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The brainchild of veteran writer-directors Danny Arnold and Theodore J. Flicker, the comedy/drama Barney Miller (1975-1982) offered a very human look at the inner workings of a New York City police precinct; its wry and observant scripts, aided by a stellar cast, helped earn the series three Emmy Awards and a devoted fan base, which should be pleased by this two-disc set that compiles its entire first season. Viewers familiar with the series' later seasons will notice substantial differences in the cast and storyline; episodes divide Barney's (Hal Linden) time evenly between the 12th Precinct and his apartment, which he shares with wife Barbara Barrie and two children (all of whom would be phased out of the series). The first season squad was composed of Abe Vigoda's dyspeptic Fish, the overeager Wojciehowicz (Max Gail), dry-witted Yemana (Jack Soo, who passed away during the fifth season), and street-smart Chano (Gregory Sierra, who departed the series after the second season); Ron Glass's dapper Harris would not be listed in the opening credits until subsequent seasons.

Arnold, along with Chris Hayward (Get Smart) and other scribes, would pen the majority of the first season, which set the tone for the series by pitting the squad against a host of offbeat criminals, other cops, and regular citizens, several of whom would become semi-regulars; James Gregory's crusty Inspector Luger makes his debut in "Vigilante" (episode 9), while unscrupulous lawyer Arnold Ripner (Alex Henteloff) and Detective Wentworth (a pre-Alice Linda Lavin) have their first appearances in "The Experience" (episode 2) and "Ms. Cop" (episode 8), respectively.

Columbia/TriStar's two-disc set offers all 13 episodes of the first season, as well as short credit lists for some of the major players; the little-seen 1974 pilot, "The Life and Times of Captain Barney Miller," might have made an interesting supplemental feature, but fans should be pleased to have this set regardless. --Paul Gaita ... Read more

Reviews (26)

Dum...da da dum...da da dum...
Who can forget that classic bass line intro! Barney Miller is finally on DVD in a two DVD set featuring the first 13 episodes of season 1 totally uncut and commercial free for the first time! Barney Miller ran from Jan. 1975 to May 1982 (8 seasons, 170 episodes). The sitcom was a new concept, concerning a group of Police Detectives and their Captain and the goings-on in a NY precinct squadroom. The cast, which would make slight changes over the years, had to be one of the most diverse in TV history. In season one, the cast includes Barney (Hal Linden), Wojciehowicz (Max Gail), Harris (Ron Glass), Fish (Abe Vigoda), Yemana (Jack Soo) and Chano (Gregory Sierra). Season 1 is also the only time Barney's whole family were shown. In Season 2, only his wife Elizabeth (Barbara Barrie) had appearances and by Season 3, even she was written out of the show. Barney Miller is a rare sitcom from the 70s that is essential and makes a welcome addition to other classics like All in the family, Sanford & Son, and the Jeffersons. Season one includes these episodes:

Disc One:
01. Ramon
02. The experience
03. Snow job
04. Graft
05. Courtesans
06. Stakeout
07. The Bureaucrat
08. Ms. Cop
09. The vigilante
Disc Two:
10. The guest
11. Escape artist
12. Hair
13. Hero

Trivia:

*The characters of Barney, Wojo, & Harris would be the only detectives to remain throughout the entire series as regular cast members. Fish left after 3 seasons, Chano after 2, and Yemana after 4 (Jack Soo passed away in January 1979). In season 3, Detrich (Steve Landesberg) & Levitt (Ron Carey) would join the cast as regulars until the series ended.

*Look for Linda Lavin (TV's Alice) in episode 8 debuting as Det. Janice Wentworth. She would make appearances in the second season as well.

*Before Barney Miller, Gregory Sierra (Chano) was popular for his role as Fred and Lamont's neighbor, Julio, who had a pet goat named Chico, on Sanford & Son. He made appearances on everything from All in the Family (where he had no accent) to Miami Vice. After Barney Miller, Sierra joined the cast of Soap.

*One of the main series writers, Reinhold Weege, previously wrote on M*A*S*H* and went on to create one of the funniest sitcoms ever, Night Court! (by the way, where's season one?!!)

Jack Soo (1916-1979)
James Gregory (Insp. Frank Luger) (1911-2002)
Florence Stanley (Bernice Fish) (1924-2003)

Also Highly recommended on DVD:
All in the family
Sanford & Son
The Jeffersons
Good Times
What's Happening
Three's Company

At last. Now where are the rest?
This is one of my all-time favourite shows, one that I've been waiting for years for Sony / Columbia Tri-star to release (along with Newsradio).

Compared to some of the later Barney Miller seasons this probably isn't worth the full 5 stars, but it certainly deserves 5 starts compared to the zillions of average TV shows around, past or present.

I agree with the earlier review that mentioned that the picture quality isn't top-notch, but then it is almost thirty years since the original broadcasts and the quality is good enough that I forgot to worry about it within the first five minutes of the first episode. It's as good as other 70s television DVDs.

I don't mind the lack of bonus extras - as long the episodes are there I'm happy, though I miss not having "The Life and Times of Captain Barney Miller" mentioned in the other review.

Can't wait for the other seasons to be released, and well done to Sony for not coming out with a stupid 'best of' (which we all know would've picked the 'wrong' episodes). Full season releases are the only way to go.

Waiting for seasons 2-8
The first season was great...now let's get the other seven seasons (as well as the pilot episode) out as soon as possible. I will buy all of them.

Poor picture quality on DISC 1
I was very excited to hear that the first season would be available on DVD on 2-discs.

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.

more barney miller
great dvd,but get more out soon,this is a classic show, and we are starved for good entertainment, ... Read more