Remembering the great Jack Soo, who passed away 42 years ago today. Best remembered as Nick Yemana on #BarneyMiller, Soo's fellow co-stars reflected on his legacy and funniest moments with a very special episode of the show.
His last words to Hal Linden as he was being wheeled into the operating room before his death were "It must have been the coffee." This was a reference to the running gag of his character Nick Yemana from Barney Miller (1975) having the reputation for making horrible coffee.
A brilliant comic talent with dead pan humor that has seen no match. That memorial episode was a first in television history and it too has seen no match. R.I.P. Jack.
It was the first memorial television history. If I'm not mistaken, Jack Soo was one of the first actor from the golden era of television to passed away in the early stages right before cable network. Remember, most of his peers started to drop dead twenty-thirty years later.
Shoot some clams...I watch that episode over and over just to watch Jack deliver that line. Plus later in the same episode where he comes walking out of Barney's office and says, " Anyone seen my legs?" He may not have written the dialogue, but his delivery was PRICELESS. RIP Goro.
I remember when the heat was off in the building. Everybody was wearing winter coats. In the background a telephone rang and Jack answered it saying, "Twelfth precinct. Nanook speaking".
I barely remember Jack Soo... I was 2yrs old when he died. But I did see him in reruns in the early 1980's. I never thought too much of him until about 15 mins ago when I came across an old photo of him and it gave me flashbacks to a better time in my life. I am glad the people at the end of this video gave a toast to him. I can only hope that when I pass, I get anything even remotely as good.
You watch a show for years, as I did with Barney Miller. With so many stories and situations you feel involved and it begins to feel like you have friends there.....Then a sudden wake up call brings to the realization that the show and the characters and the actors and all who are part of it have touched you. That's how I felt in 1979 when this show aired and the cast appeared as themselves and shared their heartbreak over the loss of Jack Soo, whom I personally admired and thought he had the most wicked comic timing of anyone on TV at that time. I too felt the loss through them. Now all these years later, most of the cast members have passed away and I miss them too. But mainly, I miss the happiness they gave me as a part of the audience. That only lasts a short time though, because I can watch even a short clip, and be brought right back to that first time I laughed until it hurt.
The writing was always impeccable. I would have loved to sit in the writers room while they developed a script. What a riot!! The show was faultless-- in every way. 🤣😍 Pure gold.
Dietrich was such a know-it-all, and after he goes so deep into his "understanding" of Yemana's background, it's such a perfect "what the hell are you talking about?" line.
This was a much more respectful sendoff that a lot of shows would do. We almost expect them to kill off the character. For a cop show probably a heart attack or shot on duty. This episode was well done.
What a classy-seeming show. When I think of 70s sitcoms, the ones that seemed to be rerun the most were the Norman Lear sitcoms (minus Maude and One Day at a Time), Alice and Three's Company. It's odd that Barney Miller and Mary Tyler Moore (and all of its spinoffs) didn't get as much syndication airplay past its production run like the aforementioned.
At least he got a good send off compared to Coach in Cheers where he was written out because his health was declining and then sadly died of a heart attack before the season 4 taping.
Actually he was billed as the Chinese Bing Crosby. He was Japanese, but knew at that time... being "Chinese" would be more accepted, and he knew that Americans cannot tell the difference.
I was born in Omaha ! The sad part about ww2 was the belief that Japan had the logistic capability to invade or even attack the west coast. This cost americans their freedom. There was a US Army company made up solely of Japanese Americans who fought gallantly in Italy and the only American force to fix bayonets and scream a bonzi charge. The Germans that lived and were captured thought Japan had changed sides. America the beautiful…for the many colors that we are…that no other country can claim as much as we and hopefully no other country will go through what we have to achieve a sense of brother hood for we are all Mericans!
@@wintonhudelson2252 442nd Regimental Combat Team, which grew out of the 100th ("One-Puka-Puka") Battalion in Hawai'i, then folded back in. One-Puka-Puka is now the only infantry battalion in the US Army Reserve.
It Does sucks when somebody on tv fun to watch gotta pass somehow it kinda remind me of good times when thay say about james just not goin to say Rip sorry guys But im goin to give my Love to him just hate to see a nother character on tv go too soon
