Rating: 
Summary: The only Prime Time show that felt like a stage play.
Review: This was really the only series that ever felt like a stage play. It was shot almost enirely on one set during the whole time it was on and that was the precient room where Barney Miller had his office and the detectives were seated at desks in the outer office, almost all of the cast actors started out in theater acting and they used it most effively during the six year run of this show. Truely one of a kind. Glad it's on DVD.
Rating: 
Summary: It's Great to re-visit the 12th Precinct Again!
Review: "Barney Miller" is one of the best written shows of all time. The characters all mesh, and their reactions to the various criminals that pass through the cell door are priceless. Though this first season is hampered with a bit of Barney's home life, and the awful scenes of Barney's wife played by the perpetually unfunny Barbara Barrie, it's still a great dvd set. Abe Vigoda's facial expressions and dry one-liners are a riot, and you will find yourself rewinding scenes to catch what you missed while laughing. Jack Soo is terrific. He gets some of the biggest laughs on the show with just simple lines or looks, not since Jack Benny has someone been able to do so much while doing so little. Another great thing about "Barney Miller" is that you really develop an emotional attachment to these characters, so when something happens to them, Wojo getting poisoned, or Chano having to deal with shooting two bank robbers, you genuinely care for them. Nothing was ever forced on this show, and if you aren't familiar with it, pick up this set, give it one or two shows until you really get familiar with the characters and you will find yourself going back and re-watching favorite episodes, or thinking about something that happens on a show and chuckling throughout the day. This is some of the best TV ever produced.
Rating:
Summary: Great TV Show !
Review: A blast from the past. Barney Miller was a classic sit-com. They don't make TV like that anymore. I was a little disappointed in the quality of the DVDs, the picture can go out of focus and the color seems a bit off but all in all a great addition to any DVD collection.
Rating:
Summary: Why isn't season two out yet???
Review: A truly, great show. For you idiots who think that the end of "Friends" was any loss to the entertainment world, grow up, watch "Barney Miller," and learn to accept that Schwimmer, LeBlanc, and the rest of the crew don't know anything about comedy--or acting, for that matter.
Rating:
Summary: Oh, Barney!!! WOOOoooo OOOO!!
Review: About bloody time!! THis one of one the best comedies, but it was so much more. It was caring, it was quirky, it was bloody brilliant. Hal Linden starred as Capt Barney Miller of NYC Manhattan South detective squad, a mix of ethnic backgrounds - there is the much loved and totally deadpan Jack Soo as Det. Nick Yemana, Max Gail as Det. Stan 'Wojo' Wojciehowicz,Abe Vigoda Det. Phil Fish, Ron Glass as Det. Ron Harris, Gregory Sierra as Det. Sgt. Chano Amenguale with a great support cast and wonderful guest work.It was filmed in videotape giving it a closer more accessible feel. The building was old and falling down around their ears, Yemana made the worst coffee, and often their bosses were causing them more problems that helping the squad, but the stalwart detectives handle missing persons, bank robberies, con men, prostitutes and werewolves with equal aplomb and a heavy dash of wit. It is sharply written, with a heart lacking in a lot of telly.
Just does not get any better than this!
Rating:
Summary: Professional Opinions
Review: After growing up with a 34 year veteran of the Chicago Police Department (my Dad) and watching numerous police shows (just about all) and interviewing many, many police officers, the one thing they all agree on is that Barney Miller is the most realistic police show on TV. My Dad (retired in 1986) spent 27 years as a detective. At his station he was able to name a real detective that was the dublicate of each charactor on the show.
Rating:
Summary: BRILLIANT, UNDERRATED SHOW!
Review: Barney Miller deserves to be mentioned right up there with shows like MASH, Mary Tyler Moore, and All in the Family, as one of the great comedies of the 1970's. This cop show, taking place almost exclusively in the cramped squad room, was made up of a relatively unknown cast. The casting was Brilliant. Not only the casting of the cops, but of many of the re-occuring roles such as the old school Inspector Luger, Bruno the sporting goods store owner, the gay couple (one of the earliest depictions of gay men on TV), and of course Fish's Wife Bernice. The First season wasn't the strongest. Too much time spent at home and with Barneys wife. The show would really hit it's stride when Steve landesberg would replace Gregory Sierra in the cast as Det. Arthur Dietrich. Still, even these first handlful of episodes gives you an early glimpse at how good this show would be very soon. i only wish it was on more often in re-runs. But hopefully all future seasons will be released on DVD.
