Barney Miller: Season 5
Season 5 Lore Primer
Key plot threads, lore context, and character stakes you need to remember before diving into this season.
- Directly follows the overarching narrative developments of Barney Miller Season 4.
- Faction dynamics and core character alliances shift under escalating external stakes.
- Crucial mysteries introduced previously reach key turning points and narrative reckonings.
- Sets up serialized story arcs that build directly toward the climactic season finale.
Episode Guide
Season 5 Progress Shield
Kidnapping (1)
Sep 14, 1978
A political activist abducts a department store magnate; Wojo arrests a prostitute and her Arkansan business manager.
Kidnapping (2)
Sep 14, 1978
Wojo delivers the ransom money for the department store owner, while the prostitute charms both Wojo and the victim's nebbish son.
The Search
Sep 21, 1978 · 30 min
Off goes the moustache, as it's Harris' turn for cross-dressing mugging detail; the host of a kids' science show goes off the deep end; Barney's men reopen a twenty-eight year old
Dog Days
Sep 28, 1978 · 30 min
The German Shepherd that bit Wojo may be rabid; Barney and Liz prepare for their impending separation.
The Baby Broker
Oct 5, 1978 · 30 min
A German girl attempts to flee the country rather than surrender her baby to a broker's clients; Levitt turns to stimulants to aid in his self-imposed thirty-six hour shift.
Accusation
Oct 12, 1978
An accusation of an indiscretion on the part of Dietrich leads to a visit from the gleeful Lieutenant Scanlon of Internal Affairs; Yemana books a rabbi who is running a gambling ca
The Prisoner
Oct 19, 1978
A released prisoner can't adjust to civilian life; the widow of a cat burglar elects to perpetuate the family business.
Loan Shark
Nov 2, 1978
Barney notes some uncharacteristic behavior from Yemana; a client can't get a tattoo artist to remove his work; Harris books a youthful loan shark
The Vandal
Nov 9, 1978
Barney has the uneasy feeling that it may have been Levitt that vandalized the precinct squad room; a TV programming executive is assaulted in a coffee shop.
The Harris Incident
Nov 30, 1978
A stockbroker leaves Wall Street to become a beggar; a rookie cop, assuming Harris to be a felon, shoots at him.
The Radical
Dec 7, 1978
Luger faces off against a 60s radical, and Harris arrests a portly second story man.
Toys
Dec 14, 1978
Feuding toy makers create a disturbance; Barney faces his first holiday as a separated man; a claustrophobic prisoner has an understandable problem with the cage.
The Indian
Jan 4, 1979
A woman has her shoes stolen - from her feet; Wojo is forced to arrest an aging Indian who only wants to die in the park.
Voice Analyzer
Jan 11, 1979
Lieutenant Scanlon returns, this time attempting to ferret out corruption with a lie detector; Barney is suspicious of a furrier's robbery report.
The Spy
Jan 18, 1979
A paranoid spy holds the precinct house at bay; the men bring in a disorderly mime.
Wojo's Girl (1)
Jan 25, 1979
Wojo decides to move in with his girlfriend; Mr. Brauer tells his wife that he's leaving to become a mercenary. This was a pilot for a potential spin-off series, each week focusing
Wojo's Girl (2)
Jan 25, 1979
Wojo struggles to co-habitate with his ex-prostitute girlfriend.
Middle Age
Feb 1, 1979
Barney feels the onrush of Father Time; Dietrich books an Olympic hopeful who practices his javelin toss in Central Park; a Hassidic Jew is the target of a diamond thief.
The Counterfeiter
Feb 8, 1979
Harris milks a wily counterfeiter for his life story; a man takes exception to a plastic surgeon's work on his wife.
Open House
Feb 15, 1979
The 12th Precinct hosts an open house, attracting only vagrants; Barney's joy at moving back home is cut short by the hotel manager that refuses to refund him his upcoming month's
Identity
Mar 1, 1979
Harris quickly regrets the fact that Dietrich has saved his life; the 12th is asked to assist a thief who has been granted entry into a witness-relocation program.
Computer Crime
Mar 15, 1979
A computer firm has difficulty retrieving embezzled funds; an educated young man claims to be under the influence of a voodoo curse.
Graveyard Shift
May 10, 1979
Barney and his crew face the late shift with a man who believes that he is being frequented by a succubus and an irate tourist.
Jack Soo, a Retrospective
May 17, 1979
The cast step out of character to offer a tribute to Jack Soo, who died during the show's fifth season.