Fish (1977–1978) User Reviews

Not far enough to sustain

[tkech · 5/10 · 14 November 2008]

I watched this show when it was originally broadcast. Although it was cute, it didn't quite have the oomph to be a sustainable series. I love Abe Vigoda's look, especially his long-suffering, sad-eyed expression, but it was hard to hang a whole show around his character. Fish was better as a supporting role.

Although Bernice provided the nurturing for the kids, Fish loudly claimed to dislike them and long for a quieter life. My favorite quote from the show was when he blew out the candles on a birthday cake. The girl asked, "Did ya get ya wish, Mista Fish?" and he replied, "NO, you're ALL STILL HERE!"

Although later shows managed to center a sitcom around a negative character, such as Dabney Coleman ( http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001056 ) in Buffalo Bill ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084992 ), or the puppet alien in ALF ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090390 ), these succeeded because the bad boy was SO extremely bad that you couldn't help laughing. Quietly grumbling Fish with a (well hidden) soft side just didn't go far enough to grab and hold an audience.

The Spin Off that Spunout

[redryan64 · 6/10 · 23 December 2014]

FOLLOWING A SORT OF 'overnight' success as Sal Tessio in THE GODFATHER, journeyman Abe Vigoda became a regular on the long-running BARNEY MILLER TV Series. His role as Detective Sgt. Phil Fish. His dry delivery of the complaints of an old cop soon became the runaway hit of the show.

SO, AS THE seasons piled up on BARNEY MILLER, the opportunity was there to have Sgt. Fish: a) Retire and b) Start a new life as a foster parent.

WITH HIS SPOT in the cast being ably filled by Steve Landsberg's Detective Dietrich, both Mr.Vigoda and his Fish character were inextricably lost forever to the old Detective Unit of the 12th Precinct.

THE Spin off SERIES of FISH sputtered and bit the dust after two seasons; but the spunky and industrious actor offered a solution to the problem (at least his problem). The "Plan" called for Fish to return to the original series, then to be retitled BARNEY & FISH. Well, no dice-it didn't fly.

AS A SIDE BAR to the story, there was a story that while the filming was being done on THE GODFATHER, there was a rumor circulating that Abe was indeed a real, bone fide Syndicate Gangster. It turned out that the false story was being originated by Abe Vigoda, himself.

OH WELL, SCHULTZ, as they say: "Nothing ventured, nothing gained!"

Pretty Good Spin Off

[Sargebri · 15 October 2003]

This was a pretty decent spin off from "Barney Miller". This show pretty much gave Abe Vigoda a chance to expand his character of Fish from more of a "sad sack" to being more of a grouch with a heart of gold. Also, his interaction with Todd Bridges character of Loomis really made this show very enjoyable.

Also, Abe Vigoda had to be one of the hardest working men in show business. This was due to the fact that for the first few months that this show was on he was still working on "Barney Miller". Kudos to Vigoda for his hard work on both shows and not missing a beat.

1970s New York

[Johnny_West · 1/10 · 1 May 2023]

Fish was a spin-off of the Barney Miller TV series, with Abe Vigoda as the star. His incredibly whiny and annoying nag wife was played by Florence Stanley.

The kids were played by a repulsive cast of odd characters. The only exception was Todd Bridges as Loomis. Eventually he would be traded to the Different Strokes TV series, where he teamed up with Gary Coleman and made TV history.

John Cassissi, who played Victor, the big obnoxious kid, was later convicted of fraud and sentenced to 2-6 years in prison. When I saw this show as a kid, I thought Victor was a mentally handicapped character. He was always bouncing around and putting his face into people.

Len Bari and Sarah Natoli both disappeared from the acting profession by 1981, never to be seen again. This was one of those shows which had no young stars except for Todd Bridges. The rest of them are in the witness protection program.

I found this show on Crackle app, and tried to watch the first episode, and it reminded me of how incredibly lame this show was. I could not get past when all the annoying kids arrive and start yelling at Fish and his wife. The fact that Victor (Cassisi) and Len Bari are much older than the other kids is very creepy. Len Bari was 22 in 1977, and he looked it. Cassisi was a big fat 15 and he looked 25.

Great show

[tonyspencer · 10/10 · 16 July 2007]

I thought this was a great show, and one of the few comedies that has successfully crossed the Atlantic to the UK. Good casting.

Sure it's a lot of kids doing mildly bad things, but the difference is having a cop for a foster parent. He could have got rid of them at any time, but the kids opened his eyes, and he put morals across in a mild way. Abe's performance was superb.

His reactions every time there was a new problem were truly great, his expressions, and mannerisms. Perhaps a little moralistic, but it gave a good account of accommodating differences, and seeing things from a different point of view.

