However, that would have been the highlight of the 1977-78 TV season, and "Fish" moved to Saturdays @ 8PM ET, followed by the new series "Operation: Petticoat", a third season for "Starsky & Hutch", followed by another new series "The Love Boat". However, "The Love Boat" sank CBS's Saturday Night Comedy Line Up, by moving the series from 10PM to 9PM, followed by the new midseason replacement series "Fantasy Island". "Starsky & Hutch" moved from Saturday to Wednesday.
I will never forget one Saturday night on New York’s Hot 97, Funkmaster Flex played a entire hour of tv classics and when he threw this on, he cut up the breakbeat!
@@chuckers40 Most people don't know that the lady who wrote and sang the theme song to The Jeffersons is the same lady who played Willona on Good Times, Ja’Net DuBois.
This was a short lived "Barney Miller" spin-off series. Abe Vigoda reprises his role in which he and his wife are in charge of 5 juveniles that are on probation.
Dan is pretty sure it's Steve Schaefer on drums and Chuck Rainey on bass...and, may be Tom Scott on soprano sax...Mike Lang (keyboards) couldn't remember.
That's an impressive lineup. Thanks for responding. And I didn't know there was an extended version of the Barney Miller theme. I'm looking forward to hearing that.
Comments like yours are why I live for retro TH-cam. You go tell your bro he's tight as hell. He built a lot of people's childhood with this theme right here. Nothing goes unnoticed.
Fun fact, two of the people listed in the end credits, executive story consultants Barbara Avedon and Barbara Corday, would later be famous on their own accord as creators of the CBS crime drama "Cagney & Lacey."
Abe didn’t start acting until he was 50. His first role was a gangster by the name of Salvatore Tessio in The Godfather. He was a walk on at an open call.
I recall the episode where Todd bridges character thought he was a priest and he says to fish "God loves you" and fish retorts with "if he loved me, I wouldn't be here!!"
Great theme. And I loved Abe Vigoda and Florence Stanley (Todd Bridges was also a very talented little actor as a child). I wish the producers had come up with a better show for them.
Denise Miller looked exactly like Kristy McNichol. Kristy was still on Family, so she was not able to accept this role. Toss up as to who the actual better actress was. Denise did great work on Archie Bunker's Place. She could have gone much further with her career. Sadly, neither actress lived up to her potential. For those of you who are unaware, Denise played Billie Bundy (Archie's niece). Stephanie was not actually Archie's niece, but she was treated like a 2nd daughter. Archie grew as the show progressed. Archie, deep down, was a great person. Then again, Mike was a Meathead. Archie was the real hero of All In The Family. Mike was a real meathead.
You can tell by the music they were going for the Barney Miller feel. Danny Arnold didn't want to write this show. He predicted it wouldn't be happily greeted by the viewership.
It seems most 70s early 80s American sitcoms the composer, got the most badass jazz/funk musicians and when asked what do we play? He said “ just let it fucking rip”
I was lucky enough to Meet Ms.Stanley and Mr.Vigoda in NYC..before they left us..Unlike the characters that they played on"Barney Miller and Fish"..they were really gentle and sweet people..in Fact? When I met Mr.Vigoda..he was wearing a jogging outfit.."Believe It Or Else?".
Apparently it wasn’t cancelled. Abe Vigoda got a touch too greedy for his own good and started asking for more money, but ABC wasn’t having it, so they sent him packing. Pity, it was really good...
Damn... I never knew? There was a actual spin off to to the sitcom Barney Miller called Fish starring the late Abe Vigoda? After he left the show around that same year. Whoever uploaded this? Thanks. The theme and the ending credits sounds similar to Barney Miller. The 70's had produced some great sitcoms in it's day. So did the 80's and the 90's as well.
FYI, both Barry Gordon and Denise Miller would co-star some four years later on "Archie Bunker's Place as Jewish lawyer/business manager Gary Rabinowitz and Billie Bunker, Archie's niece, respectively.
