Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters: Know Your LGBT History

Saturday, January 02, 2010

Know Your LGBT History - Barney Miller

I never liked Barney Miller, the ensemble sitcom about a police precinct. I always felt it was stilted and claustrophobic.

But despite my objections, it was a very successful show, running for seven years and winning a bunch of awards, including an Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series.

And it was one of the first shows to feature semi-regular gay character.

Actor Jack DeLeon portrayed Marty Morrison, a gay purse snatcher who was seen on several episodes.

I don't know how to feel about Marty. It's not that I had a problem with how DeLeon portrayed him as a stereotypically flighty "queen."

I just had a problem with DeLeon.

I am not familiar with the actor but on two other occasions, he portrayed a gay man and both times I found his characterization to be crude and one-dimensional.

One portrayal was featured in a past posting of Know Your LGBT History (The Choirboys). In it, DeLeon is playing a gay man walking a poodle.And he has the "fortune" to encounter a naked man in the park.

The other portrayal (which I have not talked about yet) was on the Rated X episode of Sanford and Son. DeLeon portrayed the director of a pornographic film. It's bad enough that his sexual orientation was featured as a joke, but then the script called for him to make a crude advance to actor Redd Foxx.
I'm sorry but even if I were the most homophobic homophobe, I would never buy the fact that any gay man would ever make a play for Redd Foxx or his character Fred Sanford.

But I digress.

Believe it or not though, this episode of Barney Miller featuring DeLeon is actually a good one. It's called Discovery and in it, he and Miller are helping a friend who has been harassed and extorted by a policeman. Between you and me, I found the portrayal of Marty's friend (the victim of the shakedown) to more enjoyable:

8 comments:

Lightning Baltimore9:08 AM
I used to watch Barney Miller when I was a kid and honestly don't remember the Marty character at all, then again, I never watched it in syndication, so it's been a while.

I agree that this was a pretty good episode.

** SPOILER ALERT **

Two things I especially liked:

Wojciehowicz pretty much admitting that his problem with the men was his discomfort with his own homosexual fantasies.

The gay cop at the end wasn't played for laughs and wasn't stereotypical in any way whatsoever, unlike Marty.
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Bill S4:01 PM
It didn't really bother me that Marty was flamboyant, partly because the other gay characters weren't-Officer Zitelli certainly wasn't. Neither was Marty's lover Daryl, he actually criticized Marty once for "perpetuating a sterotype".
There was a great episode that centered around Daryl's ex-wife and nine-year-old son. When she threatens to maintain exclusive custody and bar Daryl from seeing him. In the end it turns out her problem isn't that Daryl is gay. It's just that he's too lax in discipline and she, having primary custody, has to pick up the slack and be the "bad guy" all the time. In other words, it turns out to be an extremely common problem divorced couples with kids face.
There's also a classic exchange between Daryl and Wojo, who's baffled by Daryl's past relationship (I may not be quoting it word for word)-
Wojo: I don't get it. You had a wife, a kid...that seems like a lot to give up for something that could...just turn out to be a fad.
Daryl: We're not talking about the hula-hoop.
Wojo: Yeah, but, if you'd just...hung in there and APPLIED yourself-
Daryl: I HAD the hang of it. The point is, I was just going through the motions.
Wojo: Well...I do THAT!
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BlackTsunami4:07 PM
Which episode was that one?
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Bill S4:48 PM
"The Child Stealers". Season 6, episode 15. Original airdate: Jan. 24, 1980.
Daryl winds up picking up his son from the playground, refusing to turn him over to his ex-wife, which is how the police wind up being involved.
Ray Stewart played Daryl, his ex-wife Eleanor is played by Joanna Miles.
It seems all the more timely today, I guess. Eleanor turns out to be a decent person(and NOT homophobic, though she doesn't care for Marty) and the couple resolve their problems in a sane mature manner.
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George10:07 AM
I also used to watch that show in my youth, and I thought that one of the main characters actually came out as being gay sometime well into the series run. Mr. HCI and Bill S. mentioned the "Wojo" character, and that's who I thought it was that "came out" at some point.

Am I miss-remembering something? Because I thought he was a very sympathetic character, and definitely not a stereotype "gay". I thought the show handled the issue with a lot of dignity and I remember thinking that I liked the show better because of it. (Although to be fair, I think that same character was the butt of many jokes because of his Polish heritage)

But it was a long time ago - so I may not be remembering it right - please correct me if I'm wrong.
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Bill S3:47 PM
George, the police officer who came out as gay was named Zatelli. He was first introduced in the 5th season. He was completely non-sterotypical.
Wojo wasn't gay, and was shown to be uncomfortable around gay men. But this is fairly consistant with his character, who seems a tad thick-skulled in other areas as well. Also, it should be noted that his discomfort was mild compared to the full-blown bigotry of the much hated Internal Affairs cop Frank Luger.
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JS7:28 PM
Bill S: Inspector Lugar was a semi-regular who mostly moped around the stationhouse bemoaning the old days when you didn't have to worry about things like Miranda rights, or complaints of police brutality.

It was Internal Affairs Lt. Scanlon that popped up once or twice a year, trying to get something on any of officers from the ol' one-two.

I remember the episode when Zitelli came out to Capt. Miller after sending an anonymous letter to the commissioner. Went something like:

Barney: You realize I have to report you now that I know?

Zitelli: Will you?

Barney: That's not the point!

Also, Wojo was portrayed thick as a brick, and a fairly typical homophobe of 70's vintage. Which made it more effective when he couldn't hold onto those views when presented with people like Marty's life partner, and Off. Zitelli.
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Unknown11:46 PM
Was actor Jack De Leon gay besides just the Marty character he portrays?
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