Episode 36: The Brother + The Slave + Strip Joint

Welcome to the Life and Times of Captain Barney Miller podcast. I'm your host. Mike White joined me, of course, is the rookie Chris Stashew. I prefer to be referred to as Brother. I'm not a priest, I'm a brother.

Yeah, that's how I learned from you guys. Right, I went to a Jesuit school. Oh yeah, we do those. What a surprise. Right On this episode, we're talking about three episodes from the sixth season of Barney Miller, one of the best sitcoms ever.

Yes, we're talking about The Brother, which aired over fourth, nineteen seventy nine, The Slave which opened, Sorry which Jesus which aired October eighteenth, nineteen seventy nine, and Strip Joint, which aired November first, nineteen seventy nine. Imagine that an episode about a strip club that never happens a right, especially not on this show. Yeah, we even got some familiar faces on that episode two, but we'll definitely get into that first. Up, we're talking about the Brother, which does not refer to Harris. It refers to the one and only Brother, Tom Kelvin played by John Christy Ewing.

He is a Jesuit. Well, now he's not a Jesuit. He's some sort of a brother and he's in New York. They had to bunk down there on their way to Canada. Is it or Vermont something like that, Yeah, something like that.

They're going off and one of his parishioners has left, Joseph Hutton played by Gary is it. I'm hof I'm guessing. Who's a very familiar face. I think he might be the most familiar face in this episode for me. Yeah, and who can blame him?

I love how the uh, the brother just keeps saying we're not a cult, which is kind of what a person who's in a cult would say. Sounds like something a cult cult aficionado would say, Mike, go on, this isn't a cult hit. You're drinking blood, No way, that's it's common ris right. I find I find this episode interesting. I think the idea of this, you know, the brother and then the I guess, I guess it's another It's like a soon to be brother and he's like renouncing his worldly possessions and you know he's going to take a vow of celibacy and blah blah blah blah blah, and so of course it's the age old story of you know, comes to the city and wants some you know, wants some ass.

And that's and that's what the that's what the entire age plot is about, is a monk who wants ass and then Woejoho Wits essentially enables it, which I think is the funniest goddamn part of the entire episode because he's just like, well, wouldn't you have done that? Barney. He's like, no, no, no, I would not. But that underpins the entire episode. That's the thing I actually really like about this episode is there's this weird underpinning of this like butting of heads between Wojoe and Barney because he's like, you know, he's like, don't take He's like, let me do what I want to do, don't tell me what to do all the time, which is like very strange.

It just kind of comes out of nowhere. But it's this weird through line throughout the episode, and I mean it plays into the final joke, even this idea of like I wouldn't have done that, because it's like again he's like, well, Barney, you're always telling me what to do and kind of chastising me for doing things my way, which I think is just projecting on Wojoe's part, But I like that it is a interesting through line. It doesn't really work because Barney really isn't ever that character and never really has been in the history of this show. But Wojoe It's being a hothead is not surprising. No, no, not at all.

Yeah, I think that it kind of comes out of left field hotly, but yeah, it works for me. Yeah, it's interesting that the brother wants to have his own little rum springer and Wojo is right there for him. And I mean, I'm surprised Wojo doesn't call the prostitute back and say, oh he's free now, it's okay, but he does have her number, I think. Yeah. I think the other thing that's interesting is this kind of mirrors in a lot of ways the setup of that Jack Suit episode, the one where he almost just left.

They have that like thing where it's like, all of a sudden, somebody is bristling at the way Barney does things, and it's like why since Barney's sally perplexed. Yeah, he's like, well, what the fuck is your problem? It's strange to me, to say the least. The setup of this episode is strange because it's been like you, you can force conflict in this show, but it does feel forced. It genuinely, this episode felt very forced.

Well, it was interesting too. That's the A plot and the B plot is fucking hilarious. It's the better part of the episode in every imaginable sense. And it goes through the entire thing too. Like luckily, like back when we had fish dressing and drag and just every single member of the Old One too would have to go and drag at some point, but we had yet to see Landisburg do it.

We had yet to see dieterch and address, and he was more excited about it than he might have been otherwise. It was wonderful seeing him talk about the chiffon and really try to pick out the right rap for his dress. Oh it was. It was chef's kiss beautiful. And his interactions with run Glass are great too, especially when he's like, what you know, He's like, what do you think He's like, oh yeah, It's like and I don't get it because Steve Landisburg doesn't look terrible in Address.

