Hardcastle and McCormick: Season 3
Season 3 Lore Primer
Key plot threads, lore context, and character stakes you need to remember before diving into this season.
- Directly follows the overarching narrative developments of Hardcastle and McCormick Season 2.
- Faction dynamics and core character alliances shift under escalating external stakes.
- Crucial mysteries introduced previously reach key turning points and narrative reckonings.
- Sets up serialized story arcs that build directly toward the climactic season finale.
Episode Guide
Season 3 Progress Shield
She Ain't Deep, But She Sure Runs Fast
Sep 23, 1985 · 60 min
In the third season opener, Hardcastle and McCormick go on a photo exhibition with Buzz Bird, one of the judge's old friends. To their regret, Buzz, who is a pilot, has a heart att
Faster Heart
Sep 30, 1985 · 60 min
After race car driver Kiki Cutter is injured during a race, Mark, knowing her from his own racing days, decides to pay her a visit. Fortunately for Kiki, Mark arrives just as someo
The Yankee Clipper
Oct 7, 1985 · 60 min
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 doe
Something's Going On On This Train
Oct 14, 1985 · 60 min
Although Hardcastle is initially pleased to be invited to a party on a private train, his emotion changes to anger when he discovers that he has been lured onto the train under fal
The Career Breaker
Oct 28, 1985 · 60 min
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 yea
Do Not Go Gentle
Nov 4, 1985 · 60 min
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 Hardcastl
Games People Play
Nov 11, 1985 · 60 min
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
Strangle Hold
Nov 18, 1985 · 60 min
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'
You're Sixteen, You're Beautiful and You're His
Nov 25, 1985 · 60 min
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 H
Mirage a Trois
Dec 2, 1985 · 60 min
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 h
Conventional Warfare
Dec 9, 1985 · 60 min
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 breaki
Duet for Two Wind Instruments
Dec 16, 1985 · 60 min
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
If You Could See What I See
Jan 6, 1986 · 60 min
Not wanting to continue cleaning up the estate, Mark hires Millie Denton, his former prison cellmate's widow, as a maid. Meanwhile, Hardcastle begins looking into the suspicious de
Hardcastle for Mayor
Jan 13, 1986 · 60 min
As the episode begins, wealthy businessman J.J. Norcross asks Hardcastle to run for mayor. Meanwhile, after city councilman Herb Austin goes head-to-head with Mann over a parks bil
When I Look Back On All the Things
Feb 3, 1986 · 60 min
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. Investigat
Brother, Can You Spare a Crime?
Feb 10, 1986 · 60 min
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 de
Round Up the Old Gang
Feb 17, 1986 · 60 min
Cleaning out his shed, Hardcastle comes across an old trophy belonging to Teddy Hendrix, his college roommate. Deciding to visit Teddy, who is now a basketball coach, Hardcastle wa
McCormick's Bar and Grill
Feb 24, 1986 · 60 min
After winning a Los Angeles area bar in a poker game, Sonny Daye, Mark's barely seen father, decides to run it with his son. With some financial help from the judge, Mark and his f
Poker Night
Mar 3, 1986 · 60 min
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, a
In the Eye of the Beholder
Mar 17, 1986 · 60 min
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 est
The Day the Music Died
Mar 31, 1986 · 60 min
While driving through Arizona on his way home from Las Vegas, Mark is surprised to hear the voice of Nick Damion, a rock deejay he idolized in his youth, on local radio station KKS
A Chip Off the Ol' Milt
May 5, 1986 · 60 min
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, realizi