The BEST episodes of Barney Miller

Every episode of Barney Miller ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Barney Miller!

Hal Linden stars in the title role as a NYPD captain in charge of a squad of oddball detectives and even stranger criminals.

Last Updated: 3/8/2024Network: ABC (US)Status: Ended
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Landmark (3)
star
8.37
76 votes

#1 - Landmark (3)

Season 8 - Episode 22 - Aired 5/20/1982

Friends, foes and felons alike drop by to pay their last respects as the detectives prepare to leave for new assignments; Harris contemplates his resignation when he's assigned to Flushing Meadows; Barney recalls friends departed before he turns out the squad room lights for the last time.

Directors: Danny Arnold
Watch Now:Amazon
Chinatown (2)
star
8.13
16 votes

#2 - Chinatown (2)

Season 8 - Episode 12 - Aired 2/11/1982

Unless he confesses soon, Harris and Dietrich's unwilling roommate may witness another murder. Meanwhile, harassment charges are pressed against Lieutenant Scanlon.

Directors: Danny Arnold
Watch Now:Amazon
The Harris Incident
star
8.08
60 votes

#3 - The Harris Incident

Season 5 - Episode 10 - Aired 11/30/1978

A stockbroker leaves Wall Street to become a beggar; a rookie cop, assuming Harris to be a felon, shoots at him.

Directors: Noam Pitlik
Watch Now:Amazon
Field Associate
star
8.05
20 votes

#4 - Field Associate

Season 7 - Episode 8 - Aired 1/15/1981

Someone is sending specific information on transgressions of the men to Internal Affairs; Harris sets up a reunion between an elderly cat burglar and the wife who reported him missing years ago.

Directors: Noam Pitlik
Watch Now:Amazon
The Inventor
star
8.05
22 votes

#5 - The Inventor

Season 6 - Episode 21 - Aired 5/1/1980

The squad tries hypnosis to uncover the name of a felon that Wojo has forgotten; an inventor steals the plans for his own creation.

Directors: Noam Pitlik
Watch Now:Amazon
Lady and the Bomb
star
8.04
23 votes

#6 - Lady and the Bomb

Season 7 - Episode 18 - Aired 4/9/1981

The verdict is in on the Harris/Ripner libel suit, and a woman threatens to blow up the squad room with a homemade bomb. What better time for Detective Fish to drop by for a visit?

Directors: Noam Pitlik
Writer: Lee H. Grant
Watch Now:Amazon
The Mole
star
8.04
79 votes

#7 - The Mole

Season 2 - Episode 22 - Aired 3/18/1976

Fish considers an operation; a burglar known as "The Mole" leads Harris and Wojo on a merry chase through the city sewer system. Ron Carey plays the Mole, and returns as Levitt in the next season.

Directors: Mark Warren
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Happy New Year
star
7.98
88 votes

#8 - Happy New Year

Season 2 - Episode 15 - Aired 1/8/1976

On New Year's Eve, Fish tries to stop a jumper, and Wojo delivers a baby.

Directors: Bruce Bilson
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Ramon
star
7.98
164 votes

#9 - Ramon

Season 1 - Episode 1 - Aired 1/23/1975

Captain Barney Miller talks down a junkie who is holding the 12th Precinct hostage.

Directors: Bill Davis
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
The Slave
star
7.92
24 votes

#10 - The Slave

Season 6 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/18/1979

Harris bristles when he learns that the Burmese chauffeur being booked for a traffic accident is actually an indentured servant.

Directors: Noam Pitlik
Watch Now:Amazon
The Kid
star
7.91
80 votes

#11 - The Kid

Season 2 - Episode 21 - Aired 3/6/1976

Fish is attracted to the mother of a young mugger; a man is a bit premature to obtain the unclaimed windfall he found on the street.

Directors: Stan Lathan
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
You Dirty Rat
star
7.86
88 votes

#12 - You Dirty Rat

Season 2 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/13/1975

Barney smells a rat when two pounds of confiscated marijuana disappears from the evidence locker, and a homeless man spends the night in a department store apparently one of many.

Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Grand Hotel
star
7.85
86 votes

#13 - Grand Hotel

Season 2 - Episode 7 - Aired 10/23/1975

Wojo and Wentworth pose as marrieds in order to bust a burglary ring set in a posh hotel.

Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Hash
star
7.84
70 votes

#14 - Hash

Season 3 - Episode 11 - Aired 12/30/1976

Wojo brings hashish-laced brownies his new girlfriend made to the 12th Precinct, getting the detective squad stoned; while an actor and critic ("natural enemies" says Harris) square off with dueling swords.

Directors: Noam Pitlik
Writer: Tom Reeder
The Doll
star
7.83
18 votes

#15 - The Doll

Season 7 - Episode 17 - Aired 3/26/1981

An expensive doll is abducted for ransom; a man claims he was swindled in exchange for a ticket on the space shuttle; Luger informs Barney that he's in his will.

Writer: Tony Sheehan
Watch Now:Amazon
Riot
star
7.82
17 votes

#16 - Riot

Season 7 - Episode 19 - Aired 4/30/1981

Luger takes a small disturbance with the Hassidic community and turns it into a full-scale riot; the squad discovers a survivalist couple setting up housekeeping in the sewers.

Watch Now:Amazon
Fear of Flying
star
7.82
90 votes

#17 - Fear of Flying

Season 2 - Episode 17 - Aired 1/29/1976

Wojo must escort a bigamist to Cleveland, even though he is (guess!) afraid of flying. Meanwhile,the bigamist's New York wife shows up. Also, a man turns in an unmarked envelope containing $3500 in cash.

Directors: Lee Bernhardi
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Goodbye, Mr. Fish (1)
star
7.76
55 votes

#18 - Goodbye, Mr. Fish (1)

Season 4 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/15/1977

A neighborhood vigilante group runs amok, and Fish is AWOL on the day of his retirement.

Directors: Danny Arnold
Watch Now:Amazon
Dorsey
star
7.76
21 votes

#19 - Dorsey

Season 7 - Episode 4 - Aired 11/27/1980

The new detective is convinced that his compatriots are on the take and asks to be dealt out.

Directors: Noam Pitlik
Writer: Tony Sheehan
The Search
star
7.72
58 votes

#20 - The Search

Season 5 - Episode 3 - Aired 9/21/1978

Off goes the moustache, as it's Harris' turn for cross-dressing mugging detail; the host of a kids' science show goes off the deep end; Barney's men reopen a twenty-eight year old missing persons case.

Watch Now:Amazon
Chinatown (1)
star
7.71
21 votes

#21 - Chinatown (1)

Season 8 - Episode 11 - Aired 2/4/1982

A murder witness is uncooperative, so he, Harris and Dietrich are forced to share an apartment in seclusion until he talks; Lieutenant Scanlon falls for a wealthy mugging victim.

Directors: Danny Arnold
Watch Now:Amazon
The Experience
star
7.71
104 votes

#22 - The Experience

Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 1/30/1975

A bomber targets the 12th Precinct, as Det. Fish contemplates retirement.

Directors: Danny Arnold
Writer: Steve Gordon
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Corporation
star
7.71
55 votes

#23 - Corporation

Season 4 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/6/1977

A quixotic environmentalist faces the high-priced lawyer hired by the chemical plant he's been assaulting.

Watch Now:Amazon
The Judge
star
7.68
53 votes

#24 - The Judge

Season 6 - Episode 9 - Aired 12/6/1979

A judge provides an attorney with the ultimate over-ruling; a gavel on the noggin; the crimes reported by a lonely woman emanate from daytime television soap operas.

Directors: Noam Pitlik
Watch Now:Amazon
Vanished (1)
star
7.67
51 votes

#25 - Vanished (1)

Season 6 - Episode 13 - Aired 1/10/1980

Vagrant Ray returns to report his fellow bums' disappearances; a woman wishes to have a child with a surrogate and is focusing in on Dietrich and Wojo.

Directors: Noam Pitlik
Watch Now:Amazon