Barney Miller - Premise

Premise

The series takes place almost entirely within the confines of the Detectives' Squad Room (and Captain Barney Miller's adjoining office) of New York City's fictional 12th Precinct, located in Greenwich Village. A typical episode would feature the detectives of the 12th bringing in several complainants and/or suspects to the squadroom. Usually there are two or three separate subplots in a given episode, with different officers dealing with different crimes. About once a year, there would be an episode which featured one or more of the detectives outside of the walls of the 12th Precinct, either on a stakeout or at one of their homes.

Primary characters featured on the series:

• Captain (later Deputy Inspector) Barney Miller (Hal Linden): The sensible captain of the "One-Two" who tries to retain his sanity while dealing with the foibles of his staff and the unending stream of budget problems and paperwork that make up his job.
• Sgt. Philip K. Fish (Abe Vigoda): The senior detective on the 12th Detective Squad. A crotchety, world-weary, and nearing-retirement Jewish-American cop, who always seems to be suffering through some physical ailment, but whose years of experience "on the Job" makes him a very good detective and mentor to other members of his squad. Frequently on the phone dealing with a minor marital crisis with his wife Bernice.
• Det. Stanley Thaddeus "Wojo" Wojciehowicz (Max Gail): Naive, gung-ho but goodhearted Polish-American, who gradually transforms from a macho former marine into a sensitive character who tries to see things from his decidedly humanitarian point of view while performing his duties as a detective.
• Sgt. Ron Nathan Harris (Ron Glass): Ambitious, intellectual African-American, who lives well beyond his means, and who frequently seems more preoccupied with his attire and his career as a writer than with his police work.
• Sgt. Nick Yemana (Jack Soo); Surreally philosophical, wisecracking Japanese-American detective. Noted for his "off the wall" sense of humor and wry observations about life, as well as for his gambling habits, extraordinarily poor paperwork filing "skills" and for making extremely bad coffee for the other members of the squad.
• Sgt. Miguel "Chano" Amangual (Gregory Sierra): A dauntless, beleaguered Puerto Rican detective, who is very brave and very emotionally attached to his job.
• Det. Arthur Dietrich (Steve Landesberg): An intellectual detective with a calm, unflappable nature and a seemingly endless supply of knowledge on a wide array of subjects.
• Deputy Inspector (later Inspector) Frank Luger (James Gregory): Miller's rambling, out-of-touch and unapologetic old-school superior who frequently drops by the precinct to "chat with" (i.e., prevail upon) Barney.
• Officer (later Sergeant) Carl Levitt (Ron Carey): A diminutive and obsequious (but competent and hard-working) uniformed officer who constantly, passive-aggressively badgers Miller about being promoted to detective. In later episodes, Levitt is often seen in plainclothes working as an "acting detective", but he is still not officially promoted to the position partly due to budget restraints, and partly due to his height.

• Elizabeth Miller (Barbara Barrie): Barney's wife, a dedicated social worker. Intended to be a regular character, and listed in the opening credits during Seasons 1 and 2, Liz was seen fairly infrequently on the show. She was, however, often referred to, and Barney would often be seen (and heard) on the phone with Liz.

The show's focus was split between the detectives' interactions with each other and with the suspects and witnesses they detained, processed, and interviewed. Some typical conflicts and long running plotlines included Miller's frustration with red tape and paperwork, his constant efforts to maintain peace, order, and discipline, and his numerous failed attempts to get a promotion; Harris's preoccupation with outside interests, such as his living arrangements but mainly his novel (Blood On The Badge), and his inability to remain focused on his police work; Fish's age-related health issues, marital problems, and reluctance to retire; Wojciehowicz's impulsive behavior and love life; Luger's nostalgia for the old days with partners Foster, Kleiner and "Brownie" Brown; Levitt's quest to become a detective (which was eventually successful); the rivalry between the precinct's resident intellectuals, Harris and Dietrich and continually — but reliably — bad coffee (usually made by Yemana).