It's been a long night of patrol for Malloy and Reed. Just as the two tired officers are headed to the station to turn in for the night, shots are fired at the patrol car. In the blink of an eye, Reed kills whom he believes was the gunman. Back at the station, Reed undergoes a night of intensive questioning from the captain and lieutenant, as part of the superior officers' investigation into the incident. In the end, the captain confides in Reed that his story is credible and the rookie officer will likely be allowed back on patrol upon the completion of the investigation.

A "child-left-alone" call turns up a horrifying case of child neglect. A 6-year-old girl is left home with her baby brother and both parents are unable to provide for their children.

An impressionable Reed is taken in by the "cowboy cop" antics of fellow Officer Ed Wells (Gary Crosby), a wise guy who takes unnecessary and reckless risks to arrest suspects. At the station, Malloy loses his cool while talking to Wells because Wells' tactics endanger his life and others. Wells tries to play it down until his recklessness nearly catches up with him when he is shot in the shoulder by a psychotic sniper, and because of Wells' disobedience and foolishness Reed is also almost shot. Malloy and Reed are forced to rescue Wells and mastermind a way to end the standoff peacefully.

On Christmas eve Reed and Malloy make rounds distributing police department donation packages to needy families, and pull many heartstrings.

After roll call, Reed and Malloy provide backup at a robbery, help a lost man return home, handle a call about a prowler, then respond to a silent alarm. Malloy demonstrates for Reed the importance of "officer presence".

Malloy writes a young woman a traffic ticket and then is bombarded with attention and affection, all of which he doesn't want.

A couple of neighbors co-own a boat and continually fight over it so Malloy and Reed do their best to mediate this latest rift.

Pilot Episode: Working out of a patrol car designated "Adam-12," Officers Malloy and Reed perform a typical day's work, which includes a high speed auto-chase, the capture of two robbers, and an emergency call to save a suffocating baby. Malloy decides to turn in his badge after his young partner was killed a few weeks earlier. But at the end of the shift, he comes around and decides that he can't let inexperienced Jim Reed loose on another officer, so he decides not to leave the force.

Officer Reed learns that a professional officer has to keep their emotions under control; even when confronted with an abusive drunk-driver, right after clearing an "officer down" call & finding his close friend from the Academy critically wounded.

Walters and Brinkman are on a roll lately and like to brag, much to the irritation of Reed. He and Malloy help them out by finishing one of their calls, then rescue a sick teenage girl and arrest the young man who took her in. Back on patrol, they meet an informant who gives them a tip on a big drug buy scheduled for 11 PM. They give the info to Sgt. Miller who asks them to help in the bust.

Reed and Malloy make a routine traffic stop on a motorist. Before the NCIC check is completed, the dispatcher broadcasts a domestic dispute call in the two officers' patrol area; Reed and Malloy take the call and let the motorist go. Bad choice; the lieutenant soon calls the two errant officers in to scold them. Turns out the motorist had warrants out for his arrest on robbery and weapons charges. Malloy and Reed then come up with and carry out an ultimately successful plan to nab the wanted criminal.

Malloy and Reed learn of a serial home burglar stealing color TVs. They stumble upon the suspect's car with unusual results. Also, Reed must come to terms with his anger over a drug using mother that endangered her children to score dope.

Reed gets Malloy to agree to an early dinner when his wife puts him on a low-cal diet. However, one after another event prevents them from going code 7 all night long. Events include the theft of a man's sod, stolen credit cards, and a suspected car theft.

Reed and Malloy assist park rangers in catching a horse thief, a homesick Texan who was high on drugs at the time. The officers then chase two gunmen in a high speed pursuit.

Malloy and Reed respond to a call about a drug overdose and track the drugs to a 17-year-old who has barricaded himself in his room with a gun and threatens kill himself. They contend with a distraught mother and an overbearing father.

Officers Malloy and Reed assist a young mother whose baby is threatened by a deranged man and they help a woman being harassed by a spiteful neighbor. Reed worries all evening that the small dent in the fender he caused while backing the car up for fuel might lead to termination, since he is still on probation.

Officers Malloy and Reed are involved in a high speed chase, a murder case and a family dispute as they work the P.M. watch. Reed expresses frustration at turning a case over to detectives instead of investigating it.

In an episode where Reed learns to keep his wits under control, the officers deal with a loud noise complaint where an elderly woman refuses to answer, much less acknowledge, a teenaged girl's desperate pleas for help after the woman learns she was at a house where loud party music is being played, and it leads to a tragic drowning of a 4-year-old girl in a backyard swimming pool. Other calls include a brawl at a pop-spirituality temple on the verge of a schism over meditation styles, and a misused silent alarm at a liquor store.

Reed tries to pawn off his new litter of puppies to co-workers, strangers, even victims. The officers work a silent alarm, rescue a boy with his head stuck in a fence, and track down a prowler.

Officers Malloy and Reed look for a robbery suspect, help a woman pinned under her crashed car and settle a family dispute, among other duties.

A ditzy young woman reports her 1958 Ford convertible stolen while she went into a liquor store. She left the keys in the car, has no paperwork, doesn't know the license number or other details but she needs it by 6 PM for a date. She finally tells the officers that her eight-foot boa constrictor is in the trunk as she was coming from the vet.

Reed volunteers to line up entertainment for the department party, just as Malloy needs to serve a subpoena on a famous singer. The team learns of a drug den from their informant and are handed the bust when detectives are too busy to look into it.

While Malloy is attending college, radicals learn he is a cop. They reject him and antagonize him on the job. After helping arrest demonstrators, his new car is vandalized. When a timer is found missing, he locates and disarms a bomb using it.

Reed hears a joke from Ed Wells before roll call, and then spends the shift retelling it to Malloy. The partners solve a mystery for a little old lady. Later, Reed needs to break up a noisy party hosted by an old school chum.

Not long after an elderly woman insists that Reed and Malloy help adjust her television antenna, the officers are called to a high-rise hotel, where a suicidal man is determined to jump. Malloy incorrectly handles the situation and Mac harshly reprimands him the follow-up investigation.