Well, I guess beauty really is in the eye of the beholder. THIS beholder still finds Barney Miller THE most overrated "comedy" show in the history of television -- even after 40 years. It's even worse than Night Court, no mean feat. (Interestingly[?], Night Court was created by Reinhold Weege, who worked earlier on Barney Miller.) The writing is stilted, the dialog dull, and the situations contrived. The cramped set looks like it's smaller than a walk-in closet. The laugh-track runs on steroids. The characters are walking clichés, and there are usually too many per episode. Hal Linden as B.M. is miscast; so is Barbara Barrie as his wife. Abe Vigoda's character makes me want to hurl the moment he appears on screen. Max Gail's mentally-challenged "Wojo" is an affront to Polish folks everywhere. I could go on, but why beat a dead horse?
Review of Barney Miller