Fish only lasted just 35 shows over 2 Seasons. It certainly couldn’t be a hit like Barney Miller. I would call this ABC show a “Should’ve Been a Bigger Hit Show” in 1977.
Hello, Bella Bella!😃. I like your name; it's beautiful, twice. Sarah Natoli was cute, too. I wonder whatever became of them? I could always nose around and find out(lol).
I actually saw this show BEFORE seeing Barney Miller. Looking back, the character of Fish seemed like the LAST person on earth that would want to take in foster kids.
I heard at the time that the reason it was canceled is because someone advised Abe Vigoda not to get involved in his own series, and unfortunately he listened to them. (he later regretted it)
I'd never seen the show in my life, but I absolutely loved the theme song. It was on a CD of themes I remember owning when I was a teenager. Seriously funky. Did it ever air on TV in recent years?
This show was only on for a season, it probably hasn't been on air in a long while. You might be able to find episodes on TH-cam of it but probably not the whole series.
Man I used to love this show, I guess because I liked Abe Vigoda from Barney Miller. Plus I'm Todd Bridges' age and I probably identified with those kids. BERNICE!!! Can still hear Fish yelling her name, I loved how even his wife called him "Fish"
Imagine a TV network smart enough to put Abe Vigoda's show right before Larry Wilcox and Erik Estrada.
It would be an evening of Fish and CHiPs.
Too bad FISH was on ABC and CHIPS NBC
🤣
However, that would have been the highlight of the 1977-78 TV season, and "Fish" moved to Saturdays @ 8PM ET, followed by the new series "Operation: Petticoat", a third season for "Starsky & Hutch", followed by another new series "The Love Boat". However, "The Love Boat" sank CBS's Saturday Night Comedy Line Up, by moving the series from 10PM to 9PM, followed by the new midseason replacement series "Fantasy Island". "Starsky & Hutch" moved from Saturday to Wednesday.
🤣😂😅🤣👍
😂😂😂
Fish theme song is funkier than 99% better then anything that came out in forever nowadays! Peace!
Same composers Jack Elliot and Allyn Ferguson of the 80s Night Court series theme
I died laughing at the intro alone. Abe Vigoda's facial expressions speak volumes.
Priceless y'all
Jesus you must be lonely.
Well said Fish was one of the best components along with Nick yamata that made the Barney Miller show hilarious.
That funky bass line...too good
This nine year old didn't miss an episode, I memorized the kids running in
I was five, but I so remember it!
Man, I forgot how cool the "Fish" theme song was. I should have known because the "Barney Miller" theme was the coolest one on TV.
And pretty funny also!
I will never forget one Saturday night on New York’s Hot 97, Funkmaster Flex played a entire hour of tv classics and when he threw this on, he cut up the breakbeat!
One of the funkiest TV show themes ever. Tom Scott was killing it on soprano sax...
Has a hint of Baretta in the opening tune
I love his “Apple Juice” album.
Stupid theme song...
and that Steve Gadd groove
@@ronniedobbs7747And Chuck Rainey bass!!
I love the disco sounding theme to this ABC sitcom. TV themes to 70's programs sounded better than the TV shows of today.
Today's television hardly have that.
Today's shows don;t HAVE a theme. I really hate that.
A jam that gives Sanford and son theme a run for its money.
not bad at all, no.
Don't forget Barney Miller.
You have to add The Jeffersons and Night Court to that list of great TV themes.
Very Barney Miller-like. Very good.
@@chuckers40 Most people don't know that the lady who wrote and sang the theme song to The Jeffersons is the same lady who played Willona on Good Times, Ja’Net DuBois.
Even the TMC production logo at the end brings back memories. 1977. So long ago, and yet, really just the blink of an eye.
I was born in '76 and it does feel like it was a long time ago.
I swear no matter how many times I hear it when I hear lowdown by Boz Scaggs I keep thinking it’s the theme to Fish. 😂
This theme had a "Barney Miller" feel to it. ♥️
Considering it's a spin-off show from Barney Miller, it's entirely accurate. :)
Another great comedy that should have run longer 👍
Same people composed it
This was a short lived "Barney Miller" spin-off series. Abe Vigoda reprises his role in which he and his wife are in charge of 5 juveniles that are on probation.
