Title: The Social Worker
Directed by: Noam Pitlik
Written by: Chris Hayward, Danny Arnold, and Arne Sultan
Air Date: September 18, 1975
Previous: Doomsday
Next: The Layoff
Guest Starring: James Gregory, Alex Henteloff
"The Social Worker" is the second episode of the second season of Barney Miller.
Liz Miller has gotten a job as a social worker. Barney is less than thrilled about this, especially when Liz is dispatched to a rough neighborhood in the south Bronx (Liz tells Barney that the Rockefellers don't need her). When Barney hears loud noises and breaking glass from the apartment where Liz is calling him, he calls the local Bronx precinct to send a squad car.
Meanwhile, the 12th Precinct has arrested one Harold Polanski, who specializes in forging checks. Harold impresses everyone in the squad room with his ability to forge signatures. Inspector Luger makes one of his occasional visits to the squad room and notices Wojo's souvenir baseball, which has signatures from the World Series champion 1936 New York Yankees. Luger decides that he wants the baseball, and starts pressuring Wojo, who doesn't want to sell. And Fish, who temporarily forgot his wife Bernice's name, realizes he also forgot her birthday.
Tropes:
- And Starring: James Gregory gets "Special Guest Star" credit.
- Chekhov's Skill: Luger is putting pressure on Wojciehowicz to fork over his baseball autographed by the 1936 Yankees. The 12th has a forger who specializes in fake signatures sitting in a holding cell. The episode ends with Wojo giving Luger a baseball covered in signatures forged by Harold Polanski.
- The Dandy: Suit-wearing Harris disapproves of Chano's casual attire, saying "You wear dishonest clothes!"
- Facepalm: Fish claps his hand to his forehead when he realizes that he didn't just forget Bernice's name, he forgot her birthday.
- Forgotten Birthday: Fish is left trying to find a cake at a day-old bakery for Bernice. The best they've got is "Happy Birthday Bernie", so he asks if they can get a C.
- Malaproper: Luger. He explains his throw-away-the-key attitudes towards incarceration by saying "a leopard will never change his stripes."
- Newhart Phone Call: Played for drama, as Barney's increasing agitation while talking to Liz on the phone ("Is someone shouting?"..."Is that breaking glass?") eventually leads to him calling out a squad car to her location in the Bronx.
- Unwanted Rescue: Barney's panicked phone call to the Bronx results in five NYPD cops storming an apartment and "rescuing" Liz. Liz is extremely irritated at Barney for this.