I mean it's a very handsome woman that way, but like, there are plenty of afab females who are in the same sense, like a handsome woman is a term that has existed long before Steve Landisburg put on Address. So it was like Ron Glass looked less believable in Address and it's and it's like, it's weird to me because of all of the people who have been in Address, Steve Landisberg is the one that looks the best, frankly, and they but they spend so much time ragging on it. I was like, what are you guys seeing that I'm not? Is it the guy's Adams Apple And that's the best thing. Yeah, Like Harris thinks that he's really gonna be ribbon Dtrick and Dtrick is going to be all, you know, demurre about stuff, and instead Dtrick is just like, oh, yeah, you like things and you like the shoes, and that is That is the Other thing I really appreciate is that Dtrick in in every sense of the word, leans into it, which obviously, I mean, I don't think there is any universe where this show exists that he isn't always leaning into things.

He's always leaning into things as a character. That's like kind of part of the charm is that he just kind of pops into frame and then pops out of frame, but it's always too like there's always like a point behind it, and this one, like you, he's more at the center in this episode than he has been a lot of the time. He's normally a bit player, but a big bit player, like the third highest bit player is what it feels like sometimes. And the c story that we have going on here, it's the return of Luger. Finally.

It's about time. Man. I was missing Luger now and he's pretty upset. It goes Old Brownie died. Oh you look spiffy, Inspector.

I was yef gen Old Brownie. Oh my god, this guy's life is depressing like Jesus Christ, and that he's going through the guys that we're on the original squad with him and he's the only one left now, Barn. I mean, look, I love James Gregory, you know, I think at this point obviously we've come a long way since the first season of the show, but he is always such a welcome presence and his the comedic stylings of James Gregory and what they expect from him work so well in the context of everything else that's being expected because he's kind of that chaotic presence within the precinct. There are times where I wonder if he's just ad libbing everything, just because Helennon sometimes gets this look on his face like, what the hell are you saying?

Yes, I noticed that too, Oh one, I'm I think there's probably some of that is that, Like it kind of feels like there's no way around it. I mean again, like you know, Danny Arnold is who Danny Arnold was, and there was always a very tight ship being run. But I believe at this time Danny Arnold wasn't in charge anymore. I believe we're in the Rheinhold Weiji era where he's kind of taken a step back due to his health. So I you know, I will say, I think for me, this is something I noticed and you had mentioned it last time, and I'm gonna come back to it this time.

I really don't like the intro for this show now. No, it's a trocious Everybody looks really strange, Like I didn't really notice it last time, but I like focused on it this time because you had said it last time. Oh my god, it's every single one of the kind of action freeze frame. The freeze frame shots that they use are just like the most banal, pedantic bullshit, Like I just don't I don't get what they were going for given how like you know, Barney walking into the precincton that is seared in my memory and maybe it's a little bit of nostalgia for that. But at the same time, I also just like the thing with Ron Carey is so bizarre.

I don't understand what's going on at all. It's and the Landisburg one is the only one that makes sense only because they've already done it. So it's just like I've already seen this once. Everyone else is just like standing at like a filing cabinet and looking bizarre. And you had mentioned it last time, and I really like it was like, oh, you know, when you have something pointed out to you can't ignore it anymore.

It was like that, And I find myself watching it every time. I don't even skip it because I like want to just like see what I want to see every time. Like maybe it's just me, like I would never skip I don't skip the end credits either. I watch it all the way through. Every single time I watched the openings, I watch the closings.

If I had commercials, i'd watch the commercials. Well, I would watch the commercials for sure, which is a super fucked up thing, given that we've spent so much time as entertainment watchers asking for them to remove them. But you know, a last like a commercial from seventy two or eighty one or whenever, the entire run of this show. I would I kind of would like that now, like to have these shows presented with a little bit of context, like outside context. I think that could be interesting.

I mean, some people wouldn't vibe with it, but I mean there are people who post YouTube videos that are hours long of just ads, just like every single fucking ad known to man. Well, I sent you did you get that clip that I sent that was like MTV ads from I think it was eighty four or something, And there's a Landisburg commercial in there where he's on the phone to the time life operator and talking to us the audience about this great offer that's going on as he's like on hold with the operators, just like oh yeah, just a minute, and it's I did I did see that? I mean again, like Steve Landisburg is just I don't know. I mean again, we say it every time. I feel like, at this point, but he is absolutely at this point my favorite part of the show.

And everything that he does is funny, and everything that he does seems like it is another show. But I think him having this weirdo personality that at a lot of times kind of butts heads with everybody was a smart decision because it's like Fish was, right, Phish kind of butted heads with everybody, But Landisburg is way more lovable than Fish ever was intentionally. But oh yeah, at least Landisburg isn't ripping on his wife, who isn't even present to defend herself. Right, that's fair. And I don't know if Fish would wear a blue eyeshadow like Steve Landisburg.