I thought the show did too he'd have been good in that and others too
Hahaha...I love this theme! That's Dan Ferguson, my bro, on guitar. What a tight sound.
Yeah, I think they outdid the Barney Miller theme with this one.
I would love to know who is playing bass and drums.
Dan is pretty sure it's Steve Schaefer on drums and Chuck Rainey on bass...and, may be Tom Scott on soprano sax...Mike Lang (keyboards) couldn't remember.
That's an impressive lineup. Thanks for responding.
And I didn't know there was an extended version of the Barney Miller theme.
I'm looking forward to hearing that.
Comments like yours are why I live for retro TH-cam. You go tell your bro he's tight as hell. He built a lot of people's childhood with this theme right here. Nothing goes unnoticed.
I thought it was Ernie Watts for a moment.
The great Chuck Rainey on bass and Steve Schaeffer on drums....what a groove!
So that's why it's so good. Didn't know Chuck did this. Now I have to put on Aja.
Gary Coleman should have been on this show.
Gary: " What you be talkin about, Fish?"
Fun fact, two of the people listed in the end credits, executive story consultants Barbara Avedon and Barbara Corday, would later be famous on their own accord as creators of the CBS crime drama "Cagney & Lacey."
I loved this show during nick at night in the 90s. Way after it's time and was still fresh.
Abe didn’t start acting until he was 50. His first role was a gangster by the name of Salvatore Tessio in The Godfather. He was a walk on at an open call.
That beat sound so cool for the late 70's....
"It is kind of like the theme from the Fish T.V. show! With Abe Vigoda! The Fish T.V. show! With Abe Vigoda!" Had to have that.
❤wombat.❤
Had that!
Theme song 12x better than the show! And Abe looked the same for like fifty years!! God bless him!
I recall the episode where Todd bridges character thought he was a priest and he says to fish "God loves you" and fish retorts with "if he loved me, I wouldn't be here!!"
RIP Abe Vigoda and Jack Soo!!
Two more James Gregory and Ron Glass
Also steve landesburg and Ron Carey
What about the Puerto Rican cop??
@@davidmoore535 Believe he is still with us and in his 80s now. ☀️👌📺🎥🎬💚
And Florence Stanley
Great theme. And I loved Abe Vigoda and Florence Stanley (Todd Bridges was also a very talented little actor as a child). I wish the producers had come up with a better show for them.
Omg forgot about this show was great going to be on decades this weekend
Great bass driven theme. Back when TV sitcoms were actually funny and well acted.
The Theme songs from the 70's and 80's were so funky!
Denise Miller looked exactly like Kristy McNichol. Kristy was still on Family, so she was not able to accept this role. Toss up as to who the actual better actress was. Denise did great work on Archie Bunker's Place. She could have gone much further with her career. Sadly, neither actress lived up to her potential. For those of you who are unaware, Denise played Billie Bundy (Archie's niece). Stephanie was not actually Archie's niece, but she was treated like a 2nd daughter. Archie grew as the show progressed. Archie, deep down, was a great person. Then again, Mike was a Meathead. Archie was the real hero of All In The Family. Mike was a real meathead.
Nice job on this. Great sound quality. One of the best tv theme songs of all time.
You can tell by the music they were going for the Barney Miller feel. Danny Arnold didn't want to write this show. He predicted it wouldn't be happily greeted by the viewership.
Oh, yes, I remember this series, loved it. TV Guide era.
It seems most 70s early 80s American sitcoms the composer, got the most badass jazz/funk musicians and when asked what do we play? He said “ just let it fucking rip”
I was lucky enough to Meet Ms.Stanley and Mr.Vigoda in NYC..before they left us..Unlike the characters that they played on"Barney Miller and Fish"..they were really gentle and sweet people..in Fact? When I met Mr.Vigoda..he was wearing a jogging outfit.."Believe It Or Else?".
He kept in great shape well into his 90's.
