Barney Miller - Atomic Bomb

It's getting to the point where probably a large percentage of people visiting RF Cafe are too young to remember a TV show called Barney Miller (starring Hal Linden). It was a prime time sitcom from the 1970s (1977, to be exact) that centered a New York City police detective office. The main character was Capt. Barney Miller, and there was an accompanying cast of characters that dealt with events and people in their own unique ways. My favorite was Detective Sgt. Arthur Dietrich (Steve Landesberg). He was the serious intellectual with a very dry sense of humor that came out at just the right moment. One episode has always stuck out in my memory where a college student claims to have built a working model of a thermonuclear bomb as part of his

Master's thesis project. All it lacks, per him, is plutonium. The bomb squad expert ridiculed the idea of it being any kind of bomb - his decades of experience on the force being his guide. All the guys in the office have just finished dismissing the notion, when Dietrich walks in, takes a look at the contraption, and casually asks, "Where did you get the atom bomb?" Since I don't care much for the newer shows (except Numb3ers, 24, and Chuck), I was looking through the selection of classics available on the HuLu website and, amazingly, there it was! The link below will get you to the episode. Enjoy!

The title of the show is "Atomic Bomb." Watch the entire show, or skip ahead to 9:00 to see the scene I mention.

Webmaster: Kirt Blattenberger, BSEE, UVM 1989