jackie gleason played bass on barney miller theme song.
who played bass on barney miller theme song?
jackie gleason
the show's instrumental jazz fusion theme music, written by jack elliott and allyn ferguson, opens with a distinctive bass line performed by studio musician chuck berghofer. the bass line was improvised by berghofer at the request of producer dominik hauser: "can you do something on the bass? this guy is a cop in new york. can we just start it out with the bass?" the theme song was ranked #23 and #27, respectively, by "complex" and "paste" magazines, in their lists of "best tv theme songs".
barney miller
though his subsequent work was popular with audiences, arnold frequently butted heads with tv executives regarding issues of content and fair shooting schedules. television sitcom writer-director ken levine described arnold as "brilliant, unpredictable (a nice term for bi-polar), demanding, and kind." tapings on "barney miller" became legendary for lasting into the wee hours as arnold worked on rewrites; due to these extended tapings the show in its later seasons ceased having a live audience. while working on "barney miller", arnold became so sick of the constant network battles that he founded his own distribution company pro-synd, inc., so he could syndicate shows as he wished, but with the cancellation of his subsequent series "joe bash" and "stat", his plans for "barney miller" never came to fruition. he eventually sued regarding what he felt was the unfair sharing of the profits from "barney miller" and got a $50 million settlement.
danny arnold