Landisburg really went for them fun Yeah, that shot where he's like standing in the doorway of Barney's office, He's like, is it the glasses? And he takes his glasses off. It's like, m it wasn't the glasses. It's not the glasses, but the sincerity of Landisburg's character. Like I don't know, Dietrich, I always feel like, yes, he's annoying, Yes he can be kind of pedantic per Barney, but he's a lovable character and I think he obviously means well, and you know he's an alien.

So yeah. Well, what is really a shame, though, is that since he wasn't drag, I now am grooming little kids and diddling them. So you gotta really be careful. You can't see people in drag, folks. You know, they might read a story to you or try to just live and breathe our air.

Just can't have it. I don't know if you know this, but the easiest way to convince someone that you don't diddle kids is to sing a song about how you don't diddle kids. Is that true? I mean, if you sing a song about how you don't diddle kids, I'm pretty sure you diddle kid. How many songs that Michael Jackson record about diddling kids or not diddling kids?

Did he ever say he didn't diddle kids. That's just foolish, that's foolish. Yeah, doff all over the wall. God, I mean, hey, that's a drag is a slippery slope, folks. Yeah, one day you're watching RuPaul's drag race.

The next day you're making YouTube videos and sending your underwear to children. I mean, that is the slippery slope that they talk about here. I do love that we saw a Drag episode given the current climate of everything surrounding Drag, and they don't like there's no trigger warning, there's no warning of anything. It's presented very matter of factly. Yeah.

I guess my question to you is because I know that this did happen, but like, doesn't this idea of putting male officers in drag and sending them out into the city just seem like a bad idea though, like oh, like horrible okay, Like, because I know that they keep like trotting it out as a joke, and I'm sure at some point and if we if we don't, because he's mentioned it, I would like to see Barney and Drag obviously, Like that's the moment that we're never going to get, because I think it's already. I mean, he mentions as much to Landisburg. He's like, WHOA, when I was in Drag, we never got to see this. This feels like a shame. It's weird that they keep trotting this out though, like because it feels like something that like really bad idea.

Like like really dangerous idea, right right. When they sent Wentworth out to be the undercover person, that made sense, right, But to send out Fish or Chano or any of these guys just yeah, I don't get it unless they're sending them specifically to like gay areas and they want to sting the gay guys. But that's not how Barney rolls. Like I think they're really looking for sex perverts in the park type of thing and waiting for guys to come up and try to hit on them. And I'm just like, wow, why this They're not fooling anybody?

Yeah, well yeah, and that's and for me, that is the big takeaway. It's like, I don't this isn't nople. It's never been believable. It always feels like it's for a joke, for a gag, which is perfectly fine. Oh, but like in reality, that is the worst of worst idea, just like a really unbelievably bad idea, right way.

And I'm trying to remember the last time somebody went and drag because it feels like quite a few seasons, like I don't think that any well, I think the last time that it was happening was when Barney was making Harris shaves mustache, right, and that was the beginning of last season. Yeah, okay, so it was all of last season after that beginning part that. Okay, So now we've got Landisburg, he's gone through it. I wonder if we'll see Ron carry and drag, which would probably be more believable since he's a little guy versus fucking tall Landisburg going out there, because I forget how tall he is until it comes in and stands in the doorway and you're just like, oh wow, yeah, he's he's much taller than Barney.

He's taller than a lot of people that are in the precinct. That woman has got a big dress on. When he walks in from the bathroom, it is kind of startling, yes, because yeah, he's a big dude, and that's a big dress, and that's a big wig. He has a big head. Steve Landisburg, Like it's just I don't know, like I said, When he takes his glasses off and they just like linger on him for a second, it's like, man, he's this guy's enjoying himself because like, oh my god, to get paid to do this for a living, Like oh, today, we're gonna have you dress up in drag and like and then everybody's just gonna get to make jokes for an entire episode.

Like yeah, okay, Like I feel like at this point it's like a right of passage on this show. Oh yeah, you know, like Steve Landisburg was on the show for a season and now he's kind of built ahead of steam and now in the second season, in the second season that he's really on the show as like a main player. They do they do the thing that they've done with a lot of other people, you know, Chano and a Va Gooda and everybody else got their kind of drag moments. So finally he is. And I wonder if, yeah, in season seven, if ron carry will because that would kind of that would track, I guess.

And we've never seen Luger right now, never seen him in drag, right, But that doesn't mean he's not doing it. That's true. I'm shipping Luger being gay really hard. I mean again, the show has given us enough clues that this, I mean, he broke off his engagement, Okay, Like Bonnie, I went down to this new plot in New York. They got rainbow Flag Jeuyway.

