# Barney Miller (1975)

> A steady police captain keeps order over a squad room of eccentric detectives while a parade of city characters passes through.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/3095

## Facts

- Seasons: 8
- Episodes: 170
- Episode runtime: 25 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: comedy
- Created by: Theodore J. Flicker, Danny Arnold
- Network: ABC
- Cast: Hal Linden, Max Gail, Abe Vigoda, Barbara Barrie, Ron Glass, Gregory Sierra, Steve Landesberg, Ron Carey
- TMDB rating: 8.3/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072472/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: none
- Tone: deadpan, wry, warm, absurdist, comforting

## What critics say

Barney Miller is broadly acclaimed as a sharp, humane workplace sitcom whose ensemble of precinct detectives makes a single squad room feel lived in.

## Synopsis

Barney Miller (1975-1982) is a American network sitcom created by Theodore J. Flicker and Danny Arnold for ABC. Hal Linden plays Captain Barney Miller, a sensible precinct commander who keeps order over a band of detectives including Max Gail as Stan Wojciehowicz, Ron Glass as Ron Harris, and Abe Vigoda as Philip Fish. The engine of each twenty-five minute episode is the steady flow of citizens and criminals hauled into the squad room, whose petty complaints, odd confessions and small crimes give the detectives room to bicker, gamble and chase women while they would rather be doing something else. Across eight seasons and roughly 170 episodes, it is a single-location workplace comedy in which the action rarely leaves the precinct, and each episode is largely self-contained with ongoing character threads. Set in 1970s Manhattan and Greenwich Village, the show carries the grit of its city into a warm, wry atmosphere where social commentary and race relations surface through ordinary business. Its tone is deadpan, humane and quietly absurd, with a strong ensemble and a moral center in Barney himself. Fans of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Hill Street Blues and Taxi will find resonance in its blend of ensemble comedy and station-house realism.

## Shows like Barney Miller

- [The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970)](https://ember.film/tv/2816)
- [The Bob Newhart Show (1972)](https://ember.film/tv/1866)
- [Lou Grant (1977)](https://ember.film/tv/450)
- [The Commish (1991)](https://ember.film/tv/3654)
- [Hill Street Blues (1981)](https://ember.film/tv/3642)
- [Dragnet (1951)](https://ember.film/tv/3536)
- [Night Court (1984)](https://ember.film/tv/147)
- [Sledge Hammer! (1986)](https://ember.film/tv/490)
- [Welcome Back, Kotter (1975)](https://ember.film/tv/700)
- [Cagney & Lacey (1982)](https://ember.film/tv/4013)

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