![]() They recognized the dissatisfaction of gay viewers, and were confident that they could address the criticisms. They crafted a few tweaks to the character, deepening details of his personal life and planning to add more gay characters to the show. So Danny and Newt went back to the drawing board in preparation for season 2 of Barney Miller. But because those tropes were particularly common on TV at the time, there was concern that viewers would get the impression that Marty represented all gay men. Of course, flamboyant gay men exist, as do gay criminals. Gay audiences were miffed by Marty’s depiction: A sassy flamboyant criminal who leered at straight men, many viewers felt that Marty reinforced negative stereotypes about gay people. Newt Dieter, felt that while Marty did conform to some stereotypes, it was certainly an improvement over the killer lesbians and sexually abusive monsters who had appeared on TV recently, and he gave the show his blessing. So Danny Arnold, the showrunner, brought in a consultant from the Gay Media Task Force, a new organization that advocated for better depictions of gay characters. The network had recently come under fire for some particularly negative depictions of queer characters on other shows, and they weren’t eager to elicit another public outcry. (When a victim of his purse-snatching is asked if anything was missing from the purse, he chimes in, “yes, good taste.”) Personally, I love the character: He’s smart, he’s funny, he’s confident, and he’s unambigulously gay. ![]() The thief is named Marty, and he gets all the good lines. But Barney Miller charged right into relatively uncharted territory, opening its first episode after the pilot with a gay purse-snatcher storyline. By that point, there had only been a handful - Beverly LaSalle on All in the Family, a murder victim played by young Martin Sheen on Dan August, Uncle Arthur in Bewitched (if you read between the lines). Queer characters were a relatively new phenomenon on television in the mid-1970s. It became one of those slow hits that starts with a tiny but devoted following though Barney Miller struggled in the ratings, it gradually picked up more and more followers - in part due to its willingness to tackle controversial topics. It had none of the ingredients that it seemed a gritty '70s cop show needed: There was no action, there were no big stars, the show almost never ventured beyond two cramped rooms of New York’s 12th precinct police station.īut what it did have was a fantastic cast with great chemistry, and some particularly smart, funny writing. Rounding out the cast is Deputy Inspector Frank Luger (James Gregory), Miller’s out-of-touch, unapologetic old-school superior who often drops by the precinct.Ĭreated by: Danny Arnold and Theodore J.ABC had so little confidence in the Barney Miller premise that they only ordered two episodes at first, a move that seems more like sarcasm than a commitment to a series. Officer Carl Levitt (Ron Carey) is a competent and hard-working uniformed officer who constantly and passive-aggressively badgers Miller about being promoted. Arthur Dietrich (Steve Landesburg) is the intellectual detective who has a calm, levelheaded demeanor. Miguel “Chano” Amenguale (Gregory Sierra) is a dauntless Puerto Rican detective who is emotionally attached to his job. Nick Yemana (Jack Soo) is the philosophical and wisecracking Japanese-American detective noted for his off-beat sense of humor. Ron Harris (Ron Glass) is the ambitious and intellectual African-American detective preoccupied with his wardrobe and writing career. Stanley “Wojo” Wojciehowicz (Max Gail) is the naive, gung-ho yet goodhearted Catholic Polish-American. Fish (Abe Vigoda) is the senior detective on the squad who is close to retirement-his knowledge is balanced with his crotchetiness. Miller’s wife Elizabeth “Liz” (Barbara Barrie) is a social worker. Set mostly in the squad room, Captain Barney Miller (Hal Linden) can be found trying to retain his sanity while dealing with the never-ending stream of staff shenanigans, red tape, budget problems and paperwork that make up his job. Barney Miller is an American sitcom television series about New York City’s fictional 12 th Precinct in Greenwich Village.
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