I fit right in. So let's move on to The Slave, which is a story about as it's a driver that gets into a car accident and then after they arrest the driver, they find out, oh, he's actually the personal slave of this diplomat. So we have a little bit of diplomatic community going on in this one, which I always appreciate. I thought about that when he was like he's got diplomatic community, Barney Barty just walks out shoots him in the head. There's your diplomatic community where it was something they're a fish tank.

Yeah, so it's kind of nice to see, you know, people of different color in this episode. That their Burmese was kind of interesting as well. And then Stanley Campbell shows up as Lance Parks, the kind of the government liaison to basically be like, hey, don't cause any trouble. This guy's a diplomat. And Campbell, I think he's been on the show before.

He's one of these great character actors. I didn't realize until I was looking him up the other day that he passed away in two thousand and eight because he was so ubiquitous that he just he's been in every TV show I've watched, it feels like he just is always there. And I always think of him as the character of Kazinski from Star Trek the Next Generation. That's what I remember him from. For whatever reason, I just always like when he walked in, I was like, that guy should be in a Starfleet uniform.

For whatever reason. I just don't know why, but like he I mean you know that that for me was my thing. But yeah, I mean, god, go look, yeah, look at his IMDb. It's like Jesus, Mother of God, like, oh yeah, like every TV show in the probably from like the early eighties on really like just like and things like I've never heard of things that lasted for one season TV movies and stuff. Yeah, like a what a career.

This is actually his first time Barney. He'll come back in the thirteenth episode of the eighth season and otherwise that's it. Just two appearances, which is odd because, as we've mentioned many a time, this is a character actor's heaven to be on Bernie Miller because you just keep coming back. Yeah, that's true, but Manu Tupu and Sumant do not come back. But I will say to your point, the fact that we have more actors of color in the show is welcome because there have been plenty of female and male actors, but not a whole lot of like actors of color other than obviously Ron Glass.

Yeah, the only one for the most part. It feels like so in Manutupu, I was looking at his filmography. That guy had been in a whole bunch of stuff for a lot of years. I mean only only quote unquote thirty two credits, but he had a long career that stretched back quite a way, so that was pretty pretty interesting looking at his filmography. He's got a great look to him too.

I mean, I clearly if you go and look at his Wikipedia or IMDb, you can see the kind of characters that he was playing at one point in his career, being cast as you know, well he's brown skinned folks, so play or an Indian. Yeah, but I love that he's like a diplomat here, and he has like a sense like an He has like an air of like pretentiousness about him. Walks in with that suit and that hair. You know, he looks like he actually looks a lot like it would remind me of his doctor Zeta Acosta from Fear and Loathing with that hair, with that hair, you know, like the kind of poofed out hair, and then the suit. I was expecting him to be wearing black gloves and then it would have completed the ensemble.

But he did look a little like doctor Gonzo for me. But I love the character that he plays. It's a very interesting character to have walk into the precinct for sure. Yeah, and just some of it feels like cultural differences. But at the heart of it that you know, this episode is called the Slave and that he basically has a dental servant who will never get out of servitude.

Obviously, that brings up a lot of interesting points, and especially to Harris, which makes a lot of sense. But everybody's pretty mad, especially Wojo, and Wojo's really trying to stick up for the guy. Wojo is on the war path in these two episodes big time, and I appreciate that he's not so much on the warpath in the next episode, but definitely the last episode and even more so this one, because him and Harris are getting angry together, which is not something that we've really seen a whole lot. Normally, they're kind of like budding heads about things. I mean, you know, I can.

I can think of the a lot of those opportunities that we've seen where the two of them are kind of at each other's throats about things, but here they're like together, which I appreciate that kind of twist of the storytelling. Yeah, no, that's really nice. I like they are like apes, they are stronger together, rightly exactly. And I do like the demure character of William Knew the chauffeur. I mean again, like there's a lot of jokes and comedy that they mind from the way his character reacts to things.

But I do like by the end of it, it feels like it kind of has a happy ending. I can't can't really tell though, Like yeah, because like at the end of the day, they did kind of free this guy from indentured servitude, but now he's just in the United States, right He's there without a passport, he doesn't have a job, and he's like, I'll be fine, I'll land on my feet. And it's like, you know, a year later and this man is homeless, like you know, it's just I just for me. It was like it was kind of like that episode where they go and rescue the guy from his apartment that hasn't come out, and then he just actually fucking dies. It's like, hey, I get that they're trying to do good, but they might be doing more harm than good.

I don't think that's that here, but there is that like twinge of melancholy where he's like, I don't really have anything, but I'm going to go out into the big city and make my way. And it's like, okay, okay. It's kind of a weird ending, is Yeah, it was. It's an interesting episode. We've got I believe Luga returns in this one still talking about Brownie.