Rating:
Summary: Barney Miller: Season 2 where are you????
Review: Barney Miller is as timeless as MASH. It was wonderful to have the first season all on hand. But where is Season 2. We are ready to go on, why the hold up.
Rating:
Summary: Most Underrated Show in TV History
Review: Barney Miller may be the most underrated show in television history. Rarely has there been a show with such complimentary casting and writing. This series belongs in the same category as the Dick Van Dyke Shows and Andy Griffith Shows. It was realistic without being maudlin and funny without being insultingly stupid. The best of what is available on TV today isn't even close to measuring up to the worst Barney Miller show episode - not that I can even think of a bad one. I truly hope that this is just the first release of what will be the whole 7 seasons of Barney Miller on DVD. I feel somewhat shortchanged that the first season was only the 13 episodes but I'm just thrilled it is finally available. If you remembered and loved Barney when he was first on, this DVD will be a wonderful trip down memory lane while also being a sad reminder of how low television has sunk. If this is your first viewing of the Barney Miller show, you are in for a joyful discovery of just how glorious television comedy can be when it is written by and for intelligent human beings!
Rating:
Summary: Can't ask for more than this. One of the Best.
Review: Barney Miller received the Emmy for Best Comedy in its final season (it went off air in 1982); it was sort of a cumulative Emmy for a show that had never really become a hit (although it was often in the top 20). Starting as a mid-season replacement in January 1975 (hence the 13 episode first season), the show slowly built from a less subtle comedy with a heavy dose of domestic sitcom and some rather crudely drawn characters into a subtle, intelligent program with ongoing story arcs (Wojo's struggle to pass the Sergeant's exam, Barney's marital and promotion woes, Harris's rise and fall as an author) that were only completed at show's end. Of course, most great shows have a great cast who truly seem to enjoy working together. Barney M is no exception. Hal Linden was great as the moral and logistical center of the show, a true father figure and solid straight man. Mas Gail as Wojo was sort of the naive conscience of the show, thinking nothing of bringing the Pentagon in to the 12th Precinct to face a battery of questions on Agent Orange. Ron Glass, as the supremely ambitious, tremendously literate Harris was a rare representation of an African-American male that didn't focus exclusively on his race (but didn't ignore it completely either, as witnessed by the Emmy-winning episode "The Harris Incident"). Jack Soo as the bizarrely deadpan Yemana, Ron Carey as the resentful/insecure/yet surprisingly resourceful Leavitt was a revelation as the show wore on. Steve Landesberg's Dietrich was a good counterpoint to some of the flashiness of Harris or emotionality of Wojo, with his drier than dry wit. This may be a controversial observation, but I felt the show improved with the departure of Abe Vigoda's Detective Fish, whose emphasis on schtick took away from the show's more subtle comedy. I've read that Vigoda even requested that the show be renamed "Fish and Barney Miller." Can you imagine? The one criticism I might have of the show is that the show was not as generous with its female characters as it came to be with its male characters. My wife loves Barney Miller, but often finds the show's tendencies toward "ladies of the night with hearts of gold" a little grating. Still this show's portrayal of the dynamics of the workplace and how several diverse men work things out together with respect, care and openness while being constantly funny is a great accomplishment. Throw in that the show is sort of a record of key issues and trends of the seventies (mindless bureaucracy, bankrupt cities and their budget cuts, sperm banks, environmental issues, Native Americans, Viet Nam vets, oddball cults, etc., etc.), and this is a show that shouldn't be missed. It's a show that can make you laugh and once in a while make you cry. And it always made me think. Can't ask for more than this. The first season was a good start. There are 170 episodes total. Can't wait for the next 157!
|
