'Barney Miller' has a good start in situation comedy field

B

William Hickey

Jalan Kaltber.

HOLLYWOOD—ABC's attempt to gain parity with

of

rival networks in the situas tion comedy aspect programming has been greatly enhanced by the creation of a new half-hour laugher called "Barney Mill-

er.

HICKEY

Whether the viewing public will agree remains to be seen, but the nation's televi-

sion critics here were impressed by the situation comedy's overall production value, not to mention the comedy content alone.

"Barney Miller" is a series devoted to making the life of a Greenwich Village precinct captain funny, and, in the first two epi-

sodes screened here the

other day, it did precisely

that.

The series itself is somewhat reminiscent of an earlier television hit called

"Car 54, Where Are You?”, "Car 54, Where Are You?", but the writing and characterization are light-years

distant in comparison.

“Barney Miller,” an amiable, miffortyish law man, bosses a group of the unlikiest detectives to be found in any police precinct in the country. There is Fish, a 38-year veteran of the force who keeps falling asleep in the middle of conversa-

tions; Chano, a self-styled Puerto Rican Serpico; Harris, a sophisticated and bright black who is bucking for chief; Yemana, who mixes pragmatism and Oriental philosophy in his approach to law and order, and Wojehowicz, who takes a no-nonsense good guy,

bad guy attitude with him wherever he goes.

•

Though the ingredients are there, it is by no means a slapstick piece of business. Far from it, the series at times borders on black comedy, with crackling dialog and well-defined characterization.

The series also brings into play Barney Miller's home life and, in the first two episodes, this bit of divertissement worked very well and contributed show as a whole.

Hal Linden, a Tony award-winning Broadway actor little known to television audiences, plays the role of Barney Miller in more than convincing fash-

ion. The onetime saxophonist of the big band era plays Miller as a semitough, always compassionate cop with a sense of humor. With the wife and crew he has, he has to have a sense of hu-

mor.

Barbara Barrie costars with Linden ard is quite as believable as a wife who wants her husband to quit the dangerous work and buy a chicken ranch in Montana. She also follows crime reports on the radios, has bars installed on the windows and admonishes her children to ride crowded buses for safety.

Veteran character actor Vigoda is superb as the aging Fish, while Gregory Sierra, Max Gail, Ron Glass and Jack Soo also make solid contributions in their roles.

•

It is a strangely concocted series, yet it comes together beautifully. For example, one would think

·

there would be little huraor there would be little humor in a situation where a Puerto Rican junkie grabs one of the detective's guns and announces his plan to shoot his way out of the precinct, but there were laughs by the carload.

The second episode centers around a homosexual purse snatcher and a mad bomber, and there were even more laughs. So many, in fact, that it easily outranked the premiere show.

"Barney Miller" is a series that no doubt will offend everyone at one time or another, yet really insult no one. There is that kind of polish on the words and in the actions of the players.

Unfortunately for the worthy new entry, it has been placed opposite CBS' blockbuster, "The Waltons," at 9 Thursday night and stands a chance of being ignored by viewers.

Hopefully, enough people will give it a try, at least

during the rerun season, to encourage ABC-TV to give it a better time slot next year.

It deserves it. It has hit written all over it.

Radio-TV.