Yeah, which is nice that we've got the carryover from one episode to the next. Yeah, it's it's weird because they didn't really mention them before what this season or was it last season. This is like a thing that Luga has been going on and on about recently, but he hadn't really mentioned them, Like it's not like you mentioned them the first time we saw him, and it's like you you meet Brownie and everything, and they're coming in and out of the precincts, like these are dudes that are upstate New York or something is what. It seems like. They're like, you know, doing something somewhere after having been on the force.

You know, they're up on the farm where the old cops go to die, is what it sounds like, new Rochelle. Yeah, Yeah. I love James Gregory and this show. I really do. I he's he even when he's kind of like in the way.

Which is this the episode where he's in the way or is the next episode where he's in the way? Oh? Boy? And he keeps like trying to I think it's this one because at the end he comes in, he's like, are all them Burmese fellas out of here? That's right?

Yeah, But he's like in the way in this episode, and he's you know, like at one point he's in Barney's office and then they go in there, him and Campbell do and he's like, hey, I need you to leave, and he's like, I'll go sit downstairs in the men's bathroom. There's a bench down there. And I love that because like he keeps like coming in from you know, off stage left or right and then like looking around him being like, well, there's nothing for me to do, and then just wanders back off. And that's a great way to use that character because in a lot of ways like when he was being used early on, it was like he was getting in the way of things, Like now it's just comes in, says some stupid or weird things and then just leaves, you know, with his with his fedora.

It's a slick dresser, I'll tell you that much. Oh yeah, you know who I really liked in this one, and she doesn't have nearly enough screen time as Peg Shirley as the woman that William knew hit with the car, and I love especially when she stays to get into a bidding war to help him get out of his servitude. She can only go up to three thousand out of fourteen thousand dollars, but yeah, at least she's making an effort. And then I liked the little bit at the end where Barney's like, well, you did bid on him. Do you want to take him home with you?

And she's like, no, I have a Filipino right. It's like, oh, okay, so you were bidding on him, but you're doing the exact same thing, got it right, exactly. I do love the sly sense of humor that the show tends to have about those kind of things, and I you know that the title of the episode being the slave. I get it. I feel like it's I wanted there to be more of the not serious stuff, but you know what I mean, kind of the musings, and I feel like it was a lot of joke fodder this time around, which is okay, but yeah, what a what a strange this is a strange episode.

I feel like of all the of all the cast of people that have wandered into the precinct, a ambassador and his quote indentured servant unquote is a is a pretty big leap from like just you know, some sex workers that they keep having, you know, we're like gay men that they keep having to deal with being harassed. That's like a that's a much more interesting setup, and I think they do it pretty well. Actually, though I haven't seen any gay people other than the very first episode with the gay cop. I haven't seen many gay people, Like I guess Marty and his boyfriend are out in California. Yeah, and the what's the officer's name, the one that's the gay one, thank you.

I'm disappointed that we haven't seen him again. Like, yeah, I get it. I mean, I mean I think we when we did that episode, I think we looked at it was like he doesn't show up again until the next season or something like that. It's it's willfully underrepresented. But you know, I was thinking about this when we were talking in the last segment about like, oh, you know, Dietrich dresses up in drag and then you mentioned Wentworth that that was the only female character of any consequence on this show, and it's it is weird to me that the show has has never added a female character to the precinct.

Well, they had that one the quote unquote Latina, yeah, and then she just disappeared. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's it's of all the things that are underrepresented in the show, a female cop feels like, now that the show is like against seventy nine eighty transitioning into the eighties, it feels like that would have been a smart addition, like a permanent female cop added into the precinct, or like you know, someone comes in and replaces someone or they're budding heads with them as an you know, an upper up or something. It's just that, you know, again, like that of all things, feels like the lack of representation in the show that really is needed is a is a little bit of a female voice other than the female characters being the ones that wander into the precinct as damsels in distress for the most part.

Or speaking of the next episode, Strip Club as strippers, right, of course, I should say yes. And here we have some returning character while returning actors, I should say so Rosanna de Soto. We've seen her three times, including she was a prostitute in that what was the name of that episode where it was out of the precinct. It took place. Oh yeah, an apartment building where they were having a siege, the squatting one, right, yes, exactly.

Yeah, so there's that one. Then Diana Canova is on here, oh, the lovely Diana Canova. Not to be a leech, but you know, we talked a little bit about soap off the air and she was just so amazing and soap. And then she was also in the first Nuty musical, which is a big favorite of mine, and she was also on the show before. And here she is back as another stripper, but this one she's a stripper with a brain of gold because she's going back for was it her doctorate?

