The Worst Episodes of Hardcastle and McCormick

Episode Rankings

1. #1 Worst Episode
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   6.7/10(40 votes)

   #1 - Undercover McCormick

   S2:E203/11/1985

   Seeking Hardcastle's help on a case of corrupt cops, a young patrolman is killed before he or Hardcastle can seek higher help in the department. With the case dealing with bad cops who could recognize the investigators, McCormick is asked to go undercover to flush out the corrupt cops and find the patrolman's killer.

   Director:Les Sheldon

   Writer:Marianne Clarkson

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   Director:Les Sheldon

   Writer:Marianne Clarkson
2. 

   6.8/10(45 votes)

   #2 - In the Eye of the Beholder

   S3:E203/17/1986

   In a change of pace episode, Mark begins to believe that Leprechauns are burying gold on the estate. Ignoring Mark's outrageous claims, Hardcastle concentrates on preparing the estate for an upcoming magazine contest. After Benny, Mark's mechanic, is assaulted by a group of men for information about a group of little people, Hardcastle admits that there may be some truth to Mark's Leprechaun story. That night, Mark and Hardcastle set a trap for the "Leprechauns". The trap works and Hardcastle captures the men who have been hanging around his estate. As the judge discovers, however, the little people are not Leprechauns but rather circus performers. Confronting the performers about why they are hiding out, Cluracan, the groups leader, explains that they are fleeing from communist agents that want to return them to their home country as well as Marvin, a circus promoter that had promised their services to Circus Maximus. As for the mysterious gold, Cluracan reveals that it is his family's money. The next day, communist agent Ivan and his men come to the estate disguised as employees of Ladies Garden Monthly, the magazine sponsoring the contest Hardcastle has entered. At the same time, Marvin and his men sneak onto the estate. With the circus performer's help, Hardcastle and McCormick manage to stop the agents as well as Marvin and his men. Later, Mark's continued suspicion that Cluracan's group are secretly Leprechauns seems to be confirmed when a rainbow leads to a mysteriously repaired Coyote.

   Director:Daniel Hugh Kelly

   Writer:Unknown

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   Director:Daniel Hugh Kelly

   Writer:Unknown
3. 

   6.9/10(45 votes)

   #3 - Scared Stiff

   S1:E234/1/1984

   Mark and Hardcastle take a group of misfit kids to a local prison in order to scare them straight; but while they are there, they are taken hostages by prisoners who are frustrated because of the repeated abuse from the guards and the warden.

   Director:Tony Mordente

   Writer:Tom Blomquist

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   Director:Tony Mordente

   Writer:Tom Blomquist
4. 

   7.0/10(37 votes)

   #4 - You're Sixteen, You're Beautiful and You're His

   S3:E911/25/1985

   While judging the Miss Sixteen beauty contest, Hardcastle becomes wrapped up in the life of car salesman Ed Whitman, the pageants grand marshal. Worried when her boyfriend Victor Hernandez reveals that his uncle disappeared while sneaking across the Mexican-United States border, Melissa Whitman, Ed's sixteen year old daughter and one of the pageant's contestants, goes to Hardcastle for help. Although Victor's uncle does eventually turn up alive, Hardcastle decides to find out what happened. With Victor's reluctant help, Hardcastle discovers that a man was murdered during a transfer of illegal immigrants across the border. Thanks to Victor, Hardcastle also learns that a lawyer named Antonio Morales, who claims no knowledge of the murder, has been helping to arrange illegal immigrations. Before the judge can get more information from Victor's uncle, the illegal immigrant is murdered. With Morales' help, Hardcastle goes undercover as a perspective immigrant. The judge's plan works and the illegal immigration ring is stopped. At the same time, Hardcastle discovers that Ed Whitman is the mastermind behind the illegal operation. Returning to the United States, Hardcastle and McCormick help the police take Whitman into custody. As the episode ends, Melissa loses the pageant to a girl named Sara Jane Rose.

   Director:Kim Manners

   Writer:Lawrence Hertzog

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   Director:Kim Manners

   Writer:Lawrence Hertzog
5. 

