How the Cop Show 'Barney Miller' Made Gay TV History, 50 Years Ago [View all]

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!!