I think yeah, that's right, yeah, or master's at least she's definitely got it going on here and well in many ways. And then I want to say, even the guy who makes the complaint about the strip joints and on the show before. Yeah, and that voice, that voice he always plays like the same kind of character, right, like, oh I am a very angry old Eastern European man, like yep you Stephen Medderling was was one of the characters that he played, mister Medderling. Yeah, yeah, yep, yeah, Walter jana Witz and yeah, he was in a ton of stuff. And then James Cromwell, he's also been on this show.

And here he is back as a government agent. Who what is it there? Somehow the government is it's funding the strip club. No, it's it's more con it's so convoluted. It it's like it's it's also convoluted.

It's almost idiot proof. So they they were they found out that somebody was embezzling money from the Department of Energy, and the person who was embezzling money bought a strip joint. And because they took possession of all that guy's possessions, the US government or or athlete, the Department of Energy is now in charge of a strip joint, which is it is so convoluted, it's idiot proof. It's the premise is hilarious. They don't do enough with it.

But James Cromwell, he's fucking hilarious in its episode. He plays that dickhead government like officials so well, but he's also so harried. He's like, do you understand yesterday I spend time ordering bear nuts and it's just like, oh my god, jokes on the napkins. Yeah, And it's so funny though, Like it's he plays the character he needs to play perfectly, and it's James Cromwell for fuck's sake, Like he's a he's a he's just one of the great character actors, imber, one of the great actors period. But like in terms of like being a character actor, he's he's up there obviously.

Oh yeah, yeah, he's fantastic. That's really the main part of the story. But what I really love is Todd Susman and here as what's this character named Edward yeekl And he thinks that he's he's basically trying to eat Kenna Tikars lunch here Tiger's lunch. Yeah, he's coming in as a crazy person who says, I have I might spontaneously combust. Bojoe catches him taking a dip in a pond and or in a sorry not a pond, in a fountain.

And it's super cold in here. Thank you, says the energy guy, if we're doing your part, which I really liked. And then there's that whole thing of Barney having the space heater in his Yeah, kind of ball me in here, he ron carry that line cracked me. The kind of ball me in here or Wojo going you being cold isn't gonna make us war, which I also just bound to be. Like.

It was like I couldn't tell if it's meant to be passive aggressive, but it felt kind of passive. It felt very basimgress. So yeah, Sussman comes in here and he's just like, oh I was burning up. Oh the fire, and he starts doing the whole thing of like yell and they put him in the cage, burning up. And then I love how the trash can emulates, and you know it's like, oh see he's got the power.

Whoa, he's a fire starter. I wonder if he smacks his bitch up too, Yeah, right, I was, I will say, though it seems like they don't have the definition of spontaneous combustion down right, because spontaneous combustion has to do with you exploding. And he he is what you're talking about. He is what Yeah, he's what Morgan Shepherd's son is in uh in the X Files. I always I always think of that X Files episode where he's like, oh, hey you that fucking British fire Starter episode is such a such a treat frankly, but I mean again, like, that's what this is.

It's not spontaneous combustion because if it were spontaneous combustion, he would explode, like that's what That's what that means. Just a little spot on his drum kit, some feet some feet left with shoes on, smoking boots. Yeah, I will say though. It goes back to the Paranoids with Proof thing, right, the Danny armored Paranoids with Proof because they have this whole scene. I enjoyed that they actually have this scene where they're like, well, how the fuck did that lad on fire?

Did you? Did you? Did you throw your ashes in there? Were you standing over there? And I love because they haven't really done that in any of these other paranormal supernatural episodes that Kenneth Tiger thing.

They just let him go ape shit in the cell and they're just like, I guess, was there the thing where it's like, oh, I can feel the suckubiss she's here. But again, there was never There was never anything like this where something actually happens and there's no explanation. There isn't other than this guy can actually make this happen, which I mean, again, judging by the way Barney Miller has done things in the past, that's where I come down on what's going on. Is this where you get your news? Right?

Is this the forefront of info Wars for you? Yeah? This is Yeah. So this is another great episode. I think for me, these three have been very solid.

I mean, they may not be the best things in the world, but they're definitely not the worst. I think they're just three really solid episodes. Yeah. Yeah, And even though you know, this episode kind of has a weird contrived thing about the government owning a strip club, and the strip club story doesn't really end up going anywhere, and it almost like serves to exist to further the Todd Sussman plot because the strippers end up interacting with him and kind of being like oh, Rosanna Desta de Soto's like, I don't want to suck that dick, is what she's doing. Like if you get out of here and you're looking to see what I do is what she says, like, here's my card and I love I love that, just like the open sexuality of the characters.

