How the Cop Show 'Barney Miller' Made Gay TV History, 50 Years Ago

[Coventina]

A half-century ago, ABC’s “Barney Miller,” a sitcom about seen-it-all cops and kitchen-sink criminals at a precinct in Manhattan’s West Village, aired an episode that began like any other.

Detective Ron Harris (Ron Glass) got a call about a man threatening to jump off the Washington Arch. The payroll department thought Detective Phil Fish (Abe Vigoda) was dead. Capt. Barney Miller (Hal Linden) kept everybody in check.

Then a quippy gay couple named Marty and Darryl, played by the actors Jack DeLeon and Ray Stewart, swished in and made history as one of the first openly gay couples in mainstream American television.

Yet 50 years after it aired, “Discovery,” as the second-season episode was called, is largely forgotten for its important place in the record of queer representation on TV.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/04/arts/television/barney-miller-gay-couple.html?

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I grew up watching "Barney Miller" reruns in syndication.
I still love that show!!

[johnnyfins]

1. The theme song is one of the best jams EVER!!!

[Wiz Imp]

2. The actual first openly gay couple on TV was seen on the sitcom Hot L Baltimore

Hot L Baltimore was a Norman Lear created Sitcom which debuted on ABC on January 24, 1975 - almost a full year before that Barney Miller episode aired. The couple in question were George & Gordon (played by Lee Bergere & Henry Calvert) and the characters were regulars who appeared in every episode. Unfortunately, the show lasted only 13 episodes as its audience was small - perhaps in part because of the subject matter, the show was the first ABC network show to have a warning at its opening, cautioning viewers about mature themes. It was definitely ahead of its time and deserved a better fate.

Barney Miller was a great show and that particular episode was excellent. But Hot L Baltimore deserves more credit for breaking ground by showing a gay couple on TV.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_l_Baltimore

[Easterncedar]

5. I loved Hot L Baltimore.

It should have run for years.

[sl8]

9. According to the article, "The Corner Bar" preceded "Hot l Baltimore", which preceded "Barney Miller"

From the OP article:

There were gay characters in “The Corner Bar” (1972-73) and “Hot L. Baltimore” (1975), but those shows were flops. “Barney Miller” was not: It ran eight seasons and won three Emmys. (You can stream it on Tubi.)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Corner_Bar

I was pretty famliar with the latter two, but this is the first time I recall hearing about The Corner Bar.

[Wiz Imp]

10. Yes, but the Corner Bar did not ever feature a gay couple. Just a gay character.

It was the first series to feature a recurring gay character (played by Vincent Schiavelli). The first openly gay character to appear on an American TV show, however, is credited to be on All in the Family. The episode "Judging Books By Covers" aired February 9, 1971(it was just the 5th episode of the series overall), featured a story where Archie was sure Mike and Gloria's friend was gay (he wasn't) but later found out a friend of his, an ex football player, is actually gay.

I don't really remember the Corner Bar, but I remember watching Hot L Baltimore and All in the Family as a young child. My parents never really censored my TV watching. Even though I didn't understand all the humor, I still enjoyed the shows.

[sl8]

11. Good points.

Now that you mention it, I do remember that All in the Family episode. They also had one where Archie's life was saved by a crossdresser, which seemed pretty risque at the time.

[Wiz Imp]

13. Yep. That episode was called "Archie the Hero", because Archie actually saved the

female impersonator's life (named Beverly LaSalle) and was proud of it until Archie found out he was a female impersonator, at which point, he didn't want it publicized that he gave a man mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

Beverly LaSalle actually appeared on 2 additional episodes: "Beverly Rides Again" where Archie plays a practical joke on a friend, and then on "Edith's Crisis of Faith" where Beverly is murdered while trying to save Mike from a brutal robbery attempt which causes Edith to question her religious faith. It was a 2 part episode which took place around Christmas and one of the most powerful of the series. It was such a groundbreaking show.

[sl8]

17. Arhh, I misremembered who saved whom.

Thanks for setting me straight & for the additional info.

[AZJonnie]

12. My folks really didn't either, in fact, I was allowed to stay up late for the original run of Roots in the mid 70's

And I was 10, IIRC. We're white, but my mom thought it was an important show for me to be exposed to. I also remember her best friend since high school coming over for dinner with his boyfriend when I was that same age, and mom was just like "yeah, some people are gay, and my friend Walter is", very matter of fact.

It's funny she and my stepdad were republicans at the time, but it was mainly just over 'taxes', and because their parents were republicans. Mom's folks were super sweet, generous, salt-of-the-earth types. REAL Christians. Episcopalians, to be precise. But mom is a diehard Dem for years now, ever since Clinton.