   7.1/10(60 votes)

   #5 - Man in a Glass House

   S1:E39/25/1983

   Hardcastle is quite upset when he is criticized in “Without Sin,” the autobiography of retired mobster Joseph Cadillac. Figuring that the mob, also the subject of Cadillac's criticism, will be angered as well, Hardcastle has Mark follow the author. Later, Hardcastle is surprised when Cadillac comes to him for help.

   Director:Guy Magar

   Writer:Stephen J. Cannell

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   Director:Guy Magar

   Writer:Stephen J. Cannell
6. 

   7.1/10(49 votes)

   #6 - The Boxer

   S1:E710/23/1983

   Boxer Kid Calico is told to throw a fight in order to keep his kidnapped father alive.

   Director:Tony Mordente

   Writer:Patrick Hasburgh

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   Director:Tony Mordente

   Writer:Patrick Hasburgh
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7. 

   7.1/10(45 votes)

   #7 - Did You See the One That Got Away?

   S1:E213/18/1984

   Hardcastle visits a man he sent to prison for life only to find that the man never made it there.

   Director:Unknown

   Writer:Lawrence Hertzog

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   Director:Unknown

   Writer:Lawrence Hertzog
8. 

   7.2/10(50 votes)

   #8 - Once Again with Vigorish

   S1:E810/30/1983

   Hardcastle & McCormick set out to assist a lawyer, who is an old friend of Hardcastle's, convict a mobster who is running stolen property in semi-trucks.

   Director:Unknown

   Writer:Patrick Hasburgh

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   Director:Unknown

   Writer:Patrick Hasburgh
9. 

   7.2/10(43 votes)

   #9 - School for Scandal

   S1:E171/29/1984

   Robert Culp guest stars as Arthur Farnel, an ex-con who runs a school leading and teaching their students how to break the law. Mark decides to go undercover in order to gather enough evidence to put him away.

   Director:Tony Mordente

   Writer:Tom Blomquist

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   Director:Tony Mordente

   Writer:Tom Blomquist
10. 

    7.2/10(43 votes)

    #10 - Really Neat Cars and Guys with a Sense of Humor

    S1:E223/25/1984

    Hardcastle & McCormick go undercover at a computerized dating service in order to find out why wealthy clients are turning up dead.

    Director:Unknown

    Writer:Lawrence Hertzog

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    Director:Unknown

    Writer:Lawrence Hertzog
11. 

    7.3/10(46 votes)

    #11 - The Prince of Fat City

    S1:E1011/13/1983

    A gang member is remanded into the judge's custody only to stay in the guest house with Mark, while the judge and Mark go after a psychiatrist who has been taping private sessions with clients revealing vital damaging information.

    Director:Tony Mordente

    Writer:Patrick Hasburgh

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    Director:Tony Mordente

    Writer:Patrick Hasburgh
12. 

    7.3/10(43 votes)

    #12 - Pennies from a Dead Man's Eyes

    S2:E1112/31/1984

    Jesse Wingo, the former famous singer, is spotted by McCormick at a talent contest. But when approached about his past, the contestant reveals his name to be Sam Jones. Puzzled at the similarities, Mark investigates the man only to find that other people are looking for the man named Sam Jones, but want him dead.

    Director:Tony Mordente

    Writer:Marianne Clarkson

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    Director:Tony Mordente

    Writer:Marianne Clarkson
13. 

    7.3/10(34 votes)

    #13 - The Game You Learn From Your Father

    S2:E213/18/1985

    A critically-wounded criminal admits to being paid to frame a former baseball player, Duke McGuire, for murder. Feeling responsible for his false incarceration since he was the presiding judge, Hardcastle tries to help McGuire become a baseball player once again. But his attempt at a comeback is threatened when drugs are found in his locker.

    Director:Kim Manners

    Writer:Patrick Hasburgh

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    Director:Kim Manners

    Writer:Patrick Hasburgh
14. 