But boy, Landisburg comes off like a creep in this episode. O boy, Like it's it's not charming at all. It's like it's a little much. And I I can't tell if if we're supposed to laugh or not, but I wasn't necessarily laughing. I was just like, man, like, you're kind of a kind of pushing it, just a just a tad Yeah, yeah, they are right, Yeah, yeah, yeah, there's a fine line there.

And I don't know if it's just the year that this is coming out that it's okay to be that aggressive, or just that it's kind of tone deaf. Yeah, it's he's very aggressive. I mean he's not like, hey, you want to bang or anything, but it's more just like, you know, well at my apartment. You know, my apartment is close. And she's like I'm okay, He's like, my apartment is close.

It's like, dude, to get the fucking hint the first time. Yeah, yeah, but hey it's thing a canova. You know, I wouldn't, right, I mean, hey, look by the end of it. I'm just going to point out that by the end of it, I guess he wore her down enough that she's like yeah, which again, like, you know, optics of that aren't great. But the kind of the final joke of the episode has it serves that, you know, that whole storyline that allows him to have the you know and you think you're hot.

Landisburg's delivery is fantastic, but you have to have all that kind of creepiness to get to that point, which is unfortunate, but yeah, it is I would say, probably just tone deaf. Probably like the aggressiveness, the aggressive sexuality of Steve Landisburg sometimes because this isn't the first time he's done it, mind you. No, well, I mean he's not fucking a nun or anything, but what he was trying to he has yeah, oh yeah, yeah, yeah, fair fair Yeah. God? Is this that is this the segment or is this the episode with Ron Carey talking about the fluctuation in manpower?

Yes? Yes, When it comes in, He's given him their mail and everything, and he's just like lays down the Levett mail on the Levett desk and he's just like that might be two episodes ago, but it's definitely in this run. Yeah he's ron Kerry has grown on me for sure. Oh yeah, definitely. I still don't like his intro, but otherwise, yeah, he's been great and I kind of appreciate where he's coming from now where it's just like, hey, you let me up here.

Sometimes when I go downstairs, just you know, big fish in a small pond, right, I'm just another peon with a blue shirt when I'm down there. Yeah, yeah, Like I you know, I'm actually glad that it's less about how short he is and more about just like his like interior inferiority complex, less his exterior inferiority complex. Like I like that that he's just very frustrated that he can't just be where where he wants to be. And I do think that, like I think Levitt, I think deserves to be in the precinct. Frankly, like it is kind of weird that he comes up all the time, because you would think that there's got to be somebody down there who's like, fuck is Levitt?

Yeah? Where is he? Is? He up there? He's up there again?

Huh. I'd kind of like to meet his boss, because Barney's boss when he's in the you know, on the third floor or whatever whatever floor it is, but not downstairs or something he's reporting to, right, That's my point, Like, I would like to see that person because there's no way that that person is not, Like, where is Levitt? Right now? We need Levitt? And he's just fucking off chortling with his buddies in the in the twelfth precinct.

So yeah, no, I I Ron Carey has has grown a lot. He didn't. He had a lot further of a way to go than anybody else in the show has too, so, and I think certain writers know how to write him better too. You know, the three writers who wrote this episode, they haven't done a lot right, Like they're they're not They're not as prolific as some of the other writers. But I liked this version of Levitt quite a bit.

In this particular episode, he seemed a lot more kind of dialed into what was going on and also more self aware of his kind of position within what was going on. Yeah, this has been an interesting season so far. I'm seeing some I mean, there are familiar names that we've seen before, but I'm seeing somewhere. I'm just like, I'm unfamiliar or they haven't written that much before. So right, Yeah, because I think the people who wrote this episode wrote the last episode on the next episode when we talk about the bird, that's got a story by one, two, three, four people are credited for story and two people for teleplay.

That's wild. Yeah, it's a lot of Frank Dungan and Jeff Stein. And what's crazy is Wally Dalton and Shelley's Elmt. I like when they write for this show quite a bit. They're really the two of them together are really I don't know something about the two of them together whatever the kind of they're bringing to the series.

Because they've worked on Open House, Middle Age Toys, the Harris Incident, the Prisoner, and the Accusation, and then this season is The Brother, The Brother, and that's it. And I actually all of those episodes in season five, I think those are pretty good episodes, and you know, I'm kind of disappointed that they only wrote one this season because yeah, the Brother is I don't think The Brother is the best of these three, but I think you put it best, like, these three are pretty solid. This is a good This show is in its sixth season and it's still kicking out great episodes. Yeah, and that's kind of what I'm I'm curious about, like, is have we hit a plateau? Like, because I'm always afraid that it's going to go downhill.

