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The Best Episodes of Hardcastle and McCormick

Every episode of Hardcastle and McCormick ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of Hardcastle and McCormick!

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Hardcastle and McCormick is an American action/drama television series from Stephen J. Cannell Productions, shown on ABC from 1983 through 1986. The series stars Brian Keith as Judge Milton C. Hardcastle and Daniel Hugh Kelly

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
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    Hardcastle and McCormick Season 1 Episode 20 - The Homecoming (2)
    8.2/10(51 votes)

    #1 - The Homecoming (2)

    S1:E20

    Hardcastle hides out with another old friend, recovering from his injuries, while he tries to figure out how to retrieve the evidence against the town officials. Meanwhile, Mark and Christy take refuge in an abandoned cabin.

    Director:Bruce Kessler
    Writer:Patrick Hasburgh

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  2. Hardcastle and McCormick Season 2 Episode 1 - Outlaw Champion
    8.2/10(47 votes)

    #2 - Outlaw Champion

    S2:E1

    Hardcastle and McCormick must help protect a famous race car driver who is in danger of losing his claim to fame as well as his life.

    Director:Leo Penn
    Writer:Patrick Hasburgh

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  3. Hardcastle and McCormick Season 2 Episode 13 - Too Rich and Too Thin
    8.2/10(44 votes)

    #3 - Too Rich and Too Thin

    S2:E13

    After investigating the suicide of a comic, Hardcastle relizes that it wasn't really suicide after he and McCormick prevent the attempted kidnapping of the comic's wife.

    Director:Michael J. Kane
    Writers:Tom Szollosi, Richard Christian Matheson, Ross Thomas

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  4. Hardcastle and McCormick Season 1 Episode 13 - Just Another Round of That Old Song
    8.0/10(49 votes)

    #4 - Just Another Round of That Old Song

    S1:E13

    Keenan Wynn guest stars as an old bank robber, just released from prison, who attempts to locate the cash stored in an armored car that he robbed in the '40s.

    Director:Allen Reisner
    Writer:Patrick Hasburgh

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  5. Hardcastle and McCormick Season 2 Episode 6 - Whatever Happened to Guts?
    8.0/10(43 votes)

    #5 - Whatever Happened to Guts?

    S2:E6

    When star of a television court show has to go into the hospital for surgery, he asks Hardcastle to fill in as the show's star. But, his enthusiasm for the show comes to a halt when the station's public relations person is murdered.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Richard Christian Matheson

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  6. Hardcastle and McCormick Season 2 Episode 15 - Hardcastle, Hardcastle, Hardcastle and McCormick
    8.0/10(42 votes)

    #6 - Hardcastle, Hardcastle, Hardcastle and McCormick

    S2:E15

    Hardcase's two aunts help out during a nursing home jewelry heist.

    Director:Kim Manners
    Writer:Lawrence Hertzog

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    The 20 WORST Episodes of Hardcastle and McCormick

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  7. Hardcastle and McCormick Season 3 Episode 5 - The Career Breaker
    8.0/10(32 votes)

    #7 - The Career Breaker

    S3:E5

    On vacation, Hardcastle travels down to Canary Creek, California to participate in an annual fishing contest. To Hardcastle's surprise, Tina Cutter, the local sheriff's sixteen year old daughter, accuses him of rape. While transporting the judge to jail, Sheriff Dale Cutler tries to kill him. Thanks to Mark's timely arrival, the sheriff is forced to postpone his assassination. Realizing that the judge is in mortal danger, Mark, posing as a drunk, breaks his friend out of jail. Once free, Hardcastle begins to question why Tina framed him. Recalling an earlier meeting with the sheriff, Hardcastle, who has concluded that Tina's own father set up the false rape, realizes that he had mentioned a plane he came across while fishing. Returning to the fishing site, Hardcastle seeing the sheriff and some of the local residents dismantling the plane, ascertains that the sheriff had discovered a downed drug transport. Following the sheriff, Hardcastle and McCormick watch as the residents try to sell the drugs to a major dealer. With the help of a conveniently located forklift, Hardcastle and McCormick manage to capture the sheriff and the dealers. Later, once the sheriff's plans have been exposed, Hardcastle is cleared of the rape charges.

