Title: Evacuation
Directed by: Noam Pitlik
Written by: Danny Arnold and Chris Hayward (story), Danny Arnold (teleplay)
Air Date: September 23, 1976
Previous: The Mole
Next: Quarantine, Part 1
Guest Starring: James Gregory, Kenneth Mars, Paul Lichtman, Denise Miller
"Evacuation" was the first episode of the third season of Barney Miller.
With a hurricane possibly threatening New York, Det. Wojciehowicz has gotten ahold of the city's emergency preparedness manual. Wojo, being a conscientious policeman, has gone through the manual looking for plans to evacuate the city, just in case. He finds out to his shock that there aren't any plans to evacuate the city. Barney doesn't think it's a big deal but Wojo, being Wojo, starts worrying about just what the heck they would do if 11 million New Yorkers had to be moved out of the city. He begins calling around to other departments and agencies for details, and in the process, starting a snowball of rumors that there actually is a looming major emergency threat to the city.
Meanwhile, Fish brings in one Jilly Pappalardo (Denise Miller), a girl in her early teens caught trying to pawn stolen goods. He learns that with both parents out of the picture, Jilly has been living in a group home with foster parents. He's surprised to further learn that the kids in the group home have been living without supervision, two of the foster parents being out of town and the third having died.
First appearance by Jilly Pappalardo, who would eventually be one of the orphans that Fish looked after in the Barney Miller spinoff Fish.
Tropes:
- Body in a Breadbox: It seems that of the three adults who have been looking after the children's home, two are AWOL. So when the third died, the kids put him in a bathtub that they filled full of ice, rather than report his death and go back to the orphanage.
- Continuity Nod: Dietrich is said to be out of the office because he has court. Since Dietrich had only appeared on the show once, back in episode 2-12 "Fish", this apparently was solely to remind the viewers of the name. Dietrich made his return three episodes after this in "Bus Stop", and soon became a regular.
- Delinquents: Jilly Pappalardo, who has the attitude of a young delinquent and the record to match, although this latest incident was only because there were no longer any adults in the home to look after them.
- Disappeared Dad: Half of the reason why Jilly's in an orphanage. Her father's in jail.
- Eye-Obscuring Hat: Jilly Pappalardo wears one, apparently as a defense mechanism.
- Fostering for Profit: What was going on with Jilly Pappalardo in her foster home. As bad as it was, the foster home was apparently better than the orphanage, which was why Jilly and the other kids resorted to a Body in a Breadbox.
- Gossipy Hens: One, in the person of Officer Callahan (Kenneth Mars, who played the Nazi playwright in The Producers). He gossips about how Inspector Luger has a thing going with a cashier in Bensonhurst. He apparently is one of the main reasons why the rumors of a looming disaster spread so quickly.
- Missing Mom: The other half of the reason Jilly's in an orphanage. Her mother is in San Diego "going steady with an aircraft carrier."
- Orphanage of Fear: Children's Center, according to young Jilly Pappalardo.Jilly I hate it, I don't want to live there, you get pushed around and the food stinks!
Fish If I can take it, you can take it. - Unreveal Angle: The squad room's toilet was never shown on the series but was repeatedly said to be ghastly. Beckman the maintenance man, who is there to replace the light, takes a look and says "You sure you want a light on in there?"