I don't think it's going to get better than this, which would be amazing if because I'm already having great time. Same, but I'm if we're just like add a plateau and if it goes down, when's are going to go down? I mean, hopefully they don't add like a cute kid to this. Hey, they already tried. It was called fish.

Oh boy, John Cassi just wanders into the prison. Oh boy. You know I was wondering that too, because I feel like, you know, we're two seasons from the end. So theoretically, if you were playing along at home season four and five, I should have been where it peaked right like the halfway point, you know, the two halfway the fee plateau, and then this should have been the downward slide. I haven't seen a drop in quality yet no knock on Wood.

But kind of wonder if it's the change in personnel like head Fish and Chano and Nick all stuck around, would it be a different show than it is now? I think so. I think that Landisburg and Carrie bring a different energy to it well. And also, I mean again, I think it was in between season five and six where Danny Arnold stepped back as well, and so by having other people you know, Ryan Holdwigi and others come in and take over the reins, they you know, they they were trained by Danny Arnold the quote unquote, but they are still going to do their own thing and they're going to have their own voice, right, So yeah, I think to your point, it is definitely a casting thing, like they lucked out that people left, But also I think they've leaked out by having a nice amount of churn with the people that work like in the back of the show.

Because yeah, if Danny Arnold is training people to do the job and then they come in and are doing it as well or even better than he did, like double success for him. Really, So yeah, exactly. Yeah, I'm trying to think there have been other shows that are very similar where you get that kind of rotating cast and crew. I mean thinking about even the show that I watched fairly regularly, Death in Paradise. Of course, the thing is that the main detective switches out every couple of seasons.

But then really you get the background players switching out as well. It's like, oh, yeah, Dwayne's been gone for years now, and now you've got this guy instead, and this woman stepped out a while ago, and now it's this woman instead. So it kind of keeps it fresh, which I wouldn't normally think that I would like that. Yeah, And you know, I'm with you because for the most part, whenever I think of a show like you know, to use an example that comes to mind, the X Files. At the end of the fifth or sixth season, they've someone lost their mind and decided so I don't want to pay to David d Kovney anymore, so he left the show.

And who comes in but Robert Patrick. Fantastic actor. I'm sure you would agree, And people left that show like in droves because they're like, then no more Dacovney, no, no give a shit, And like that show actually has some fantastic episodes in those seasons with with Dog hit and yes, but you have to be willing to go on the journey with the show runners of the filmmakers or whoever's creating the content. And yeah, we could have been obstinate to the change that this show has been implementing, but I think it does it really well in an organic way. Like you know again mention the X Files, like that felt really contrived when he leaves the show here, Yes Fish left the show, Yes Jack Sue passed away, but in none of it really felt contrived, Like even a bogo to leaving didn't feel as contrived as I thought it would feel.

Right, But yeah, no, like the churn of the cast as well. I do wonder if, like you know, Chana was still hear what the show would look like like, if they would have, if they would have kind of coalesced into something else, or if it would if it would be worth watching, you know. Yeah, So on the next episode, we're going to be talking about three episodes of Barney Miller, The Bird, The Desk, the Judge. Very simple story titles. Here came friends all of a sudden, yeah, the one with the Bird.

Well, and looking through this season, there are plenty of the some things, some things. So, yeah, the season of Barney Miller with all of the the titles. Yes, yeah, there's not enough there there right now. Now they're there, well until we come back and talk about those. Chris, what are you up to?

Just working on podcasting over at Weirdingwaymedia dot com, where you and I do plenty of monthly and weekly shows, more monthly together weekly separately. But the Culture Cast, Barney Miller, which you're already listening to, Night Gallery or Midnight Viewing, which is the Night Gallery podcast, Twilight Zone nineteen eighty five, which is Dreams for Sale. It's all still there and you can all find all of it at Weirdingweightmedia dot com. What about you, Mike Waite, We've covered a lot of stuff. The Shabby Detective is another one that we work on.

We're just about to record our next episode of that. And yeah, I do a show called The Projection Booth which is also available at Projection boothpodcast dot com. And yeah, just cranking out a town of specials lately. Had a lot of good interviews kind of fall into my lap, which is great. And yeah, I'm very excited to be doing that.

And even though I keep getting two star reviews this week. Hopefully that'll turn around. I figured, after you know, twelve years, people might start to like the show. Maybe I'm just not wearing them down, not negging them enough. Yeah, exactly, there you go.

I want to thank John Walker for our theme music, and I want to thank you, yes, you for listening. And if you do like the show, going over two iTunes wherever you get the show, leave a rating, leave a review. That'd be pretty keen of you. Thank you so much for doing that.