    Director:Kim Manners
    Writer:Stephen J. Cannell

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  8. Hardcastle and McCormick Season 3 Episode 6 - Do Not Go Gentle
    8.0/10(36 votes)

    #8 - Do Not Go Gentle

    S3:E6

    Entering the hospital for a routine checkup, Hardcastle discovers that he is dying from an incurable disease. Not wanting to let his friend just fade away, Mark convinces Hardcastle to live his remaining days to the fullest, Taking Mark's advice to heart, the judge, using the money he inherited from his wife, buys a one million dollar boat. Hardcastle's boating career is short lived, however, for armed men steal the boat. Although Hardcastle is initially willing to let the police handle the crime, he changes his mind after discovering that the hospital made a mistake and he is not really dying. Searching the docks, Hardcastle and McCormick locate the boat. Instead of reclaiming his property, Hardcastle discovers that the boat really belongs to an influential Senator. Realizing that Barry Jackson, the man who illegally "sold" him the boat, is a con artist, Hardcastle contacts his bank to find out where his money is being transferred. With Lieutenant Harper's help, Hardcastle and McCormick stake out the bank and capture Jackson. In the process, Hardcastle recovers his money.

    Director:Bruce Kessler
    Writer:Patrick Hasburgh

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  9. Hardcastle and McCormick Season 3 Episode 19 - Poker Night
    8.0/10(35 votes)

    #9 - Poker Night

    S3:E19

    When Mark gets a date with a woman named Debbie Pledger, Hardcastle has to find a new player for poker night. To the judge's regret, Judge Mattie Groves, Lieutenant Frank Harper, and bailiff Charlie Masaryk, the other poker players, arrange to have Assistant District Attorney Freddie "Bummer" Bumgarner, a man Hardcastle despises, join them for the game. Meanwhile, a nearby liquor store is robbed. Needing a place to hide, robbers Tommy Kitchens, Crazy Horse and Joey Britton flee to Hardcastle's estate. Entering the judge's house, the robbers quickly take the poker players hostage. The situation worsens when they discover Frank is a cop and shoot him. Arriving at the main house to get some wine, Mark learns about the hostage situation. With some help from Frank, who was left in one of the bedrooms, Mark prepares a trap for the robbers. Thanks to an uncharacteristic heroic act on Freddie's part, Mark is able to successfully implement his plan and capture Tommy and his men.

    Director:Michael J. Kane
    Writer:Marianne Clarkson

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  10. Hardcastle and McCormick Season 3 Episode 22 - A Chip Off the Ol' Milt
    8.0/10(36 votes)

    #10 - A Chip Off the Ol' Milt

    S3:E22

    As the final episode begins, Mark, who has secretly begun attending law school, is offered a paralegal job by Kenneth Malcolm, one of his professors. Meanwhile, Hardcastle, realizing that Mark's parole is up, decides to buy a car repair business, as a surprise gift for his friend. Upon hearing about Mark's job offer, Hardcastle, not wanting to stand in his friend's way, lies and tells his friend that he bought the company for himself. For his first assignment at law firm Malcolm, Hughes and Dewitt, Mark is asked to reclaim the possessions of Elsey, a resident of the Sunset Acres Retirement Home. Arriving at the home, Mark makes the acquaintance of Mimi LeGrand, a retired actress. Immediately liking Mimi, Mark is more than willing to comply when the former actress asks him to open a bank account for her. To Mark's surprise, he discovers that someone has already opened an account in Mimi's name. Concerned, Mark decides to go to Hardcastle for help. Before the two men are able to really learn anything in the case, they end up in jail as a result of a mistake made by Leroy, Hardcastle's assistant at the car company. While awaiting their release, Hardcastle decides to tell his friend the truth about why he bought the company. In response, Mark reveals that he has been going to law school in an attempt to follow in his friend's footsteps. Once released, Hardcastle and McCormick discover evidence that Malcolm and resident home manager Leonard Porter have been killing the residents and stealing their money. (They were able to move the money by secretly creating bank accounts in the seniors' names.) Armed with sufficient evidence, the crime fighting duo stop Malcolm and Porter. Despite the fall of his professor, Mark vows to continue attending law school. After selling the car business, Hardcastle makes a generous bet with Mark: If the ex-race car driver can beat him in a game of basketball, the judge will pay the law school bill. Due in the most part to Hardcastle's generosity, Mark wins the game.

