Fish

1 9 7 7 – 1 9 7 8 (USA)
35 x 30 minute episodes

This sitcom was a spin-off from the hugely popular cop comedy Barney Miller.

Phil Fish (Abe Vigoda) was the dilapidated detective from Barney’s New York watch-house. Now retired from the NYPD, Fish and his wife, Bernice (Florence Stanley), decided to move out of their New York apartment and into a rundown house, in order to become foster parents to five racially mixed street kids for the “Persons In Need Of Supervision” (P.I.N.S.) agency.

Loomis (Todd Bridges) was the preteen hipster who befriended the dead cat in Fish’s basement; Mike (Lenny Bari) was the oldest – charming but streetwise; Victor (John Cassisi) was the blustery tough guy; Jilly (Denise Miller) the angelic con artist, and Diane (Sarah Natoli) the young TV addict.

Psychologist Charlie Harrison (Barry Gordon) tried to help but didn’t really and Fish and the non-stop talker, Bernice, had to deal with everything.

For the first few episodes, which ran concurrently with Barney Miller, poor Fish was still putting in time at the precinct houseHe was eventually allowed to retire and expend his energy trying to keep the young tearaways in order.

The quarrelsome quintet put pressure on Phil and Bernice’s marriage and by the end of the series, they were contemplating separation.

In real life, being somewhat undisciplined and lacking its parent show’s class, the series was quickly separating from its audience. After 35 episodes, Fish was finally reeled in.

ABC had attempted to float a Phil Fish spin-off two years before this series began, airing a pilot titled Fish and Bernice on 4 December 1975 which co-starred Doris Belack as his wife, Bernice, and Emily Levine as their daughter Beverley. This idea was not developed further.

Phil Fish 
Abe Vigoda
Bernice Fish 
Florence Stanley
Charlie Harrison 
Barry Gordon
Loomis 
Todd Bridges
Mike 
Lenny Bari
Victor Kreutzer 
John Cassisi
Jilly Papalardo 
Denise Miller
Diane Pulaski 
Sarah Natoli
Manuel 
David Yanez