This episode has all the elements that made Barney Miller great. Beyond its sophisticated, adult comedy, it has unsentimental heart. (Heart without the sugar) And, as usual, it gives the opportunity to some brilliant actors to display their talents. The final scene in which an institutionalised woman is revealed as being quite sane is a gem.
2 Reviews
Captain Miller is nominated for Deputy Inspector
kevinolzak24 August 2014
"Hunger Strike" features Larry Gelman (last of four) as Philip Bishop, so determined against nuclear arms that he's gone on a hunger strike, not having tasted food since yesterday afternoon! Like so many liberals, he fails to call for the enemy to give up their nukes, but Wojo at least manages to get his nonrefundable cleaning deposit back ("I have kept that place spotlessly clean, even Joan Crawford would be happy!"). Dietrich walks in with an elderly woman known only as Miss Smith (Nora Meerbaum), arrested for stealing some flowers, whose speech is regarded as gibberish since she has spent over 20 years in various psychiatric clinics. Dr. Michael Packer (Stanley Kamel, second of two) remains adamant about her language problems until Dietrich returns with Joseph Obrockian (Ion Teodorescu, second of two), whose childhood experiences in Greek and Yugoslavian confirm her dialect as being Macedonian. Meanwhile, Barney is among the nominees for Deputy Inspector for a fourth time, having failed before in 1975, 1978, and 1980, unsure of whether or not he wants to get his hopes up yet again.
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