    Director:Les Sheldon
    Writers:Carol Mendelsohn, Marianne Clarkson

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  11. Hardcastle and McCormick Season 1 Episode 1 - Rolling Thunder (1)
    7.9/10(84 votes)

    #11 - Rolling Thunder (1)

    S1:E1

    As the series begins, ex-race car driver Mark McCormick accepts a job driving the Coyote X, an experimental car designed by a friend of his named Flip Johnson. Mark loses his job, however, after Flip is killed in a car accident and ownership of the car is granted to industrialist Martin Cody. Eventually, Mark is brought before Hardcastle, who is presiding over his last case, Mark is given a choice: help the judge round-up two hundred men who walked out of the judge's courtroom on technicalities or go back to prison.

    Director:Roger Young
    Writers:Patrick Hasburgh, Stephen J. Cannell

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  12. Hardcastle and McCormick Season 1 Episode 2 - Rolling Thunder (2)
    7.9/10(68 votes)

    #12 - Rolling Thunder (2)

    S1:E2

    See Part One

    Director:Roger Young
    Writers:Patrick Hasburgh, Stephen J. Cannell

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  13. Hardcastle and McCormick Season 1 Episode 19 - The Homecoming (1)
    7.9/10(44 votes)

    #13 - The Homecoming (1)

    S1:E19

    Hardcastle returns to his hometown in Arkansas for a high school reunion, only to learn from an old friend that people are being swindled out of their farms. After the friend is murdered, and his daughter asks the judge for help, Hardcastle enlists McCormick to burglarize the local land office.

    Director:Tony Mordente
    Writer:Patrick Hasburgh

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  14. Hardcastle and McCormick Season 2 Episode 3 - You Would Cry Too, If It Happened to You
    7.9/10(37 votes)

    #14 - You Would Cry Too, If It Happened to You

    S2:E3

    After telling his poker buddies to clean up the house before he gets back from the airport with the judge, McCormick returns with Hardcastle to discover that everything valuable on the estate has been stolen, including all of the judge's files on past cases.

    Director:Tony Mordente
    Writer:Lawrence Hertzog

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  15. Hardcastle and McCormick Season 2 Episode 10 - Hate the Picture, Love the Frame
    7.9/10(41 votes)

    #15 - Hate the Picture, Love the Frame

    S2:E10

    Hardcastle is arrested after a woman whom he had prevously had a chance encounter earlier is found dead in his home. Thinking the judge was framed due to his ruling on his latest case, McCormick tries to help his friend get out of jail.

    Director:Dennis Donnelly
    Writer:Unknown

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  16. Hardcastle and McCormick Season 2 Episode 18 - The Birthday Present
    7.9/10(35 votes)

    #16 - The Birthday Present

    S2:E18

    With the judge's birthday coming up, Mark decides to unofficially help him close a cold case related to a soon-to-be-paroled crimial that Hardcastle put in jail for another crime. Unfortunately, the new trial winds up with Hardcastle being shot and the criminal escaping.

    Director:Tony Mordente
    Writer:Stephen J. Cannell

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  17. Hardcastle and McCormick Season 2 Episode 19 - Surprise on Seagull Beach
    7.9/10(39 votes)

    #17 - Surprise on Seagull Beach

    S2:E19

    After finding strange German bullets on the beach, Hardcastle gets involved in an underground treasure hunt for World War II gold at the beach. Meanwhile, McCormick also gets involved with the hunt by being kidnapped by WWII Germans attempting to recover the gold.