A well-intended but poorly-executed cringefest.

[ronnybee2112 · 2/10 · 1 January 2024]

This tv series surely must have looked much-better on paper than it does on the actual tv screen. The problem is that the overall premise of the series just isn't very plausable or likely.

Here we have a freshly-retired NYC cop that is downright worn-out-tired,cynical,and disgusted. He needs, and certainly deserves a pleasant,peaceful and enjoyable retirement, maybe in the country someplace. So what does the guy do? We are asked to believe that instead,this guy Fish decides to adopt 5 ! (Five!) rotten kids of various ages from the juvenile detention center and agrees be responsible for them 24/7. All 5 of these kids,their school attendance,every aspect of their behavior,their health,all of this is going to be the responsibility of Fish and his wife from now on. None of this is even remotely believable. So,how about the kids? The kids are some cringeworthy creeps that are obviously going to be nothing but major headaches and trouble for the Fish family. None of the kids are at all likeable except for maybe the young Todd Bridges.

The 2 older boys appear to be nearly 20 years old. The girl characters are given practically nothing to work with,at times they could almost be mistaken for mannequins. The show appears to have had some good intentions but overall it was pretty bad. 2/10 BAD.

Wish There Were More Seasons!

[etodd-4 · 8/10 · 22 December 2013]

Fish was not perfect, but two of the characters: Fish, who had comical mannerisms and hilarious facial expressions that made me laugh out loud, and his lovely and sweet mannered wife made the show watchable.

The kids were kind of annoying, and it was so hard to actually like them. They could have been written better as characters on the show. The show needed more time to develop. It was certainly better than "Different Strokes", which for me is unwatchable. I have the one season of Fish on DVD and love watching the show, which is amazing in itself. I am quite sure the series would have been a classic it it had a few series under it's belt. It deserved more than just one year. I am not quite sure why it was cancelled in the first year. It just needed a chance to grow.

Interesting, short lived series

[bluetrombone1 · 28 June 2003]

First of all, this wasn't a bad series and it had potential. It wasn't "Ethnic Mismatch #644" as one review said, but it proves that people of different races can live together under the same roof. Abe Vigoda is an excellent actor and sadly, he hasn't had nearly enough exposure.

One of the Worst Sitcoms Ever!

[Don_Mac · 20 March 2001]

Ok, I liked "Barney Miller" back in the '70s (its pretty dated now though). And the character Fish was an amusing grumpy old man, played by Abe Vigoda. But this spinoff may be the WORST SITCOM EVER! Imagine a '70s era sitcom with all bad clothing, lame jokes and canned laughter and just add in five extremely annoying smart-aleck kids: you get this show. If you ever do see it on TV (although I don't know if any station would broadcast reruns of this show), you are bound to be amazed that such an awful train-wreck of a sitcom not only made it on the air, but lasted for over a year! Avoid unless morbid curiosity draws you to it - in that case just be amazed.

One of the Best Sitcoms Ever!

[sandiego-4 · 12 April 2001]

Ok, I hated "Barney Miller" back in the 70's (though it does have nostalgic value today). And the character Fish was a nasty grumpy old man, played by Abe Vigoda. But this spin-off may be the BEST SITCOM EVER! Imagine a 70's era sitcom with great 70's clothing, funny jokes, and just add in five extremely talented charming kids: you'll love this show. If you ever do see it on TV (Nick at Nite or TV Land is bound to give this show a run) you are sure to be amazed that this show didn't run forever.

BAD IDEA!

[Brett_Buck · 24 June 2003]

Barney Miller had it's good points - and Det. Fish was one of them. Abe Vigoda is the perfect downtrodden "Sad Sack". The popularity of the character led some network genius (of which there were many in the 70's) to decide to spin him off into his own series. And "Fish" was it.

Fish and his wife Bernice (Florence Stanley - the female equivalent of Vigoda) were quite plausible as a long-married couple. The kicker was that they had a houseful of adopted children - that looked like the Rainbow Coalition. They could have named it "Ethnic Mismatch Comedy #644". The kids were "intensely annoying". The worst of the bunch was "Victor" - his character made me want to punch my TV set. The plots were the standard "kids get in trouble but family warmth solves it all in 30 minutes" dreck. In short, the long-suffering Fish character turned into a knowing father figure. It was just too far a departure, typical idiot TV Exec thinking - take a popular character, try to mine his popularity but forget completely about why he was popular in the first place.

As far as I can tell, everybody seemed relatively plausible, but it was just such a bad idea it got deservedly cancelled after one season. It sure isn't the worst sitcom ever (Heck, it's *a lot better* than "My Big Fat Greek Life" - but then again, most things are) but it's definitely towards the bottom of the list.