Barney Miller (TV Series) The DNA Story (1979) User Reviews

Kay Medford and Jack Kruschen

[kevinolzak · 7/10 · 21 June 2014]

"The DNA Story" features veteran actress Kay Medford (second of three) as Mrs. Millicent Kamen, who walks in and proclaims that her husband is missing. When an incredulous Harris tries to dig a little deeper, she insists that husband Rudolph (Jack Kruschen, second of three) is not really the man she married but an imposter that looks and sounds like him (Harris: "check the basement for pods?" Millicent: "that's the first thing I did!"). What convinced her that he's not Rudolph is his performance in bed (Millicent: "you can't duplicate that!" Harris: "nor would we want to!"). After she locks herself in the men's room, giving the audience our first ever view of Fish's private sanctuary, it's up to Harris to finally convince her that problems can be better worked out with her heartsick spouse, because she won't be alone. Meanwhile, with Wojo running later than usual, Barney himself goes out on a call (which doesn't sit well with Levitt), bringing back two doctors reporting stolen equipment from a genetics research institute. Dr. Eric Rubin (Raymond Singer, second of two) is deeply alarmed about the missing DNA cultures that might prove deadly, while Dr. Joseph Burlson (Stefan Gierasch, fourth of five) is merely concerned with losing an upcoming grant. The uncomprehending thief (A Martinez, first of two) simply flushed the items down the toilet, unable to profit from his find (Dietrich asks for his "next of kin!").

Poignant.

[rms125a · 8/10 · 11 January 2021]

During her tragically shortened life (she died at age 60), almost all of which was spent in service of acting, Kay Medford gave her all to every role she played -- drama or comedy, musical or non-musical -- and here she does no less. She gives a luminous performance, funny and poignant by turns, as a woman dealing with a troubled marriage and middle-aged angst which lead her to believe her husband (played by Jack Kruschen) is a kind of impostor of the pod person/body snatcher variety. Harris treats her with genuine compassion instead of his usual flippant snark and Kruschen does his shtick, and the episode succeeds in its modest and limited goal of entertaining the viewer while never insulting his or her intelligence.