It’s Wednesday and that means another preview of the travel programming on WYCC-TV in Chicago.
The station this month has given its normal travel programming lineup an extended Christmas vacation and aired a series of specials from European travel guru Rick Steves whose program, “Rick Steves’ Europe”, regularly airs on Wednesday nights on WYCC.
The final special airs tonight (Jan. 27) from 8 to 10 p.m. (CST). Steves focuses in this program on some of Europe’s lesser-known destinations including a Danish isle, a Tuscan hill town and the Slovenian Alps.
ABE VIGODA AND ‘BARNEY MILLER’ REMEMBERED
Abe Vigoda, known for his roles in “The Godfather” movies and as Detective Fish in the television show “Barney Miller” passed away Tuesday (Jan. 26) at the age of 94.
“Barney Miller” ran on ABC from 1975 to 1982. Hal Linden played Captain Barney Miller, a detective squad commander in a New York City Police Department precinct.
Reruns of the show can be seen Monday through Saturday on Antenna TV, over-the-air channel 9.2.
Having watched the show years later when I was older, I appreciate what a creative risk it was.
It was a comedy about NYPD detectives working in a rundown police station during a time when life wasn’t so good in New York City, the 1970s and 80s. But it worked and worked well.
“Barney Miller” never went for the laugh. The laughs came from the reaction of the characters to the various situations they faced. I thought Vigoda was the best at this.
Unfortunately, he was on the show only during its first two years. The writers had his character, Fish, come to NYPD mandatory retirement age. That allowed for a spin-off program, “Fish”, which was short-lived.
UNTIL NEXT TIME. . .