I have to confess that I never thought Barney Miller was a show for me. A child of the '80s, I would constantly see it on the syndicated afternoon TV schedule, but because of its lack of aliens, puppets, or ninja turtles I never gave it a moment’s thought. Of course, that’s before I learned about the show’s subversive gay backstory. Barney Miller debuted in 1975 as a mid-season replacement after ABC axed a whole.