7.3/10155 votesLoading...#1 - The Funnies
Season 1 Episode 9 - Aired 11/27/2001
Alvin asks Nick to help Barbara after her teenage son is arrested for drug possession. After Barbara's son, Russell, is arrested for drug possession, the charge changes to manslaughter when the teen who was with Russell is found dead from an overdose of the badly manufactured drugs. Now, as Russell maintains his innocence, but refuses to give up his source, Nick must find out whom Russell is protecting before the boy's future is ruined. Meanwhile, Burton asks Nick to help get the copyright for the toy "Bunny - Buddy," which is holding up a multimillion-dollar buyout. However, the eccentric old man who invented it is creating problems for Nick, fearing that the integrity of his creation will now be compromised.
Director: Lou Antonio
Writer: Michael R. Perry, Peter Parnell
7.3/10124 votesLoading...#2 - The Next Life
Season 2 Episode 4 - Aired 10/15/2002
After deciding to work together, Nick and Burton Fallin return to the old offices of Fallin & Associates to create a new firm, Fallin & Fallin. Finally working on equal ground, Nick and Burton's first big client turns out to be Allegheny County Hospital, which is under scrutiny as one of the nurses is arrested and confesses to killing patients in the oncology department during his shifts. The hospital faces several potential lawsuits from the family members of the patients who died. To assemble a strong team of attorneys, Nick and Burton bring in James Mooney to help with the case but soon discover that his grandmother died in that very hospital just a few months earlier. James immediately removes himself from the case but he eventually gives into his desire to fight for the underdogs and tries to find representation for the family members. Meanwhile, Nick is also thrown into a case as a favor to Laurie Solt, where he must defend a child's right to attend an adoption party. This is a concept that Alvin Masterson finds reprehensible, as he believes it treats the children as though they are cattle to be sold at market.
Director: Joan Tewkesbury
Writer: David Hollander
- 7.4/10110 votesLoading...
#3 - Chinese Wall
Season 1 Episode 21 - Aired 5/14/2002
Burtton turns his law firm over to Sen. Nathan Calldwell, he gets ready to be a federal Judge.
Director: Joan Tewkesbury
Writer: Peter Parnell, David Hollander
7.5/10158 votesLoading...#4 - Paternity
Season 1 Episode 3 - Aired 10/9/2001
Nick is given the case of a wheelchair-bound boy who is about to be placed in a group home while his mother does time for prostitution. The boy, Lawrence, wants to live with his stepfather, but the man has a criminal record. The state wants him to live at St. Riley's, but Lawrence doesn't want to live among the mentally disabled. Nick thinks the only chance for him is to track down the father, a former customer of the mother's, and sue for child support. But, when the father wants to have more of a relationship with the boy, everyone is caught off guard. Meanwhile, Burton and Nick help out an old friend when his daughter, Rebecca, tries to take over his business.
Director: Joan Tewkesbury
Writer: Michael R. Perry
7.5/10160 votesLoading...#5 - Lolita?
Season 1 Episode 4 - Aired 10/16/2001
Nick is taken off of the Hunter Reed case and assigned a case about a fifteen-year-old girl, April Santos, who claims to have been raped by her stepfather, a cop. Nick arranges for her maternal aunt to have guardianship, but Nick soon finds out that all is not what it appears to be and he must go to CLS and admit that he may have placed April in an even more dangerous environment than her home. And at Fallin & Assoc., John Clayton seeks the firm to reorganize his assets at his steel plant. Burton refuses, claiming that there is no money to be made, but Simon discovers that his father has a personal reason for refusing the business � Clayton Steel is the same plant that he worked at as a teenager alongside his father.
Director: Charles Haid
Writer: David Hollander
7.5/10166 votesLoading...#6 - The Men from the Boys
Season 1 Episode 5 - Aired 10/23/2001
Nick encounters problems with his 16-year-old gay gay client, who had been arrested for solicitation, when trying to place the boy with a gay couple rather than in a shelter.
Director: N/A
Writer: Peter Parnell
7.5/10106 votesLoading...#7 - You Belong to Me
Season 2 Episode 12 - Aired 1/7/2003
Lulu's home is broken into forcing Nick to protect her. Nick takes Gavin Putinski a former child actor who claimes his parents want him to leave home.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.5/10106 votesLoading...
#8 - Understand Your Man
Season 2 Episode 14 - Aired 2/4/2003
Nick meets Sam at a gala in Burton's honor. Sam who is a transvestite tries to get custody of lover's son. Also Nick finds out Mary and Shannon have been living with his father.
Director: John Patterson
Writer: David Hollander
- 7.5/1091 votesLoading...
#9 - Let's Spend the Night Together
Season 3 Episode 6 - Aired 10/28/2003
Nick & Lulu move into his place and find out how hard it is keep their love life out of the office. Jake learns his mom and dad want to divorce. Jake is about to lose control of his life when he finds out the secret his father has hidden for years. Lulu's dad drives her crazy when he finds out that his daughter is seeing Nick, her dad asks Lulu to take over his painting business.
