The Deep Six: How I Can Be Summed By Characters From “Barney Miller”
Up until now, the only series to have an installment be part of a blog-a-thon has been Sports Analogies Hidden In Classic Movies. That changes today because not only is change a good thing, this isn’t about a movie. Today, as part of something called the The “Cops” Blog-A-Thon, which is being hosted by Dubsism to commemorate National Police Week, this installment of The Deep Six centers on the classic American television series “Barney Miller.”
But another thing different about this blog-a-thon contribution is this isn’t just about some of our favorite fictional flat-foots. More often than not, articles of this type are about the writer’s impressions of a particular topic. But sticking with the “change” theme, this is an exercise in examining six characters from this classic cop show classic and what they have in common with a certain demonstrably eccentric blogger.
Cop shows are perfect for just such an examination as they tend to have tremendous ensemble casts, and it takes a cast of several to create the smörgåsbord of personality traits needed to show just how incredibly unbalanced I really am.
Fictional Cop #1: Captain Barney Miller (played by Hal Linden)
The Shared Personality Traits: As the captain of the 12th Precinct, Miller is the essential reasoned leader capable of devising solutions by thinking creatively and using his odd, albeit bone-dry sense of humor in order to not completely lose his mind amongst the inanity and chaos that defines his job. Occasionally, his sense of humor lands him in disfavor with his superiors.
Fictional Cop #2: Sergeant Arthur Dietrich (played by Steve Landesberg)
The Shared Personality Traits: Here’s another guy whose acerbic wit is occasionally misunderstood for something which it isn’t. His personality is mismatched with his profession, but despite that, Dietrich has a seemingly endless supply of knowledge on a wide array of subjects, which allows him to converse with just about anybody, even if he is sometimes seen as overly intellectual.
Fictional Cop #3: Sergeant Nick Yemana (played by Jack Soo)
The Shared Personality Traits: Yemana is at the same time existentially philosophical, while also being a degenerate gambler. This gives him a somewhat nihilistic world view which is still weirdly optimistic. This view is in manifested in his sardonic wit. He is also noted for making coffee so strong it borders on the undrinkable.
Fictional Cop #4: Detective 3rd Grade Ron Harris (played by Ron Glass)
The Shared Personality Traits: Harris is an aspiring writer who has an appreciation for the finer things in life and seriously overspends on his wardrobe. It’s clear he identifies more as a writer than he does as a cop. His background and his actions suggest he does not subscribe to any particular political ideology, but is informed and opinionated nevertheless.
The Fictional Cop #5: Detective 3rd Grade Stan Wojciehowicz (played by Max Gail)
The Shared Personality Traits: Like Yemana, “Wojo” is a study in complex contradictions. At one end, he’s a is a broad- shouldered, “Gung Ho” former U.S. Marine with an over-developed sense of the way things should be. But at the other, he has a decided humanitarian streak which often propels him into the role of the squad’s conscience. He’s also likely to be found spending his evenings with a cold beer and a sporting event.
The Fictional Cop #6: Deputy Inspector Frank Luger (played by James Gregory)
The Shared Personality Traits: Cruising into his autumn years, Lugar is in many ways the prototypical “crabby old man.” As such, he is prone to long-winded rants about how his “old-school” and politically incorrect view of police work and the world in general is leaving him increasingly out-of-touch. Despite that, he remains defiantly unapologetic.
Now get off my lawn.
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I make better coffee than Yemana, but otherwise I most identify with him.
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In my youth I was an energetic Wentworth type. Recently, I have come to the stark realization that I am turning into Fish!
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I’m “Wojo” in the sense of the Marine thing and then I married a “Janice” (Wentworth’s first name)
But I think the people who “real world” know me would peg me as “Harris.”
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You are definitely a Harris, with a pinch of Luger. I however identify as a Wojo, I know I have an overdeveloped sense of the way things should be, not that they ever are that way, but… 😉
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