... after its premiere.
The first episode spent considerable time at the home of NYPD Captain Barney Miller. You see his wife and two kids, and you learn that his wife would be happier living almost anywhere else, including Montana. They live in a cramped apartment and, as they make breakfast, there are radio reports that mirror the ludicrous nature of life in New York, and this seems all very reminiscent of the previous year's "Prisoner of Second Avenue."
Then the scene changes to the detective squad room where Miller works. This is six years before Hill Street Blues, so the detained are seldom that dangerous, although there is a dangerous one here in the premiere episode, and he gets Fish's gun away from him when Fish is careless with it and threatens the detectives. Still, this show is a comedy, so you know it will turn out OK.
The show concentrates more on the squad room after this initial episode since the quirky detectives are far more entertaining that Miller's TV family could ever be with a greater opportunity for a variety of situations and "guest perps". Plus, there was a name for a 70s comedy focusing on family life in New York and that name was All In the Family.
The first episode spent considerable time at the home of NYPD Captain Barney Miller. You see his wife and two kids, and you learn that his wife would be happier living almost anywhere else, including Montana. They live in a cramped apartment and, as they make breakfast, there are radio reports that mirror the ludicrous nature of life in New York, and this seems all very reminiscent of the previous year's "Prisoner of Second Avenue."
Then the scene changes to the detective squad room where Miller works. This is six years before Hill Street Blues, so the detained are seldom that dangerous, although there is a dangerous one here in the premiere episode, and he gets Fish's gun away from him when Fish is careless with it and threatens the detectives. Still, this show is a comedy, so you know it will turn out OK.
The show concentrates more on the squad room after this initial episode since the quirky detectives are far more entertaining that Miller's TV family could ever be with a greater opportunity for a variety of situations and "guest perps". Plus, there was a name for a 70s comedy focusing on family life in New York and that name was All In the Family.