[Melon]

3. Ahhhh....warm memories of my parents watching growing up.

[NewDayOranges]

4. I think that Marty & Daryl characters were also featured as regulars on the Barney Miller spin-off

HOTeL Baltimore...

[Wiz Imp]

7. Hot L Baltimore had no connection to Barney Miller

See post #2

[617Blue]

26. God we've regressed. Hot L would NEVER be on network TV today.

Remember Soap and Mary Hartman Mary Hartman?

[MarineCombatEngineer]

6. One of the funniest episodes, IMHO, was the hash laced brownies:

[leftstreet]

14. LOL

[IbogaProject]

18. Yes, that was a ground breaking episode

[Skittles]

8. loved Barney Miller

crushed on Hal Linden back in the day, I thought he was quite handsome

[Lemon Lyman]

15. :-)

Hal Linden (born Harold Lipshitz) will be 95 on 3/20/26.

Barbara Barrie, who played Barney's wife, Liz, will be 95 on 5/23/26.

Max Gail, who played Wojo, will be 83 on 4/5/26.

They're all still working actors.

[DET]

19. Max Gail

Max Gail played mobster Sonny Corinthos’ father on General Hospital a year or so ago. He gave a remarkable performance as an old man dying of Alzheimer’s disease. I don’t know if he won any awards for that, but he should have.

[Lemon Lyman]

20. :-)

He was good in an epi of "Chicago Med" too (S7 EP14 - All The Things That Could Have Been). He played a wealthy investor who had to live in an iron lung.

[Skittles]

21. I love seeing that

[John Coktosten]

16. I love that show!

Barney Miller is one of my all time favorites.

[SocialDemocrat61]

22. Brooklyn Nine-Nine wanted to do a Barney Miller episode

and have Hal Linden guest star as his old character, but there were legal issues getting the rights to use the character.

[DenaliDemocrat]

23. I wish they would show these

I loved Barney Miller, MASH, Andy Griffith Show, All in the Family, The Jefferson’s, Happy Days, I Live Lucy, Bewitched, and Cheers.

I don’t see these on TV anymore.

[Wiz Imp]

24. MeTV currently has many of these shows on their schedule:

MASH, Andy Griffith Show, All in the Family, , Happy Days & I Love Lucy. Antenna TV airs Barney Miller, Bewitched & The Jeffersons. Cheers is available for streaming on Paramount +

https://cdnmetv.metv.com/ygBpM-1759337394-MeTV%20Nat%20Sch%204Q25%20Eff.%2010-13-25%20E-P%20EXTERNAL.pdf

https://antennatv.tv/interactive-schedule/eastern-schedule/

[SocialDemocrat61]

28. One thing I never understood about the Andy Griffith show

Why were there no Black people in Mayberry? Did Andy and Barney help the KKK run them all out of town?

[Lemon Lyman]

32. -

Amazon had them streaming on their Prime service years ago. I don't like their service as much b/c they get rid of shows too fast. Did the same thing with "Spin City" & "Mad About You." IDK if their contracts for the streaming rights are shorter or something. When Netflix gets something it's on there for a while.

[617Blue]

25. Every character on that show was great.

[Norrrm]

27. There was also a gay cop who came out to Barney. Asked him to keep it quiet.

[lark]

29. We watch Barney Miller every night.

[Jbraybarten]

30. MASH had an episode about a gay soldier a few years before that.

Yes, not a couple, but an individual, but still an important episode as Hawkeyes and the others had a "so what" attitude about it.

[sl8]

31. Good memory. Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_(M*A*S*H)

"George" is the 46th episode of the M*A*S*H television series, and 22nd episode of season two. The episode aired on February 16, 1974.

Among the latest batch of wounded soldiers treated at the 4077th is a young soldier, Private George Weston (Richard Ely), who is also heavily bruised in addition to the leg wound he received in battle. After brushing off Frank Burns' (Larry Linville) suggestions he had been involved in a fight, Weston confides to Hawkeye (Alan Alda) that he had been beaten up by soldiers from his unit after he got drunk and inadvertently admitted to being a homosexual. Back in their quarters, Hawkeye and Trapper (Wayne Rogers) discuss the beatings and Frank admits he finds Weston's sexuality "disgusting", in contrast to his initial admiration of Weston for being on frontline active service. Frank initiates moves to have Weston dishonorably discharged from the Army. In order to convince Frank not to proceed, Hawkeye and Trapper stage a mock argument, during which Trapper 'confesses' to having bought the answers for a medical school examination, which leads Frank to admit that he did, too. Hawkeye and Trapper admit their ruse and Frank is persuaded to drop his actions.

[...]