The master Chuck Rainey on bass! Absolutely tasty!!
Wish this program had stayed on.
Apparently it wasn’t cancelled. Abe Vigoda got a touch too greedy for his own good and started asking for more money, but ABC wasn’t having it, so they sent him packing. Pity, it was really good...
Why...Do you like garbage?
Loved this show, Fish orginally from Barney Miller my absolute FAVORITE I miss Those days
The themes are what make it.
In my opinion the 1970's WAS the golden age of television.
Abe Vigoda (2/24/1921-1/26/2016), R.I.P.
RIP Abe.
(Crying)I still miss you..Abe.
This show had a great concept. I wish it would have lasted more seasons.
Or more episodes it only lasted for 6
No, there were way more episodes than that. It ran for like two seasons.@@homelesshannah50
That was my favorite show but, it didn't last. But, it would today, I'd watch it !!!
awesome show!! and awesome theme!!
Maaaan I forgot about this show. 👍
Todd Bridges . . . BEFORE "Diff'rent Strokes"!
I watched the pilot for this recently and I thought that little kid was Todd Bridges. Heh.
Yes, it is.
Wow Nick, did you figure that out all by yourself?
TV Show Fact: Denise Miller and Barry Gordon would join in another TV Show Archie's Bunker Place.
Not bad theme music for this short-lived sitcom from 1978.
Lenny Bari had John Travolta qualities. Why he never became a superstar is beyond me.
The bass player is going insane tho
After Fish Todd Bridges was cast in the role of Willis Jackson in Different Strokes.
This was a funny show it ended too soon. Lumas( Todd Bridges) was my crush way back then.
Haha yeah.
Are we related?
Haha
@@nickhill8612 it's possible
Does anyone ever come into you tube looking for a show, and end up watching something different?
Cyphrinfinity That is impossible.
Damn... I never knew? There was a actual spin off to to the sitcom Barney Miller called Fish starring the late Abe Vigoda? After he left the show around that same year. Whoever uploaded this? Thanks. The theme and the ending credits sounds similar to Barney Miller. The 70's had produced some great sitcoms in it's day. So did the 80's and the 90's as well.
Abe Vigoda was really funny...R.I.P.
Thanks for posting. I'm doing a middle unit on the blues. And this is a blues! They'll be impressed.
Indeed a great theme song!
The kid with the big head...John Cassisi , who's show biz career was going to end shortly, became what he looked like...a construction site foreman
He was Fat Sam in the movie Bugsy Malone, so you could say he went out on a high note.😃
@@DavidBDavis-lz7btwith the great Scott Baio
had to have that
...Love THAT BASS PLAYING.!!
When channel 4 in D/FW carried the reruns on SAT afternoon roughly 1981, I was ready for it.
That's the spin-off of Barney Miller
Great theme music!
A young Todd Bridges, who would later go on to be Willis in "Diff'rent Strokes".
He played in Different Strokes before this show.
@@missayawk Diff'rent Strokes debuted after Fish was off the air. Fish only ran two seasons.
@@chuckers40 Ohhh.ok.Im getting the years mixed up.Thanks
I never knew this show existed until I ran across some old commercials from the 70’s
@@missayawk No, Diffrent Strokes came about a year after Fish was canceled.
Had to have that!
Kid: "Hey Mr. Fish! We were just talking about you."
Fish: (dryly) "Well don't ever do it again."
FYI, both Barry Gordon and Denise Miller would co-star some four years later on "Archie Bunker's Place as Jewish lawyer/business manager Gary Rabinowitz and Billie Bunker, Archie's niece, respectively.
i was thinking that
Ms Florence Stanley later on worked on a lil show called "My Two Dads"!!
Yep. She was the judge that the dads were taking care of the little girl I wanted to be my future wife. Staci Keanan. 🤭
Fish only lasted just 35 shows over 2 Seasons.
It certainly couldn’t be a hit like Barney Miller.
I would call this ABC show a “Should’ve Been a Bigger Hit Show” in 1977.
