Title: The Delegate
Directed by: Noam Pitlik
Written by: Jim Tisdale
Air Date: November 13, 1980
Previous: Homicide: Part 2
Next: Dorsey
Guest Starring: Phil Leeds, Bob Dishy, Bonnie Bartlett
"The Delegate" is the third episode of the seventh season of Barney Miller.
The detectives bring in one Richard Milford, who has been arrested for creating a disturbance after he was unable to get a couple of prostitutes in a hotel bar to entertain him. It turns out that Mr. Milford was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention—in 1976. He decided to stick around for a few days after the convention was over and went on a four-year debauch. His wife Ellen, summoned from Harrisburg to pick him up, is surprisingly understanding.
Meanwhile, a new uniform, Officer Nash, is impressing everyone with his helpfulness and industriousness. Everyone, that is, except for Levitt, who does not like being upstaged. Levitt does a little checking on Nash and finds that he is not an officer of the NYPD at all.
In another case: Harris is investigating a very odd string off robberies: all on Lexington Avenue, all on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday, and all happening between 2:00 and 3:15.
Tropes:
- Comically Missing the Point: Wojo comes in a little crankier than his usual cheerful self. Barney says "Did you get up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?", and Wojo says "What, did she call here?"
- Easily Forgiven: Richard Milford, who abandoned his wife four years ago, is shocked when his wife is willing to simply accept him coming back home. He was clearly hoping that she'd tell him to get lost.Mr. Milford: Is there no end to your understanding?
- Here We Go Again!: The episode ends with Mrs. Milford darting back into the squad room looking for her husband, who seems to have dashed off again.
- Impersonating an Officer: "Officer" Nash isn't a policeman at all. He's simply a bored old man with an interest in police work, a former CPA. He managed to get hold of a uniform and started coming in and helping with administrative tasks.
- Parent Never Came Back from the Store: Husband never came back from the store. Richard Milford went to New York to attend the 1976 Democratic convention, and never came back.
- Shown Their Work: In fact, both the 1976 and the 1980 Democratic National Conventions were held in New York.
- Stupid Crooks: The guy making the oddly regular thefts on Lexington Avenue turns out to be a convict, on work release, who has been committing armed robbery during the times that he is supposed to be going to computer programming classes.
