History Series / BarneyMiller

* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: There are several episodes invoking this trope in which it's not clear if the person in question is crazy. [[YouLookFamiliar Many of them]] are played by recurring guest star Kenneth Tigar.

* NoFourthWall: Averted, literally, in "Chinatown" Part 1. For this episode that aired in the eighth and last season, they actually ''built a fourth wall''. The camera cuts from what was the standard shot for the whole run of the series--a shot over Dietrich's shoulder as he questions a civilian--to a reverse shot from behind the suspect that shows a fourth wall behind Dietrich. This fourth wall would be featured periodically throughout the final season.

* PromotionToOpeningTitles: Ron Glass and Jack Soo in the second season; Ron Carey and Steve Landesberg in the fourth. James Gregory also got a promotion in season four, complete with an AndStarring credit, but it didn't take, and he was back to guest star billing the following season (though he remained a regular throughout the show's run).

** In the second episode, a different African American actor played an officer named Wilson and sat at Harris's desk. The character was actually a holdover from the pilot. Possibly used because the character needed to go out in drag at one point, and they needed to avoid Ron Glass's mustache. (A later episode had a subplot about Harris having to shave so he could do this detail. Barney makes a point of having Harris go last so he could keep it as long as possible.)

* FinaleCredits: The regular closing credits featured a stock photo of the Manhattan skyline as the theme played. The finale instead featured the freeze-frame on the squad room, with no music, only applause as the credits rolled.

* IntoxicationEnsues: See MushroomSamba below.

** In "Christmas Story", Dorothy Murakami addresses Yemana as Jack, a subtle reference to the actor Jack Soo, instead of his character Nick Yemana.

* ArtisticLicenseLawEnforcement: The squad room the detectives worked in had a holding cell in one corner. No one arrested would have been placed in such close proximity to working officers. They could have been disruptive, overheard witness testimony, etc. They would have been placed in a separate section of the station house specifically designed for holding detained individuals. This was mainly done so that people arrested could be placed in a location that allowed them to more easily take part in the plot.

** The last sceen of the series finale "The Landmark (part 3)" features a montage of Chano, Wentworth, Fish, and Yemana as Barney bids farewell to the 12th for one last time.

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* CuffsOffRubWrists: In "The Psychiatrist", a suspect hauled in to the 12th complains that his wrists are ''broken'' after he's uncuffed.

* NonIronicClown: William "Bingo" Krebs in "The Clown", who wears facial makeup, a red derby hat, and a blue overcoat with plaid elbow patches. When Barney interviews him after he is mugged while performing outside a theater:
-->'''Harris''': Sounds like our man, huh?\\
'''Bingo''': What man?\\
'''Barney''': I'm afraid you were the third clown to be assualted in this precinct in the last two weeks.\\
'''Harris''': I didn't have the heart to say it.
* NonSequiturDistraction: In "Riot" a riot breaks out in front of the precinct station. Barney gives an impassioned speech to a representative, saying among other things "Maybe we are all going to hell in a handbasket." When things quiet down, Dietrich says to Barney "Hell in a handbasket?"

* TakeThisJobAndShoveIt: In series finale "Landmark" part 3, Harris reacts to the news that he is being transferred to Queens by shouting "I quit!". When a frustrated Harris rants that can just be a full-time writer, Barney agrees with him. Since it's the series finale we never find out if Harris follows through.

** Yemana takes a call, says "Wait, let me get a pencil" and starts to eat his lunch with the pencil as a makeshift chopstick as he tells the caller to go ahead with their story. Switch to other characters doing things, then back to Yemana as he hangs up with the caller. He takes one look at the pencil and says "Oh my God, I ate my eraser!"

** When Air Force Master Sergeant Reville (George Murdock, before he was cast in a recurring role as Lt. Scanlon) arrives at the precinct in "Group Home" to report a bomb threat to an Air Force base, he is clearly uncomfortable with the idea of a Japanese-American police officer. Yemana deals with his discomfort with deadpan humor:

* FiveManBand: Barney was TheHero; Yemana was TheLancer; Wojo was TheBigGuy; Dietrich was TheSmartGuy. Harris was initially TheSmartGuy until Dietrich came on board, and then became more of a male TheChick; after Jack Soo de wied, Harris replaced Yemana as TheLancer.

* The eponymous Captain Miller (Hal Linden), whose underlings exasperate him and whose superiors ignore him; an OnlySaneMan who often feels ineffectual and underappreciated. Best known for leaving suspects and victims together for a while in hopes that they will work things out without pressing charges (and therefore without the associated paperwork).
* Detective Nick Yemana (Jack Soo), the HypercompetentSidekick of the squadroom. He takes a laissez-faire attitude to most things and often makes inappropriate jokes. His [[BadToTheLastDrop bad coffee]] is legendary. Yemana was among the first regular adult characters on U.S. prime-time television written specifically for an American of Japanese descent.[[note]]In ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' Sulu was played by Japanese American George Takei, but the character's nationality was deliberately left unspecified.[[/note]] The character left the show in Season 5 when Jack Soo fell ill and died of cancer.