    Director:Michael O'Herlihy
    Writer:Patrick Hasburgh

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  18. Hardcastle and McCormick Season 3 Episode 8 - Strangle Hold
    7.9/10(38 votes)

    #18 - Strangle Hold

    S3:E8

    Shortly after contacting her friend Mark for help, wrestler Kate Murphy dies during a match. Recognizing that Kate's death was no accident, Mark decides to follow-up on his friend's suspicions that wrestling promoter Marty Torrance is behind the disappearance of a number of young woman. Upon assembling a plan of action, Hardcastle asks friends Lucy and Denise to go undercover as wrestlers. Posing as a wrestling promoter, Hardcastle has Denise, using the alias of "White Lighting" challenge Nancy Mack, one of Marty's wrestlers. Impressed with Denise's ability, Marty agrees to a match and allows Hardcastle's team to train in his gym. Furthermore, Marty, seeing potential in Lucy, asks the "wrestler" out on the date. Although Lucy only goes on the date to get evidence against Marty, the promoter has his own plans. Before Lucy is able to contact the judge, however, Marty prepares to sell her to a white slavery ring. Worried about Lucy, Hardcastle confronts Nancy. Having suffered a falling out with Marty, Nancy comes clean and tells the judge about Marty's plans. Searching the promoter's house, Hardcastle and McCormick come across the location of Marty's meeting with the slavers. Thanks to Mark's driving expertise, Hardcastle arrives at the meeting site in time to rescue Lucy and stop the slavers.

    Director:Michael Switzer
    Writer:Marianne Clarkson

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  19. Hardcastle and McCormick Season 3 Episode 11 - Conventional Warfare
    7.9/10(33 votes)

    #19 - Conventional Warfare

    S3:E11

    In an unusual coincidence, a judge's convention is scheduled at the same hotel as a major mob meeting. Unable to do anything about the mobsters (as they have not been caught breaking any laws), Hardcastle instead concentrates on his nomination for a lifetime achievement award. For some extra insurance, Hardcastle pulls strings and has himself put in what he considers to be a lucky room. Actually, Hardcastle ends up in a room originally assigned to a hitman. That night, believing the assassin is in the judge's room, someone leaves a suitcase containing a rifle and a picture of mobsters Don Ferris and Sid Storm. Before Hardcastle can show the police, he is ambushed and the suitcase is taken. Hardcastle, unable to provide the police with any evidence, decides to visit Ferris. Although the mobsters are initially unwilling to believe the judge, they change their mind after Sid is murdered. Establishing an uneasy alliance, Ferry and Hardcastle put together the clues and realize that the hitman is a man named Lee Orlando. Reviewing Orlando's' recent history, Hardcastle discovers that the hitman has a connection with "Bucky" O'Neil, his main rival for the judge's award. Analyzing Bucky's court records, Hardcastle uncovers evidence that his rival has been fixing trials for the mob. Meanwhile, Ferris learns that Hardcastle is the assassin's next target. Due in part to the unorthodox teaming of Mark and the mob, Orlando is stopped and Hardcastle captures Bucky. Afterwards, Hardcastle, who does not win the judge's award, finds himself the unlikely recipient of an award from Ferris and the mob.

    Director:Sigmund Neufeld Jr.
    Writer:Steven L. Sears

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  20. Hardcastle and McCormick Season 2 Episode 8 - One of the Girls from Accounting
    7.8/10(40 votes)

    #20 - One of the Girls from Accounting

    S2:E8

    While attending business downtown, Mark rushes to the aid of a woman being attacked by men in a mail truck. While he thinks he can find safety from the police officer reponding to their call, the woman informs him the officer is actually a member of an unofficial "underground" police and they are far from being safe.