    7.3/10(38 votes)

    #14 - Games People Play

    S3:E711/11/1985

    Mark surprises the judge when he not only qualifies for, but becomes a winner on, The 1 Million Dollar Trivia Master, a television game show. Unbeknownst to Mark, veteran game show producers Harry Baxter and Art Healy, envisioning big ratings, decide to help the ex-race car driver along once they discover that the audience is cheering for him to succeed. To guarantee a winning streak, the producers have Hardcastle's estate bugged and begin basing their questions on Mark's home practice sessions. Although Hardcastle quickly realizes that something is amiss, Mark is unwilling to accept that the game is rigged. After Diane Templeton, one of the trivia show's employees, dies under mysterious circumstances, Mark turns around and admits that something is seriously wrong. Searching the show's offices, Hardcastle finds out why Diane was killed: She had obtained a tape proving the show is fixed. Meanwhile, Baxter and Healy discover that Bryce Benson, the shows host, had taken their plan to a deadly conclusion by killing Diane. Not wanting to face murder charges, the producers decide to tell Hardcastle everything. During the taping of the show's final round, Mark, giving up his chance to be a big winner, reluctantly helps the police stop Benson. Hinting at the series eventual conclusion, Mark jokes about going to law school in this episode.

    Director:Unknown

    Writer:Carol Mendelsohn

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    Director:Unknown

    Writer:Carol Mendelsohn
15. 

    7.3/10(36 votes)

    #15 - Brother, Can You Spare a Crime?

    S3:E162/10/1986

    After 10 years, the judge is paid a visit by his brother Jerry. Suspicious, Hardcastle begins to wonder when his brother, a habitual gambler, will ask him for money. Although he decides not to tell his brother, Jerry is in fact in debt to a hood named Manny. Hoping to find a way to get out of debt, Jerry decides to bet on the outcome of a high profile murder trial. Thanks to Judge Sheila Mooney, one of his brother's friends, Jerry gets all the particulars about the case in which model Tori Van Zandt is on trial for killing Harland Eagle, her fiancee. After a private investigator named Horace Munson provides Tori with a convenient alibi, Jerry is confronted by Manny about his debt. Drawn into the Van Zandt case by his brother's involvement, Hardcastle begins to look into the case. Searching Munson's office, Hardcastle discovers that the private investigator, who has since been murdered, lied in court. Hoping to incriminate Tori, Hardcastle publicizes the fact that he has evidence in the case. As expected, Tori tries to kill the judge and the police gather the proof they need to convict her. At the same time, the police also arrest Mooney.

    Director:James L. Conway

    Writer:Donald Ross

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    Director:James L. Conway

    Writer:Donald Ross
16. 

    7.4/10(42 votes)

    #16 - The Georgia Street Motors

    S1:E182/5/1984

    A group of retired judges decide to take the law into their own hands by delivering their own verdicts to criminals who slipped through the system or were given lesser sentences based on technicalities or lack of evidence.

    Director:Joseph Manduke

    Writer:Unknown

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    Director:Joseph Manduke

    Writer:Unknown
17. 

    7.4/10(43 votes)

    #17 - Ties My Father Sold Me

    S2:E29/30/1984

    After breaking into the official records, Mark identifies his long-lost biological father as a lounge singer in Atlantic City and goes to see him. But the man turns out to be sought by a mobster who kidnaps Mark to force him to steal some incriminating tapes from a government safe.

    Director:Ron Satlof

    Writer:Patrick Hasburgh

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    Director:Ron Satlof

    Writer:Patrick Hasburgh
18. 

    7.4/10(44 votes)

    #18 - D-Day

    S2:E410/14/1984

    After finding his sister-in-law missing and her apartment ransacked, Hardcastle discovers that she had been secretly following her professor in hopes of earning extra credit in a police procedures course.

    Director:Bruce Kessler

    Writer:Lawrence Hertzog

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    Director:Bruce Kessler

    Writer:Lawrence Hertzog
19. 

    7.4/10(36 votes)

    #19 - Mirage a Trois

    S3:E1012/2/1985

    Innocently given a friendly kiss by a woman named Aleeya "Ali" Casir, Mark unwittingly falls into the middle of a major international incident: Assuming that Mark is the American his daughter has been living with, Sheik Abdullah Casir, Ali's father and the leader of an oil rich mid-eastern country, decides to take whatever steps are necessary to protect his son's honor. As a result, Casir orders his Americanized daughter to marry Mark. Meanwhile, Hassan and Rabin, Casir's sons, begin to set up a drug dealing operation. Hoping to maintain friendly relations with Casir, the State department approaches Mark and "requests" that he marry Ali. Although Hardcastle tries to explain to Casir that Biff Anderson, Ali's real boyfriend, would be more than willing to take Mark's place, Casir, having already made an official announcement, is unwilling to change his plans. Forced to follow through with the wedding, Hardcastle, having learned about Casir's drug dealing sons, decides to use the ceremony as an opportunity to expose Hassan and Rabin. Confronted with his sons' guilt, an angered Casir vows to spare himself grief by staying out of his children's lives. As such, the wedding is canceled. Later, Mark is amused to hear that Ali has left Biff to marry a 35 year old television executive.