Director: Michael Zinberg
Writer: N/A
- 7.5/1076 votesLoading...
#10 - The Vote
Season 3 Episode 20 - Aired 4/20/2004
Nick 's future at the firm is in question because of because of a lawyer Burton thinks quite highly of but he doesn't feel she is ready to be a partner in the firm just yet. Sandra however blames Nick for not being voted into the firm. Sandra files a sexual discrimination lawsuit against Nick and his firm causing Jake to hold an executive meeting to consider what action to take against Nick. Burton is worried about his son 's future at the firm.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.5/10124 votesLoading...
#11 - Antarctica
Season 3 Episode 22 - Aired 5/4/2004
Nick takes a job at the law firm of Walter and McNeil. Lulu gives birth to a baby girl. She decides to work part-time at legal services of Pittsburgh to take care of the baby. Burton thinks his son made a mistake by taking the new job. Alvin tries to stop the execution of Taliek Allen because of new evidence that Alvin's client suffered brain damage when he was attacked. Alvin along with Nick must try and get a trial stating why he should live and not be executed. Lulu decides to have full custody of the baby and give the baby her last name not Nick's. Alvin is angry because of what Nick told his client regarding his chances for a clemency hearing. Nick learns that Burton has stepped down from his firm to be a grandfather to the baby. Nick also leaves his job at the firm of Walter and McNeil.
Director: David Hollander
Writer: N/A
7.6/10244 votesLoading...#12 - Pilot
Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 9/25/2001
Nick Fallin, a high-powered, high-priced attorney living the good life is brought down to earth when he has to pay the price for his indulgent lifestyle. Busted for drugs, he must now perform 1,500 hours of community service and so Nick juggles his white-collar world of litigation with the not-for-profit world of child advocacy working with Children's Legal Services. Under the supervision of Alvin Masterson, Nick is thrust into the life of Hunter Reed, a young boy who has witnessed the murder of his mother by his father's hand. Back at Fallin & Associates, owned by Nick's father, Burton Fallin, he is dealing with company presidents who are looking to bring their business to Pittsburgh and spoiled dot com kids who want to get rich quick.
Director: Michael Pressman
Writer: David Hollander
- 7.6/10130 votesLoading...
- 7.6/10117 votesLoading...
#14 - Shelter
Season 1 Episode 20 - Aired 5/7/2002
Nick and LuLu find teenagers in her house, after they hear a girl screaming giving birth. They want to keep the baby and soon end up in foster care.
Director: Steve Gomer
Writer: David Hollander, Michael R. Perry
7.6/10127 votesLoading...#15 - The Living
Season 2 Episode 6 - Aired 10/29/2002
As the legal guardian of two siblings he represented the year before, Nick must find the missing sister so she can be a bone-marrow donor to save her dying brother.
Director: N/A
Writer: David Hollander, Michael R. Perry
- 7.7/10140 votesLoading...
#16 - Indian Summer
Season 1 Episode 6 - Aired 10/30/2001
Nick is duped into representing a young woman who lied to him after they spent the night together. After Nick picks up a young woman named Dina at The Incline, they go back to his place for the night. The woman then reveals herself to be an orphaned, underaged girl whose younger sister is about to be placed in a new home where Dina is not wanted. She gives Nick an ultimatum that he must help her get placed in the same family as her sister or risk her going to the police about his underage encounter. He must uncover her true motives or risk the consequences of their ill-fated night together. Meanwhile, Alvin goes to extreme measures, including soliciting a donation from a wealthy socialite, in an effort to raise money after CLS loses its grant and the money runs out.
Director: Lou Antonio
Writer: David Hollander
- 7.7/10133 votesLoading...
#17 - Privilege
Season 1 Episode 13 - Aired 1/22/2002
After a rough turn of events at Kirk & McGee, Nick is back at Fallin & Assoc. just as Burton is looking into the case of Susan Newberg, deceased daughter of longtime client and family friend Frank Newberg. What begins as an investigation into Susan's widower Ray Harper, and the $11 million estate left to him, ends in a shocking case of suicide linked to sexual assault. Nick and Burton put their legal licenses and freedom at stake by violating their attorney/client privileges to protect Frank's youngest daughter and victim, 16 year-old. Meanwhile, first-year associate Amanda Bowles walks out of Fallin & Assoc. when Burton disapproves of her volunteer work at CLS.
Director: Graeme Clifford
Writer: David Hollander, Michael R. Perry
- 7.7/10115 votesLoading...
#18 - The Innocent
Season 2 Episode 7 - Aired 11/12/2002
Nick takes on the case of two children after their brother dies from their father's neglect.
Director: Juan José Campanella
Writer: N/A
7.7/1092 votesLoading...#19 - Back in the Ring
Season 2 Episode 19 - Aired 4/1/2003
Caroline Novak goes before a Grand Jury who will look into her bad business practices. A former boxer tries to get custody of his child after spending time in prison.
