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Barney Miller (view source)

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Also around are abrasive, uniformed Officer Carl Levitt (Ron Carey), who longs to be a detective but can never seem to snag a promotion (he finally got one in the very last episode); and Barney's immediate superior Inspector Franklin D. Luger (James Gregory), who does nothing but chew Barney's ear all day and long for the halcyon days of acceptable police brutality. In the first season or two, which had episodes alternating between the squadroom and Barney's home life, Barbara Barrie was a regular as Barney's wife Elizabeth. She disappeared when the Millers had an off-screen separation, but returned later on a recurring basis.
 
Throughout the run, the show tried adding new characters to the cast; most of them would be given a "test run" of about three episodes to make an impression. More than half a dozen cops were "auditioned" this way. Save for Dietrich, none of them really worked, resulting in many a [[Brother Chuck]]. (Linda Lavin probably would have stayed on too, if she hadn't been offered the lead role in ''[[Alice]]''; she appeared prominently in flashbacks despite being in only five episodes). Midway through the fifth season, actor Jack Soo (Yemana) died. The cast did a memorial episode out-of-character for Soo, but Yemana was never [[The Character Died Withwith Him|killed off]] in so many words. Once in a while, he would be mentioned in the past tense, sometimes with an air of wistfulness. When Levitt worked in the detective squad room, he took over Yemana's desk.
 
This show is also remembered for its super-catchy [[Instrumental Theme Tune]], which has quite possibly the most famous bass line in TV history. If you've seen the show, you're probably [[Ear Worm|humming it to yourself now]].
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* [[Ambulance Chaser]]: Arnold Ripner, a recurring character. At one point he sues Harris for putting a thinly-veiled version of him in his novel.
* [[Aren't You Going to Ravish Me?]]: Detective Wentworth is highly offended when a would-be rapist elbows her aside in order to get at Wojo, who is wearing drag for an anti-mugger sting.
* [[Beleaguered Bureaucrat]]: Barney in some episodes. Some government officials that get called in are also this. (Usually because of [[Wide -Eyed Idealist|Wojo]] giving someone political asylum or similar.)
* [[The Bet]]: Between Yemana (to stop gambling) and Harris (to stop smoking) on who could last the longest.
* [[Beware the Nice Ones]]: Non-violent, but it's still unwise to push Barney past the breaking point.
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** In fact, an entire ''episode'' revolved around Yemana's desk. Levitt protested its removal because without it he had less chance of getting his occasional assignments to work with the detectives, proving himself worthy of promotion. Barney came to regret having had it removed, and decided it wasn't enough just to get another desk; he demanded ''that'' desk back, and got it.
* [[Calling Your Bathroom Breaks]]: Played for [[Toilet Humor]] with Fish, whose advanced age has started to take its toll.
* [[The Character Died Withwith Him]]: On January 11, 1979, midway through the show's run, Jack Soo, who portrayed Yemana, passed away. In response, a special memorial episode was aired in which Yemana had been killed. The actors broke character and recalled their favorite Yemana scenes. The episode ended with entire cast raising their coffee cups in tribute.
* [[Character Tics]]: That little spin move Levitt would always make when going out the door.
* [[Christmas Episode]]
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Harris: That'll do it. }}
* [[Clip Show]]: The out-of-character tribute to actor Jack Soo.
* [[Commuting Onon a Bus]]: Abe Vigoda's Fish did this in season 3 (due to his concurrent role on his own show) before leaving entirely at the beginning of season 4.
* [[The Couch]]: In Barney's office.
* [[Crime and Punishment Series]]
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* [[Deadpan Snarker]]: Numerous among both the squad and the people they dealt with, but Yemana and Dietrich deserve special mention.
* [[Disposable Vagrant]]
* [[Double Standard Rape (Male Onon Male)]]: Wojo, who is wearing drag in order to catch muggers, is almost raped. Everyone finds this hilarious.
* [[Drop in Character]]: Ray Brewer.
* [[Even Evil Has Standards]]: Arnold Ripner threatens to sue a lobotomist ''free of charge'' should he try to operate again on a patient who was rendered mentally incompetent by his amygdalectomy. (He then threatens Barney that trying to describe his actions as "noble" could be slander.)
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* [[Police Procedural]]
* [[Promotion to Opening Titles]]: 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 [[And Starring]] 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).
* [[The Problem Withwith Pen Island]]: The broad white, all capital, rounded-corners [[Useful Notes/Fonts|font]] of the show's credits wasn't exactly complimentary to writer Theodore J. Flicker.
* [[Put Onon a Bus]]: Fish, although he would [[The Bus Came Back|return as a guest]] in a couple later episodes.
* [[Reasonable Authority Figure]]: Barney.
* [[Recurring Character]]: Lt. Scanlon from Internal Affairs, Officer Zatelli, Marty and Darryl, Arnold Ripner, Bruno Binder, Ray Brewer, Arthur Duncan, Mr. Cotterman...
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** The characters would frequently cite the actual articles or court cases that inspired the episode.
* [[Rule 34]]: In the episode "The Indian", the detectives catch a shoe fetishist. Wojo says "You can point to any object in the Sears catalog, and there's someone out there who wants to sleep with it."
* [[Sit ComSitcom]]
* [[Spin-Off]]: ''Fish''
* [[Spiritual Successor]]: ''[[Night Court]]'', created by former ''Barney Miller'' writer Reinhold Weege.
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