Barney Miller: The Complete First Season

Unfortunately, on the first DVD, the picture quality is very bad, like VHS in the "LP" mode (e.g., way too much compression). The second disc is acceptable, but it only has 4-episodes on it.

Rather than cram 9-episodes on one DVD, they should have placed only 4-episodes per DVD, or a maximum of 6-episdoes on Disc 1 and 7-episodes on Disc 2.

If you can rent it (e.g., NetFlix), I would.

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!