    Director:Sidney Hayers

    Writer:Marianne Clarkson

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    Director:Sidney Hayers

    Writer:Marianne Clarkson
20. 

    7.4/10(34 votes)

    #20 - When I Look Back On All the Things

    S3:E152/3/1986

    Questioning his maturity, Mark decides to trade in the Coyote for a more conservative car. To his surprise, his credit application is rejected due to an $18,000 default. Investigating, Mark discovers that his name was used in a real estate deal put together by Melinda Marshall, the girlfriend that had helped put him in prison. (As revealed in a flashback sequence, Mark, having foolishly placed his car in Melinda's name for insurance purposes, was arrested for stealing his own car.) Hoping to clear his credit record, Mark pays a visit on Melinda. Confronted by Mark, Melinda reveals that she had faked the real estate contract in order to win a car. When someone tries to steal the car Melinda won, Hardcastle realizes that there is something more going on than a simple real estate deal. Hearing that Melinda works for Ted Rubin, a man in his files, Hardcastle realizes that the real estate company is running a land fraud scram. Realizing that there is probably something hidden in Melinda's car, Hardcastle and McCormick conduct a search. As a result, they discover valuable stamps in the car and learn how Rubin has been transferring his money. Although Rubin arrives at the estate ready for a fight, he is captured thanks to the timely intervention of the FBI agents that had been investigating him. [During this episode, both Mark and Hardcastle have extremely subjective recollections of Mark's original trial.

    Director:Unknown

    Writer:Lawrence Hertzog

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    Director:Unknown

    Writer:Lawrence Hertzog
21. 

    7.5/10(57 votes)

    #21 - The Crystal Duck

    S1:E410/2/1983

    Teddy, McCormick's cellmate in prison, is out on parole. He has been staying with Mark in the guesthouse, without Hardcastle's knowledge or permission. Now, his parole officer, Quinlan, informs him that due to a minor infraction, he has the power to send him back to prison, unless he pays him a thousand dollars a week.

    Director:Bruce Kessler

    Writer:Unknown

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    Director:Bruce Kessler

    Writer:Unknown
22. 

    7.5/10(52 votes)

    #22 - Killer B's

    S1:E911/6/1983

    Hardcastle persuades an old friend, played by Buddy Ebsen, to obtain a role in a movie in which the movie producer is using his films to cover up his drug smuggling operation.

    Director:Unknown

    Writer:Unknown

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    Director:Unknown

    Writer:Unknown
23. 

    7.5/10(45 votes)

    #23 - Hotshoes

    S1:E1111/27/1983

    Mark is thrilled when he gets a shot at racing in big leagues—only to learn that his sponsor's auto parts business gets their inventory from stolen cars.

    Director:Richard Compton

    Writer:Patrick Hasburgh

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    Director:Richard Compton

    Writer:Patrick Hasburgh
24. 

    7.5/10(47 votes)

    #24 - Flying Down to Rio

    S1:E1212/4/1983

    Hardcastle & McCormick travel to Rio to track down a drug runner.

    Director:Tony Mordente

    Writer:Unknown

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    Director:Tony Mordente

    Writer:Unknown
25. 

    7.5/10(43 votes)

    #25 - Never My Love

    S2:E510/28/1984

    Mark attends the funeral of an old friend, only to be surprised later to receive a message from her on his answering machine. After searching for evidence to her supposed "death," Mark and the judge find political reasons may be to blame for her disappearance.

    Director:Bruce Kessler

    Writer:Richard Christian Matheson

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    Director:Bruce Kessler

    Writer:Richard Christian Matheson