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.

#1 - Landmark (3)

Season 8 - Episode 22 - Aired May 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.

8.35

74 votes

Directors: Danny Arnold

Writers: Frank Dungan, Jeff Stein, Tony Sheehan

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#2 - The Mole

Season 2 - Episode 22 - Aired Mar 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.

8.11

75 votes

Directors: Mark Warren

Writers: Chris Hayward, Danny Arnold, Reinhold Weege

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#3 - Chinatown (2)

Season 8 - Episode 12 - Aired Feb 11, 1982

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

8.08

13 votes

Directors: Danny Arnold

Writers: Frank Dungan, Jeff Stein

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#4 - Ramon

Season 1 - Episode 1 - Aired Jan 23, 1975

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

8.07

162 votes

Directors: Bill Davis

Writers: Danny Arnold, Theodore J. Flicker

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#5 - The Inventor

Season 6 - Episode 21 - Aired May 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.

8.05

19 votes

Directors: Noam Pitlik

Writers: Frank Dungan, Jeff Stein, Tony Sheehan

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#6 - The Harris Incident

Season 5 - Episode 10 - Aired Nov 30, 1978

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

8.04

55 votes

Directors: Noam Pitlik

Writers: Reinhold Weege, Shelley Zellman, Wally Dalton

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#7 - The Slave

Season 6 - Episode 5 - Aired Oct 18, 1979

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

8.00

21 votes

Directors: Noam Pitlik

Writers: Frank Dungan, Jeff Stein

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#8 - Field Associate

Season 7 - Episode 8 - Aired Jan 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.

8.00

20 votes

Directors: Noam Pitlik

Writers: Jordan Moffet

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#9 - Happy New Year

Season 2 - Episode 15 - Aired Jan 8, 1976

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

7.96

84 votes

Directors: Bruce Bilson

Writers: Arne Sultan, Chris Hayward, Danny Arnold

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#10 - The Kid

Season 2 - Episode 21 - Aired Mar 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.

7.96

76 votes

Directors: Stan Lathan

Writers: Chris Hayward, Danny Arnold, Tony Sheehan

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#11 - Dorsey

Season 7 - Episode 4 - Aired Nov 27, 1980

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

7.95

20 votes

Directors: Noam Pitlik

Writers: Tony Sheehan

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#12 - You Dirty Rat

Season 2 - Episode 9 - Aired Nov 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.

7.91

85 votes

Directors: Arne Sultan, Noam Pitlik

Writers: Arne Sultan, Chris Hayward, Danny Arnold

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#13 - Fear of Flying

Season 2 - Episode 17 - Aired Jan 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.

7.88

85 votes

Directors: Lee Bernhardi

Writers: Rheinhold Weege

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#14 - Grand Hotel

Season 2 - Episode 7 - Aired Oct 23, 1975

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

7.87

85 votes

Directors: Chris Hayward, Danny Arnold, Noam Pitlik

Writers: Arne Sultan, Chris Hayward, Danny Arnold

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#15 - Lady and the Bomb

Season 7 - Episode 18 - Aired Apr 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?

7.81

21 votes

Directors: Noam Pitlik

Writers: Lee H. Grant

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#16 - Chinatown (1)

Season 8 - Episode 11 - Aired Feb 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.

7.78

18 votes

Directors: Danny Arnold

Writers: Frank Dungan, Jeff Stein

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#17 - Hash

Season 3 - Episode 11 - Aired Dec 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.

7.76

68 votes

Directors: Noam Pitlik

Writers: Tom Reeder

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#18 - Goodbye, Mr. Fish (1)

Season 4 - Episode 1 - Aired Sep 15, 1977

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

7.72

47 votes

Directors: Danny Arnold

Writers: Danny Arnold, Reinhold Weege

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#19 - Vanished (1)

Season 6 - Episode 13 - Aired Jan 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.

7.70

50 votes

Directors: Noam Pitlik

Writers: Frank Dungan, Jeff Stein, Tony Sheehan

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#20 - The Experience

Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired Jan 30, 1975

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

7.68

94 votes

Directors: Danny Arnold

Writers: Steve Gordon

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#21 - Massage Parlor

Season 2 - Episode 19 - Aired Feb 19, 1976

Wentworth busts a dime-store cowboy in a massage parlor, and the detectives bust an octogenarian mugger.

7.68

77 votes

Directors: Dennis Steinmetz

Writers: Tony Sheehan

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#22 - The Judge

Season 6 - Episode 9 - Aired Dec 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.

7.66

50 votes

Directors: Noam Pitlik

Writers: Frank Dungan, Jeff Stein, Tony Sheehan

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#23 - The Psychiatrist

Season 2 - Episode 20 - Aired Feb 26, 1976

A department psychiatrist advises the department to confiscate Wojo's gun

7.66

76 votes

Directors: Noam Pitlik

Writers: Chris Hayward, Danny Arnold, Tony Sheehan

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#24 - The Search

Season 5 - Episode 3 - Aired Sep 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.

7.64

55 votes

Directors: Noam Pitlik, Tony Sheehan

Writers: Bob Colleary, Tony Sheehan

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#25 - Fire '77

Season 3 - Episode 15 - Aired Jan 27, 1977

The 12th may go up in smoke, to the delight of a suicidal couple.

7.63

19 votes

Directors: Bruce Bilson

Writers: Tony Sheehan

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