* Officer Carl Levitt (Ron Carey), a uniformed officer stationed downstairs. Levitt spent years incessantly pestering Captain Miller about promoting him to detective, combining obsequious servility with snarky sarcasm when his requests were rejected. Became a regular along with Dietrich in Season 3 and stuck around for the rest of the run.
* During the first two seasons, Sergeant Chano Amenguale (Gregory Sierra); an amiable, talkative guy, but basically deficient in outstanding personality quirks. He [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome disappeared]] when Sierra got a lead role on another sitcom, which promptly crashed and burned, beating ''Fish'' to the punch by a season.
* Barney's immediate superior Inspector Franklin D. Luger (James Gregory), who does nothing but chew Barney's ear all day, get Barney to do his paperwork for him, and long for the halcyon days of acceptable police brutality.
* In the first season, which had episodes alternating between the squadroom and Barney's home life, Barbara Barrie was a regular as Barney's wife Elizabeth; as the former setting proved more compelling, Liz was subsequently shifted OutOfFocus and eventually moved offscreen, save for a couple of guest appearances.

* ThatsWhatSheSaid: Gender-flipped by Sgt. Fish in "Heat Wave"; Beckman has just finished maintenance, and the detectives can't get fan to turn on:
-->'''Harris''': Hey it can't be turned on, it's not doing anything!\\

* AluminumChristmasTrees: In "Homeless", Bruno Binder's wife talks about making turkey stuffed with sauerkraut for Christmas. This sounds like a gag, but it's real, and traditional in Maryland.

* NewhartPhonecall: A recurring gag. Example, from "The Rainmaker", when New York is experiencing a severe drought:

* {{Corpsing}}: It's not uncommon to see one of the other actors--especially Jack Soo--giggling in the background after a particularly funny interchange. One notable instance is in "Smog" after Wojo's "they lost Fish"[[note]]not dead, just ''lost'' after Fish left the ambulance[[/note]] gaffe. Barney collapses into a chair and hides his face as though recovering from the moment of horror, but a closer look shows that Hal Linden is hiding his laughter.

* HalloweenEpisode: "Werewolf." First appearance of Stefan Koepekne (Kenneth Tigar), here playing a man with lycanthropy who had at least Yemana convinced he was "changing."

** Also Yemana when cooking ''shabu shabu'' in the squad room, in episode "Fire '77". After Wojo says it smells like garbage, Yemana indignantly lists the ingredients--fish heads, cabbage leaves, cucumber rinds, celery tops-- then says "Come to think of it, that is garbage!" At the end, after Barney tastes the ''shabu shabu'' and likes it, Yemana realizes he cooked it wrong.

Police detectives often cite this as the best cop show ever seen on television. Dennis Farina, who really worked as a policeman before [[Series/NYPDBlue becoming an actor]], says it's the most realistic. In 2014, it was called [[http://www.ibtimes.com/barney-miller-forty-years-later-most-intelligent-literate-us-sitcom-ever-1556406 the most intelligent and literate U.S. sitcom ever made.]] The detectives were made honorary members of the NYPD. The chalkboard roster and Jack Soo's coffee cup now reside in the Smithsonian.

* StupidCrooks: ''Dozens'', and way too many to list. Among those that stand out: A flasher who is arrested in the middle of December when it's below zero (he later cleans up his act and becomes a councilor in a later season), a man in a wheelchair who shoplifts ''and'' twice tries to flee the station ("Wojo's Problem"), and a convict who is given unsupervised prison furloughs for work release, but uses them to commit armed robberies.

* StalkerWithACrush: In "Altercation" a woman is mugged outside the precinct building. She seems strangely attentive to Captain Miller. It turns out that she has been stalking Barney since Patrolman Miller stood up for her against some bullies back in 1966; the reason she was outside the precinct building is that she was following Barney around. She's a benevolent stalker, telling Barney him not to worry if he ever notices her following him.

** In one episode inveterate gambler Nick comes in crowing about a big score he had made: he picked all the bowl games, then bet it all on a hockey game and won there too. Then his bookie comes into the detective squad room and turns himself in for illegal betting: turns out '''everyone''' had had the same sting of luck and he can't cover his bets. And not everyone is as nice as Nick is.

* HalloweenEpisode: "Werewolf." First appearance of Stefan Koepeknie (Kenneth Tigar), here playing a man with lycanthropy who had at least Yemana convinced he was "changing."