7.6/10126 votes#1 - In the Best of Families
Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 9/28/1991
Tony is threatened with criminal negligence after the son of a prominent lawyer hangs himself in his cell.
Director: Gwen Arner
Writer: N/A
- 7.9/10112 votes
#2 - Do You See What I See?
Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 10/5/1991
The commissioner sets out to trap a serial rapist in a Santa Claus mask who's been terrorizing the city.
Director: Tucker Gates
Writer: Stephen J. Cannell
- 8.1/10102 votes
#3 - The Poisoned Tree
Season 1 Episode 3 - Aired 10/12/1991
Rachel refuses to believe Tony when he tells her that her school teacher colleague, Jim Hollister, is a child molester.
Director: Tucker Gates
Writer: Robert Cochran
- 7.6/10105 votes
#4 - Nothing to Fear But ...
Season 1 Episode 4 - Aired 10/26/1991
After receiving a pair of baffling death threats, Tony initiates around-the-clock surveillance of his unsuspecting family.
Director: Kim Manners
Writer: Tammy Ader
- 7.8/10103 votes
#5 - A Matter of Life or Death (1)
Season 1 Episode 5 - Aired 11/2/1991
Tony initiates a sweep to find a pair of missing cops; devises an ingenious way of keeping an habitually drunk driver off the road; and deftly handles an "extraterrestrial," all the while being scrutinized by a committee searching for a new police commissioner for New York City.
Director: Mark Sobel
Writer: Stephen J. Cannell
- 7.9/10102 votes
#6 - A Matter of Life or Death (2)
Season 1 Episode 6 - Aired 11/2/1991
Two missing cops have been found under water, there a jail hunger strike going on and tony's up for the nypd commissioner job.
Director: Mark Sobel
Writer: Stephen J. Cannell
- 7.7/1098 votes
#7 - Behind the Storm Door
Season 1 Episode 7 - Aired 11/9/1991
Tony is pursued by a woman he suspects is filing false complaints.
Director: Jonathan Sanger
Writer: N/A
- 7.8/1091 votes
#8 - The Hatchet
Season 1 Episode 8 - Aired 11/16/1991
Tony butts heads with both a tough cop who is overzealous in his handling of criminals, and a hard-nosed management consultant hired by the city in a cost-cutting effort.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 8.0/1094 votes
#9 - Two Confessions
Season 1 Episode 9 - Aired 11/30/1991
Tony is doubly stymied when identical twins both initially confess to the same murder, then, in a surprise about-face, accuse each other of the crime. Also, Arnie finds romance with a kindred soul, a phone-sex operator named Gloria.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.8/1092 votes
#10 - Commissioner's Ball
Season 1 Episode 10 - Aired 12/7/1991
A serial killer has been mutilating the bodies of Eastbridge tradsients and homeless people - and Tony begins to suspect the perpetrator's identity.
Director: Tucker Gates
Writer: N/A
- 7.9/1094 votes
#11 - No Greater Gift
Season 1 Episode 11 - Aired 12/21/1991
During the holiday season, Tony investigates the murder of an elderly woman allegedly killed in her home during a Christmas burglary; matches wits with a mugger, and defends a homeless woman who's been sleeping in the manger of a Holy Family creche.
Director: Win Phelps
Writer: N/A
- 7.9/1090 votes
#12 - The Fourth Man
Season 1 Episode 12 - Aired 1/4/1992
After Commissioner Scali's friend and colleague, Chief of Detectives Irv Wallerstein, is struck down during a bloody encounter with hijackers, Tony becomes obsessed with finding the assailant!
Director: Les Sheldon
Writer: N/A
- 7.7/1091 votes
#13 - Charlie Don't Surf
Season 1 Episode 13 - Aired 1/18/1992
Vietnamese gangs threaten Eastbridge and Tony steps in to help.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 8.0/1093 votes
#14 - Skeletons
Season 1 Episode 14 - Aired 2/8/1992
A mugging triggers a woman's repressed mernosy of her brother's murder, which she witnessed as a child. The suspect, free for the past 35 years, is tracked to the unlikeliest of hiding places by Tony and a visiting friend, L.A. homicide detective Paulie Pentangeli.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 8.2/1090 votes
#15 - The Wicked Flee
Season 1 Episode 15 - Aired 2/22/1992
After seeing his mother killed by a stranger, a boy withdraws deep into himself, prompting a sympathetic Tony to step up his efforts to catch the murderer.
Director: Kim Manners
Writer: N/A
- 7.8/1095 votes
#16 - True Believers
Season 1 Episode 16 - Aired 2/29/1992
The unwelcome appearance in Eastbridge of white supremacists leads to a murder, with the suspicion soon arising that one or more of Tony's associates may be implicated.
Director: Tucker Gates
Writer: N/A
- 8.1/1091 votes
#17 - Officer April
Season 1 Episode 17 - Aired 3/7/1992
After he shoots a woman in a drunken domestic squabble, Officer Kelly becomes the victim of a terrorization campaign.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 8.0/1087 votes
#18 - Sex, Lies, and Kerosene
Season 1 Episode 18 - Aired 3/21/1992
Tony and Paulie investigate a puzzling arson case in which the husband of a beautiful woman appears to have been murdered.
Director: Les Sheldon
Writer: N/A
- 8.1/1094 votes
#19 - Judgement Day
Season 1 Episode 19 - Aired 4/4/1992
Tony winds up in one of his own jail cells when he runs afoul of an imperious judge who's hiding a fearsome secret.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 8.1/1087 votes
#20 - Shoot the Breeze
Season 1 Episode 20 - Aired 5/2/1992
Tony attempts to protect an informant from a mysterious hit man, while Stan Kelly enjoys a romantic encounter with a beautiful new Eastbridge arrival.
Director: Les Sheldon
Writer: N/A
- 7.9/1091 votes
#21 - Video Vigilante
Season 1 Episode 21 - Aired 5/9/1992
Tony is embarrassed, then enraged, as a publicity-seeking "video vigilante" metes out even more bizarre and harsh punishment to offenders.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 8.0/1086 votes
#22 - The Puck Stops Here
Season 1 Episode 22 - Aired 5/16/1992
Mike Cermak - star high-school hockey player, recovering addict, and good friend of the Scali family - becomes a prime drug-ring suspect.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
The Best Episodes of The Commish Season 1
Every episode of The Commish Season 1 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of The Commish Season 1!
Tony Scali is a former Brooklyn cop now the Police Commissioner of a small upstate city. But for Scali, this is no desk job. He's...
Genres:DramaComedy
Network:ABC
Season 1 Ratings Summary
"In the Best of Families" is the best rated episode of "The Commish" season 1. It scored 7.6/10 based on 126 votes. Directed by Gwen Arner and written by N/A, it aired on 9/28/1991. This episode is rated 0.3 points higher than the second-best, "Do You See What I See?".