Victor Loves Tessio

Old friend and occasional guest blogger has a thing for Abe Vigoda. But, Victor, Tessio sold out to the Barzini family!


The older I get, the more wisdom I mine from one of the great
exchanges between Fish and Barney on the Barney Miller Show. The fact
that I retain this perhaps says too much about my sense of humour. I
think the exchange is one of the priceless gems of American comedy.
Here it is.

Barney: So Fish, when you retire are you thinking of getting a job in
one of small town police departments in Florida"?

Abe: " Nah, a friend of mine did that and he died of boredom".

Barney: " Nothing for him to do, right"?

Abe: "Nah, an old bored guy walked in and shot him".

Ok, you don't get the depth here. Florida? Blue hair state? Chasing
career dreams at 70? The lurking horror of boredom at the bottom of
the false teeth jar? Fine. You don't get it.

But I think that Fish is the seniors' version of the Big Lebowski and
I think Abe Vigoda was 20 years ahead of his time in that respect.

I think that with the huge grey wave facing society, Abe's portrayal
of Fish was prescient. He was the Grey Lebowski. A big character in
future.

What do I know?