Director: Jeremy Kagan
Writer: N/A
7.7/1097 votesLoading...#20 - Hazel Park
Season 3 Episode 7 - Aired 11/4/2003
Nick runs into a former client while helping in a cleanup project for his Community Service. Nick helps the former client out by calling a community College after learning he can't read. Burton takes the case of a mother who puts her baby up for adoption because she can't afford to keep her son. Burton wants to adopt Shannon but her dad doesn't want the adoption to happen.
Director: Emilio Estevez
Writer: David Hollander
- 7.7/1076 votesLoading...
#21 - Let God Sort 'Em Out
Season 3 Episode 9 - Aired 11/25/2003
Nick tries to find a place for Donny Longo & his Grandfather to live together, but Donny has a hard time with Rebecca's ruling (the Judge that handled the shelter hearing). Meanwhile Burton must try to get Mr. Lounge's house back from a man that bought it at an auction. Mr. Longo lived in the house for 65 years with paying rent. Nick learns that Mr. Longo used the property for bad purposes that caused Mr. Longo to lose custody of Donny.
Director: Félix Enríquez Alcalá
Writer: N/A
7.8/10182 votesLoading...#22 - Reunion
Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 10/2/2001
Nick brings a lawsuit again the pharmaceutical company, Bendaprine, on behalf of Hunter Reed and his mother's estate for 10 million dollars. But, when Alvin Masterson gets wind of it he insists that Nick drop the case, being that it is a conflict of interest. Nick is quick to point out that Alvin took him off of Hunter's case and therefore he is acting within his rights as a lawyer for Fallin & Assoc. Meanwhile, James gets handed a case involving a 12-year-old boy who has been living with his older brother after their mother has been arrested for drugs. Marcus, Andre's older brother, is arrested for selling crack and James tries desperately to find a relative for the boy to act as guardian so the youth won't end up in juvenile detention like his brother. But, Andre doesn't want to be separated from Marcus and even when James succeeds in finding a relative, Andre makes it very clear he will stay with Marcus at all cost � even if he needs to get himself arrested to make it happen.
Director: Michael Pressman
Writer: David Hollander
- 7.8/10143 votesLoading...
#23 - Feeding Frenzy
Season 1 Episode 7 - Aired 11/6/2001
Now that CLS has expanded its circle of operation to include all people needing legal aid, not just minors, Nick is given a case surrounding a retarded man, Malcolm Dempsy, who wants to remain living on his own. Though his mother fears for his safety, his next door neighbor and friend is a drug dealer, she has no proof and therefore the court will not remove him from his apartment. When Eddie, the suspected drug dealer, is murdered, Malcolm is accused of the murder and Nick must work to find the real killer - a search that puts him back in the world of drugs. Far more crucial to Fallin & Assoc. is the fact that Jake has hit another lawyer with his car and faces felony charges if the man dies. Burton Fallin is concerned that Jake's reckless driving has put the firm in danger of being sued and Jake feels the lawyer Burton has hired to defend him is more concerned about what's good for Fallin & Assoc. than what's good for Jake Straka. So, he embarks on his own investigative work to try to clear his name.
Director: Peter Medak
Writer: N/A
- 7.8/10143 votesLoading...
#24 - Loyalties
Season 1 Episode 10 - Aired 12/11/2001
Nick defends an Arab American man who appears to be the victim of a hate crime. Wendy Moniz ("Nash Bridges") and James B. Sikking ("Brooklyn South") guest star. Nick gets a new boss at Legal Aid, Louisa "LuLu" Archer (Moniz), and their first case together involves the vandalism of a restaurant owned by the Arab-American and his young daughter. However, things are complicated further when the vandal, who was viciously beaten in self-defense by the restauranteur, turns out to be a teenage boy.
Director: Arvin Brown
Writer: David Hollander
- 7.8/10137 votesLoading...
#25 - Home
Season 1 Episode 11 - Aired 12/18/2001
Nick, now working at another law firm, is reinstated as the guardian of young Hunter Reed, his first case. Polly Draper ("thirtysomething") guest stars Both Nick and his child advocacy boss, Alvin, face Nick's father, Burton, in court. Nick, who is now working for Burton's competitors, Kirk and McGee, faces him when he is reassigned to Hunter -- the young boy who witnessed his father kill his mother -- after Hunter's father's controversial verdict comes in. Meanwhile, Alvin agrees to defend his ex-wife (Draper), for whom he still has some unresolved feelings, in a wrongful termination case, only to realize that the company they are suing is represented by Burton.
Director: Oz Scott
Writer: David Hollander
The Worst Episodes of The Guardian
Every episode of The Guardian ranked from worst to best. Explore the Worst Episodes of The Guardian!
Nick Fallin is a hotshot lawyer working at his father's ultrasuccessful Pittsburgh law firm. Unfortunately, the high life has gotten the best of Nick. Arrested...
Genre:Drama
Network:CBS
Worst Episodes Summary
"The Funnies" is the worst rated episode of "The Guardian". It scored 7.3/10 based on 155 votes. Directed by Lou Antonio and written by Michael R. Perry, Peter Parnell, it aired on 11/27/2001. This episode scored 0.0 points lower than the second lowest rated, "The Next Life".