#Barney miller inspector full
#Barney miller inspector series
#Barney miller inspector tv

(These elements may have something to do with why real-life police officers continue to credit the comedy as ' the most realistic police show in the history of television.') Going about their work, Miller and his men are everymen under constant attack from the banal and the ridiculous: by civilians, who don't trust them by politicians, who apparently think they don't need them and by the never-ending paperwork, which consistently saps any energy or enthusiasm the detectives bring to the job. With no on-screen car-chases, no whodunits, and no non-police magical know-it-alls weighing in, viewers of Barney Miller witness police work without a filter: a strange alchemy of the boring, dangerous, and frustratingly political. Though character-based to the end, Barney Miller's eight seasons never sugar-coat the realities that inspire it. The episode centered on a recent surge in criminality and lawlessness as the neighbourhood reeled from rumours of the precinct's closure. It sets this tone early on in the first-season episode ('Protection') that ends with the detectives standing around a radio listening to an actual speech given by President Ford only a few weeks before the show aired, in which he refused to bail out a near-bankrupt New York City while still committing aid to essential services like the police.

#Barney miller inspector series

Though filmed out in California, the series reflects and reacts not only to New York City's rugged pride in itself but also the dark, pre-Giuliani sense of the city that was held nation-wide. Television writers knew then what most – NBC's The Carmichael Show is a notable exception – seem to have forgotten: the more a story pretends it is timeless, the shorter its shelf-life often is. Like the best sitcoms of the 70s (the most obvious example being All in the Family), Barney Miller is firmly set in its time – regularly framing the action around topical events of its day. As a social document of its time, it is unquestionably relevant, but as a comedy Barney Miller is just plain delightful, notably of and ahead of its time: well-crafted and hilarious, pointed and sensitive, as often literate as it is slapstick. The show has had its successors (most notably Fox's Brooklyn Nine-Nine), but it holds up brilliantly on its own terms.

Running from the last days of the Ford administration to the early days of Reagan, Barney Miller offers a current viewer a sustained window into a turbulent decade, even though nearly every scene is set within the crumbling four walls of a second-floor Lower Manhattan squad room. The groundbreaking sitcom – a multi-ethnic ensemble comedy set in New York City's fictional 12th Precinct – ran on ABC from 1975 to 1982, starring Tony-award winning Broadway actor Hal Linden as the eponymous Captain Miller.

#Barney miller inspector tv

But a few weeks ago, prompted by my reading of Alan Sepinwall and Matt Zoller Seitz's TV (The Book), my wife and I sat down to watch the series from the beginning.

#Barney miller inspector full

– Barney Miller ('Copy Cat,' Season 4) Barney Miller was in prime time and syndication throughout my childhood and, while I've long had strong memories of the show, until recently I hadn't watched a full episode in decades.