The BEST episodes of Barney Miller season 5

Every episode of Barney Miller season 5, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Barney Miller season 5!

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: 11/29/2024Network: ABC (US)Status: Ended
The Harris Incident
star
8.05
62 votes

#1 - 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
The Search
star
7.70
60 votes

#2 - 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
The Spy
star
7.58
53 votes

#3 - The Spy

Season 5 - Episode 15 - Aired 1/18/1979

A paranoid spy holds the precinct house at bay; the men bring in a disorderly mime.

Directors: Noam Pitlik
Writer: Tony Sheehan
Watch Now:Amazon
Voice Analyzer
star
7.58
59 votes

#4 - Voice Analyzer

Season 5 - Episode 14 - Aired 1/11/1979

Lieutenant Scanlon returns, this time attempting to ferret out corruption with a lie detector; Barney is suspicious of a furrier's robbery report.

Watch Now:Amazon
The Indian
star
7.54
57 votes

#5 - The Indian

Season 5 - Episode 13 - Aired 1/4/1979

A woman has her shoes stolen - from her feet; Wojo is forced to arrest an aging Indian who only wants to die in the park.

Watch Now:Amazon
Dog Days
star
7.52
61 votes

#6 - Dog Days

Season 5 - Episode 4 - Aired 9/28/1978

The German Shepherd that bit Wojo may be rabid; Barney and Liz prepare for their impending separation.

Directors: Noam Pitlik
Watch Now:Amazon
Jack Soo: A Retrospective
star
7.51
45 votes

#7 - Jack Soo: A Retrospective

Season 5 - Episode 24 - Aired 5/17/1979

The cast step out of character to offer a tribute to Jack Soo, who died during the show's fifth season.

Directors: Noam Pitlik
Writer: Various
Watch Now:Amazon
Identity
star
7.50
52 votes

#8 - Identity

Season 5 - Episode 21 - Aired 3/1/1979

Harris quickly regrets the fact that Dietrich has saved his life; the 12th is asked to assist a thief who has been granted entry into a witness-relocation program.

Directors: Noam Pitlik
Writer: Tom Reeder
Watch Now:Amazon
Toys
star
7.49
61 votes

#9 - Toys

Season 5 - Episode 12 - Aired 12/14/1978

Feuding toy makers create a disturbance; Barney faces his first holiday as a separated man; a claustrophobic prisoner has an understandable problem with the cage.

Watch Now:Amazon
Open House
star
7.48
58 votes

#10 - Open House

Season 5 - Episode 20 - Aired 2/15/1979

The 12th Precinct hosts an open house, attracting only vagrants; Barney's joy at moving back home is cut short by the hotel manager that refuses to refund him his upcoming month's rent; Wojo and Harris try to get a lead on an arsonist.

Directors: Noam Pitlik
Watch Now:Amazon
Computer Crime
star
7.46
48 votes

#11 - Computer Crime

Season 5 - Episode 22 - Aired 3/15/1979

A computer firm has difficulty retrieving embezzled funds; an educated young man claims to be under the influence of a voodoo curse.

Writer: Calvin Kelly
Watch Now:Amazon
The Baby Broker
star
7.46
59 votes

#12 - The Baby Broker

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

A German girl attempts to flee the country rather than surrender her baby to a broker's clients; Levitt turns to stimulants to aid in his self-imposed thirty-six hour shift.

Directors: Noam Pitlik
Writer: Tony Sheehan
Watch Now:Amazon
Kidnapping (1)
star
7.45
55 votes

#13 - Kidnapping (1)

Season 5 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/14/1978

A political activist abducts a department store magnate; Wojo arrests a prostitute and her Arkansan business manager.

Directors: Noam Pitlik
Watch Now:Amazon
Graveyard Shift
star
7.44
54 votes

#14 - Graveyard Shift

Season 5 - Episode 23 - Aired 5/10/1979

Barney and his crew face the late shift with a man who believes that he is being frequented by a succubus and an irate tourist.

Directors: Noam Pitlik
Writer: Tony Sheehan
Watch Now:Amazon
Loan Shark
star
7.43
56 votes

#15 - Loan Shark

Season 5 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/2/1978

Barney notes some uncharacteristic behavior from Yemana; a client can't get a tattoo artist to remove his work; Harris books a youthful loan shark

Writer: Tony Sheehan
The Prisoner
star
7.42
59 votes

#16 - The Prisoner

Season 5 - Episode 7 - Aired 10/19/1978

A released prisoner can't adjust to civilian life; the widow of a cat burglar elects to perpetuate the family business.

Directors: Noam Pitlik
Middle Age
star
7.42
57 votes

#17 - Middle Age

Season 5 - Episode 18 - Aired 2/1/1979

Barney feels the onrush of Father Time; Dietrich books an Olympic hopeful who practices his javelin toss in Central Park; a Hassidic Jew is the target of a diamond thief.

Kidnapping (2)
star
7.40
48 votes

#18 - Kidnapping (2)

Season 5 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/14/1978

Wojo delivers the ransom money for the department store owner, while the prostitute charms both Wojo and the victim's nebbish son.

Wojo's Girl (1)
star
7.39
54 votes

#19 - Wojo's Girl (1)

Season 5 - Episode 16 - Aired 1/25/1979

Wojo decides to move in with his girlfriend; Mr. Brauer tells his wife that he's leaving to become a mercenary. This was a pilot for a potential spin-off series, each week focusing on one of the cops' off-duty lives.

Directors: Noam Pitlik
The Counterfeiter
star
7.38
53 votes

#20 - The Counterfeiter

Season 5 - Episode 19 - Aired 2/8/1979

Harris milks a wily counterfeiter for his life story; a man takes exception to a plastic surgeon's work on his wife.

Directors: Max Gail
The Vandal
star
7.37
54 votes

#21 - The Vandal

Season 5 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/9/1978

Barney has the uneasy feeling that it may have been Levitt that vandalized the precinct squad room; a TV programming executive is assaulted in a coffee shop.

Directors: Noam Pitlik
The Radical
star
7.35
55 votes

#22 - The Radical

Season 5 - Episode 11 - Aired 12/7/1978

Luger faces off against a 60s radical, and Harris arrests a portly second story man.

Writer: Tony Sheehan
Wojo's Girl (2)
star
7.28
43 votes

#23 - Wojo's Girl (2)

Season 5 - Episode 17 - Aired 1/25/1979

Wojo struggles to co-habitate with his ex-prostitute girlfriend.

Accusation
star
7.26
61 votes

#24 - Accusation

Season 5 - Episode 6 - Aired 10/12/1978

An accusation of an indiscretion on the part of Dietrich leads to a visit from the gleeful Lieutenant Scanlon of Internal Affairs; Yemana books a rabbi who is running a gambling casino in his synagogue.

Directors: Max Gail