Excellent show with a great cast that takes place in the 12th precinct police station in New York. Hal Linden is Captain Barney Miller, Max Gail is Detective Stan “Wojo” Wojciehowicz, Ron Glass is Detective Ron Harris, Steve Landesberg is Detective Sgt.Arthur Dietrich, Ron Carey is Officer Carl Levitt, Jack Soo is Detective Sgt.Nick Yemana, Abe Vigoda is Detective Phil Fish, James Gregory is Inspector Frank Luger, Gregory Sierra is Detective Sgt.Chano Amenquale and Barbara Barrie is Barney’s wife Elizabeth. Cast members came and went during the show’s run.
Februray 12,1976 episode: “Block Party” w.Linda Lavin – There’s been a shooting at a block party. Chano and Detective Janice Wentworth (Linda Lavin) go on the call. Janice makes the bust but the perp gets hauled off by detectives from Manhattan South. Wentworth goes ballistic because she didn’t credit for the arrest.
Harris is trying to get a column together for the police newsletter. He’s had to toss some stuff away and is crying censorship.
Into the station comes Lt.Ben Scanlon from Manhattan South. He’s loaded with derogotory remarks about women on the force and Barney takes him into his office before Wentworth loses it. Barney insists Scanlon’s report includes a comendation for Wentworth. He doesn’t want to go that far.
When he leaves the office Harris is reading his latest column about the great collar made by Wentworth. Scanlon changes his mind….but just barely.
Lavin is too over the top in the episode but the other cats members have some sly one liners that make it fun. There’s also an interesting exchange between Chano and a barber who is impatient to get a gun permit. There’s also some good stuff from James Gregory as Inspector Frank Luger.
February 19,1976 episode: “Massage Parlor” w/Linda Lavin – All the cops in the 12th precinct are trying to bust a group of sex parlors in the area. They’ve all gone undercover to try and get solicited. No luck. It also affects their egos.
Now Wentworth (Linda Lavin) wants to give it a try. She and Wojo are going with each other and he’s uneasy about her giving it a try. Since the first attempt wasn’t successful she wants to do it again. This time it works and she arrests a cowboy from Oklahoma who has only been in the city for two weeks. Even in a cell he manages to charm her. A lot of funny lines from the cast.
The other storyline involves Mr, Fletcher. He says he was mugged by an old lady. Barney wants some cross dressers brought in but they’re all accounted for. Then he finds several older women who have records for robbery. Fletcher says the one who robbed him knew karate and that’s how she got the best of him.
A group of women are brought in including Mrs.Mable Kleiner (Florene Halop). She has an arrest record. She also has some fun coming onto Fish. This is a funny vignette making it another good episode.
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