

During the first run I identified with Wojo or Dietrich. By the time I saw it again I had jumped clear past Barney to Fish...and realized I had almost a decade on Fish's supposed age at the beginning.

Dear Lord, let me go 10-7 before I turn into Luger!

 

[NCBeagle]

I love that show. Not sure when it was current. I am 42 years old and used to watch the late-night reruns when I was a kid. Going to look up some old episodes.

 

[Wyatt Burp]

Don't know their holsters but the guns look like both old style then later Colt detective specials. I really got into the show recently. They play 2 in a row each night. My least favorite guy was "Fish". He might have been realistic but he bored me to death. "Harris" and "Deitrich" are my favorites in that order but everyone else is great, too.

 

[TTSH]

This thread has got me back to watching episodes on YouTube!

God, how I miss that show.

 

[Wyatt Burp]

please delete

 

[Lt JL]

by the time i retired, i was making as many trips to the head as Fish was. I never worried too much about the hardware. i mean, heck, they just left the shotguns behind the door. i do remember Barney's wife was pretty foxy.

 

[johnt671]

I don't remember if it was last season on the year before that, Wojo was a guest on Hawaii Five o.

 

[Old cop]

Someone mentioned cops copying things they see on TV & I saw this too. When Hill Street was running our young uniformed officers wanted to look like the actors on that show, wearing all sorts of unauthorized stuff. I was the midnight shift commander at the time and we'd watch a few minutes of the show after roll call, but had to make sure our charges followed the uniform rules.

 

[stansdds]

I don't remember if it was last season on the year before that, Wojo was a guest on Hawaii Five o.

Watch the original Hawaii Five-O and you will see a good number of young actors who were just getting started in the business. Some made repeat appearances.

 

[majkger]

What I found interesting is that Fish carried what looks like a 4" .357(never saw it drawn) rigged left handed where everyone else carried a snub nose .38.

 

[Real Old Navy]

Ahhh but how many of you should be carrying your ammo like the other Barney...you know the one from Mayberry?

 

[crazyphil]

The detectives in my precinct during the 70's and 80's had these little holsters that barely held on to the model 36s they had on their belts. It was a wonder they never fell out. I guess between the little holsters, the cigars, raincoats and pinky rings that was the sign on a true NYPD detective. Oh yea I almost forgot about the cheap suits.

This little old Chic Gaylord holster looks like my 642 could
easily fall out, but it never has...yet.

 

[S.B.]

OP, funny how you and I notice these kind of things.
Steve

 

[HorizontalMike]

As a leftie I usually got the bottom of the barrel holster from the property clerk not b/c she was mean, but b/c that's all they had. A little shoe polish and hard work made it come back to life.

Yup, and that makes being a lefty rather "convenient" sometimes.

 

[153]

While I liked Barney and his cohorts, based on my expierence, it seemed to me they should have been uniformed Officers. They handled too many calls for service and did very little investigation or follow up.

 

[oink]

I was branded with a shift name of Dietrich for several years back in the day. That was a nick name of fondness (I think) from my coworkers. The local street denizens used a different name.

 

[gman51]

Wojo, Max Gail, played a short part in episode Sid Comes Out in the new sitcom called The Cool Kids which is about some friends living in a retirement community.
Wojo is mostly bald and the hair he has is white. I believe he is 75 years old now. Same smiling Wojo like he was in Barney.

I always thought the cast of Barney Miller all worked so well together. I still watch the reruns and yes I often check out their guns and how they wore their guns. I think Fish often carried in a shoulder holster. I thought Fish was good playing the dressed up woman sting part. His character pulled it off so well.

 

[Peak53]

Someone much more dedicated will correct me if I am wrong .... but, is this the only cop show in history with nary a shot fired? Well, maybe Andy and Barney. Was that a cop show?

 

[gman51]

Peak I don't believe I have ever seen an episode that a gun was actually shot. I did see an episode recently where all were being held at gun point but even then no gun was fired.

From articles I read Andy Griffith was anti gun which might have been why he seldom had a gun on himself in the shows. Even Barney had his one bullet in his pocket.

 

[Starsky59]

Abe Vigoda was born in 1921. Which means he was in his mid 50's when he was on Barney Miller.
My god - I'm as old as Fish was.
Also I will say that I really liked that show when it was new and I was in my early teens. I liked to check out the guns then and I still do. If you have Direct TV its on ch. 323 every late night. I bought a mod. 36 because of that show.

 

[31FordA]

Someone much more dedicated will correct me if I am wrong .... but, is this the only cop show in history with nary a shot fired? Well, maybe Andy and Barney. Was that a cop show?

No, there were no scenes where a gun was fired that I remember. Almost every scene was set in the squad room, so you wouldn't expect much gunfire. They would refer to shooting incidents. I recall one episode that dealt with Chano shooting a guy and how he dealt with it.

One of the reasons I enjoy "Barney Miller" is the lack of shoot outs. The thing about most cop shows that annoys me is the frequent gunfire. Some of the characters on these shows have more shootings in a season than Jim Cirillo had in his career, and with no consequences.

What makes "Barney Miller" such a great show is that it captures the interactions with people, all sorts of people, that really make up the bulk of the job. It's the diverse cast of real life characters we meet that really make the job what it is, and "Barney Miller" reflected that. When people ask what my job is like I often tell them "we're more Barney Miller than NYPD Blue". What's troubling is I now run into kids who have never seen either show. It's disturbing that I can start to relate to Inspector Lugar.

 

[crazyphil]

There was one episode of Andy Griffith when Barney, unknown to Andy,
put his one bullet in his Colt revolver. A con man got the revolver away
from Barney and was holding him and others at gunpoint when Andy
walked in. Andy, knowing Barney's revolver was "unloaded" took it away
from the con man, but then got a big surprise when he pulled the trigger.