Sounds Barney Millerish
and Night Court. Same composers.
Fish was a spinoff of "Barney Miller"; so it kind of goes with the territory.
ikr? They got Barney Miller on a tv channel that has 70s and 80s shows on it and when I see it I think "Fish" lol.
2016BMWi8 That's cause it was a spin off Barney Miller.
Both themes were composed by Jack Elliott and Allyn Ferguson.
Wow... I have faint memories of Fish having his own spin-off. RIP Abe Vigoda
Florence Stanley would later on be a judge on My Two Dads.
All Rights To SONY PICTURES TELEVISION. RIP Abe Vigoda And Florence Stanley
He gladly made those kids a member of The Fish Gang. Loved that episode.
Did anyone else have a crush on Denise Miller back in the 70's? :)
Oh yes, I did. And when she was on Archie Bunker's Place, too. Didn't Barry Gordon join that cast, too?
I scrolled down a bit... Christopher Howell answered my question, even before I asked it(lol). Thank you, sir.🙂☺
Hello, Bella Bella!😃. I like your name; it's beautiful,
twice. Sarah Natoli was cute, too. I wonder whatever became of them? I could always nose around and find out(lol).
I actually saw this show BEFORE seeing Barney Miller. Looking back, the character of Fish seemed like the LAST person on earth that would want to take in foster kids.
His wife insisted on it.
Barney Miller was never the same after Fish left
It was never the same after Nick died either.
When "Fish" premiered on ABC primetime on Saturday, February 5, 1977, I had a babysitter night with Karen (Cullen) & Karla Stoddard (Smith) (age 16).
You know it had to be funky with him coming from The Barney Miller show
Had to have that... Ya wombat
I'd bet that's Chuck Rainey on bass just from the tone and playing style.
Ohhhhh our 70’s!!!!!!
I loved Barney Miller, but I had no idea Fish got his own show.
I don't remember the show either.
Wasn't Abe on a Snickers commercial or something?
@@nickhill8612 yes, with Betty White no less.
He looked older but not that old in real life
Todd Bridges was on Fish???
Yeah stupid.
After 35 episodes Fish was reeled in.
🤣🤣🤣
They had previously written the theme for "Barney Miller". You can really hear the similarity in style and instrumental choices.
Willis was on here? Wow..
well hello, Willis!
What a great theme (specifically the bass line, as noted in the comments)
OH MY WORRRDDDD I HAD FORGOT ALL BAOUT THIS UNTIL NOW man what the hellll ! I came across this on accident. Look at Todd bridges 😩
Just before he was fictonally adopted by Conrad Bain
Willis before he was Willis
Victor was hilarious
I heard at the time that the reason it was canceled is because someone advised Abe Vigoda not to get involved in his own series, and unfortunately he listened to them. (he later regretted it)
Todd Bridges said in an interview it was because Abe wanted more money.
I'm sorry to hear that:(.
Just like McLean Stevenson. He was advised not to leave MASH for his own show. He also regretted it.
This show ran for only one season, but yet it played in re-runs for sometime with only one season? I never understood why?
I think it was 2 seasons
The theme is too funky!!!
I never knew Willis(Todd Bridges) was on this show.
I'd never seen the show in my life, but I absolutely loved the theme song. It was on a CD of themes I remember owning when I was a teenager. Seriously funky. Did it ever air on TV in recent years?
This show was only on for a season, it probably hasn't been on air in a long while. You might be able to find episodes on TH-cam of it but probably not the whole series.
Good question.....where can we view it T odzy, 2023. Please?
@@bloodtopaz8816 It was on for 2 seasons actually.
Barney Miller spin off I love it surprised no spinoff called Yamana lol
Haha yeah good one.
How did Todd Bridges go bancrupt? He was on 2 sitcoms.
Drugs.
I agree
WOMBAT
Man I used to love this show, I guess because I liked Abe Vigoda from Barney Miller. Plus I'm Todd Bridges' age and I probably identified with those kids.
BERNICE!!! Can still hear Fish yelling her name, I loved how even his wife called him "Fish"