Barney Miller. Season 2, Episode 11. "Rain" Will the roof cave in?
I'm not sure what to make of this episode. It takes place over the course of a very rainy night at the precinct, where all the men (in turn) grow depressed and there's some danger of roof caving in on top of them.
The men are glum. And it's a glum episode. Barney Miller is a great show for being grim and realistic in many ways, but it is always hysterically funny as well. Always. Except here. This is a decidedly unfunny episode.
There's only one criminal in the cell, as well. An un-funny comedian. And, to be clear, he really is dreadfully unfunny. His gags (and there are a lot of them) are always met with uncomfortable silence. From the characters on the screen, and the people in the studio audience. It's weird that a show would choose to create so much awkwardness. And do it so successfully.
There are some great scenes, however. Wojo's sad refection on his trips home stands out, as does the bit where Chano sits in Barney's office and ponders the futility of it all. Finally, there's a crazy moment where Barney loses his cool and runs on a temper tantrum. Wildly out of character for Barney, and decidedly odd to watch.
I'm not sure what to make of this episode. I have no doubt that it's a fully realised version of what was intended, but it just doesn't push the buttons that a BM episodes usually does. I mean, even Fish wasn't funny in this one. Most of the time Abe Vigoda's one-liners have me crying tears of laughter. This time? Not so much.
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Barney Miller. Season 2, Episode 11. "Rain"