    Director:Bruce Kessler
    Writer:Stephen J. Cannell

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  21. Hardcastle and McCormick Season 2 Episode 12 - There Goes the Neighborhood
    7.8/10(38 votes)

    #21 - There Goes the Neighborhood

    S2:E12

    Hardcastle's neighbors begin a Neighborhood Watch program after a series of local burglaries have them worried. After being overlooked by the organization for the selection of their Captain, the judge forgets about his displeasure when the thieves are caught only to be found dead later from a mysterious virus.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Lawrence Hertzog

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  22. Hardcastle and McCormick Season 2 Episode 16 - The Long Ago Girl
    7.8/10(35 votes)

    #22 - The Long Ago Girl

    S2:E16

    Hardcastle cuts his fishing trip short when he receives word of the death of his old girlfriend's current husband. After deciding to check up on her, he is shot as he interrupts a burglar at her house, who looks like the deceased husband.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Stephen J. Cannell

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  23. Hardcastle and McCormick Season 3 Episode 3 - The Yankee Clipper
    7.8/10(39 votes)

    #23 - The Yankee Clipper

    S3:E3

    When Bill Bauer is declared dead after being MIA from the Marines for 10 years, Mark, the soldier's former best friend, is asked to handle the funeral arrangements. The funeral does have one positive result for it reunites Mark with old friends Patrick Burke, Jeff Steffan and Peter Trigg. To Mark's surprise, shortly after the funeral, Bauer turns up very much alive. Upon being confronted by his angered friend, Bauer explains that he had been in charge of destroying cash when the United States pulled out of Vietnam in 1975. Instead of following orders, however, he had waited for an opportunity to smuggle the money into the country. Continuing, Bauer relays how he used "his" casket as a way of transporting the cash. Bauer realizes that his plan is falling apart when someone tries to kill him. Seeing no alternative, Bauer decides to go after the men chasing him. Following Bauer, Hardcastle and McCormick discover that Peter Trigg, secretly the leader of a group of terrorists, is trying to get a hold of Bauer's money in order to buy weapons. Although Trigg temporarily manages to capture Hardcastle and McCormick, the two men are able to turn the tables thanks to Bauer's intervention. Later, the police are all set to take Bauer into custody when the ex-soldier decides to disappear again.

    Director:Sigmund Neufeld Jr.
    Writer:Patrick Hasburgh

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  24. Hardcastle and McCormick Season 3 Episode 12 - Duet for Two Wind Instruments
    7.8/10(33 votes)

    #24 - Duet for Two Wind Instruments

    S3:E12

    When the courts discover that a convicted felon named Randy Hopke had been defended by an incompetent lawyer, the original ruling is overturned and all charges are dropped. Hopke's release quickly prompts an argument between the judge and Mark. Hardcastle, having presided over the case, insists that, as originally determined, Hopke is guilty of assaulting his girlfriend Val Mickaelian. On the other hand, Mark, having known Hopke from when he was in prison, insists that the judge made a mistake. The two men, each hoping to prove they are right, set out to prove their respective positions. In the process of their investigations, both Hardcastle and McCormick realize that they are both wrong: While they learn that Hopke did not actually assault Val, they also discover that the released prisoner had planned the assault and was willing to serve a limited prison sentence to cover-up the fact that he had committed a murder during a diamond store heist. Theorizing that Val is probably working with Hopke, Hardcastle and McCormick follow her. As expected, she leads them to Hopke as well as the stolen merchandise. After an unusual "bus" chase, Hopke is captured and the case is finally resolved.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Lawrence Hertzog

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  25. Hardcastle and McCormick Season 1 Episode 14 - Third Down and Twenty Years to Life
    7.7/10(45 votes)

    #25 - Third Down and Twenty Years to Life

    S1:E14

    A law student at a local college claims that her brother, who was sent to prison for 20 years by Judge Hardcastle, was framed for murder. He ignores her, but when someone tries to kidnap her, he reviews the case and sends Mark on an undercover investigation to the school as a football player.

    Director:Georg Stanford Brown
    Writer:Unknown

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Best Episodes Summary

"The Homecoming (2)" is the best rated episode of "Hardcastle and McCormick". It scored 8.2/10 based on 51 votes. Directed by Bruce Kessler and written by Patrick Hasburgh, it aired on 3/11/1984. This episode scored 0.0 points higher than the second highest rated, "Outlaw Champion".