''Fish '' is an American

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

and a spin-off of ''

Barney Miller ''Barney Miller'' is an American sitcom television series set in a New York City Police Department police station on East 6th St in Greenwich Village. The series was broadcast on ABC Network from January 23, 1975, to May 20, 1982. It was created ...

'' that aired on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

from February 5, 1977 to May 18, 1978. The series starred

Abe Vigoda Abraham Charles Vigoda (February 24, 1921 – January 26, 2016) was an American actor known for his portrayals of Salvatore Tessio in ''The Godfather'' (1972) and Phil Fish in both ''Barney Miller'' (1975–1977, 1982) and ''Fish'' (1977–1978 ...

New York City Police Department The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...

Detective

Phil Fish Philippe Poisson (born November 1, 1984), better known as Phil Fish, is a French Canadian former indie game designer best known for his work on the 2012 platform game '' Fez''. He was born and raised in Quebec, where his experiences with Nint ...

and

Florence Stanley Florence Stanley (born Florence Schwartz; July 1, 1924 – October 3, 2003) was an American actress of stage, film, and television. She is best known for her roles in ''Barney Miller'' (1975–1977) and its spinoff ''Fish'' (1977-1978), ''My T ...

as his wife Bernice.

Overview

The series focused on the domestic side of Fish's life: he and Bernice became

foster parent Foster care is a system in which a minor has been placed into a ward, group home (residential child care community, treatment center, etc.), or private home of a state- certified caregiver, referred to as a "foster parent" or with a family me ...

s to a racially-mixed group of five children known as "Persons in Need of Supervision" or PINS. The kids were played by

Todd Bridges Todd Anthony Bridges (born May 27, 1965) is an American actor. He portrayed Willis Jackson on the sitcom ''Diff'rent Strokes'' and had a recurring role as Monk on the sitcom ''Everybody Hates Chris.'' Bridges worked as a commentator on the telev ...

Denise Miller Denise Miller (born July 17, 1963) is an American actress. She is noted for her appearances in the television sitcoms '' Archie Bunker's Place'' and ''Fish,'' as well as the made-for-television movie '' Sooner or Later''. Miller started her a ...

, Len Bari, John Cassisi, and Sarah Natoli.

Barry Gordon Barry Gordon (born December 21, 1948) is an American actor and political talk show host. He was the longest-serving president of the Screen Actors Guild, having served from 1988 to 1995. He is perhaps best known as the original voice of Donatello ...

played Charlie, a college student majoring in child psychology, assisting Fish and Bernice in supervising the kids. Miller and Cassisi both had appeared previously as the same characters on season three of ''Barney Miller'', usually getting in trouble with the law and Fish having to supervise them. Vigoda's character of Phil Fish continued to appear sporadically in the second half of Season 3 of ''Barney Miller'' while also leading the cast of ''Fish''. Detective Fish retired from the NYPD in Season 4, Episode 2 of ''Barney Miller''.

Cast

as Phillip K. Fish *

as Bernice Fish *

as Charlie * John Cassisi as Victor *

as Jilly *Lenny Bari as Mike *

as Loomis *Sarah Natoli as Diane

Development and production

Creator

Danny Arnold Danny Arnold (born Arnold Rothmann; January 23, 1925 – August 19, 1995) was an American producer, writer, comedian, actor and director known for producing '' Barney Miller'', '' That Girl'', and '' Bewitched''. Early life Born in New York ...

was originally against the idea of giving the character of Fish his own spin-off, believing that Fish was a character that was better suited to the precinct. Originally, Arnold agreed to the spin-off on the condition that Vigoda continued to play his Fish character on the show in half of the episodes of the third season, as well as future seasons. However, Vigoda insisted on quitting ''Barney Miller'' and staying on just ''Fish'', wanting to be the star of his own series. "I found myself with a very unhappy actor on my hands. Abe would walk around the set like a man in shock. Who was I to deprive an actor of this once-in-a-lifetime break? Finally I said, 'Okay, just stay through the third year of ''Barney Miller'', and we'll go with your show, too," recalled Arnold. ABC was publicly contemplating a ''Fish'' spin-off as early as October 1975. The initial premise was to show Fish's home life with "his wife, his daughter, and his daughter's suitor" with only occasional visits to the 12th Precinct. The intention was to have a pilot air as an episode of ''Barney Miller'' in early 1976 with a series debut that fall. The second-season episode of ''Barney Miller'', "Fish", effectively was the pilot for that concept, with much of the episode taking place in Fish's home and featuring Fish's wife and daughter, along with the daughter's romantic drama. ''Fish'' was directed by Jeremiah Morris and aired from February 1977 through June 1978 on

. According to Bridges, just 12 during the show's second season, ''Fish'' was cancelled after Vigoda demanded more money for a third season than the producers were willing to pay. The series had no episode written as a finale. However, during a guest appearance on ''Barney Miller'' nearly three years after the cancellation of ''Fish'', the Fish character stated that money for the group home had been cut off, so the city took back the kids. Fish also stated, resignedly, that Cassisi's character (Victor) had gotten arrested for assault and battery, and Miller's character (Jilly) had gotten pregnant and married the baby's father.

Home media

Shout! Factory released the entire ''Barney Miller'' series in a 25-disc DVD set on October 25, 2011. A bonus feature of the set is the complete first season of ''Fish'', making it the first time that ''Fish'' has ever seen a DVD release.

References

* * * * * * * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fish (Tv Series) 1977 American television series debuts 1978 American television series endings 1970s American sitcoms American Broadcasting Company original programming American television spin-offs Television series about Jews and Judaism Television series about families Television series by Sony Pictures Television Television shows set in New York City English-language television shows Barney Miller