Fish

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.