The BEST episodes written by Sy Salkowitz

#1 - No Motive for Murder

Ironside - Season 5 - Episode 15

The son of an old friend, fearing that his father's life is in danger, asks the Chief to go to Tokyo. Once there Ironside finds his old friend wheelchair-bound as a result of an accident, and begins to work on his own theory about who might have hired a hitman to kill such a respected old man.

#2 - Class of '57

Ironside - Season 5 - Episode 14

Ed discovers that Bernie Simmonds, a man sought on assault charges, was in his high school class. Whilst pursuing the investigation, he meets with Ann Garfield, his first love; now widowed with two small children. Love, it seems, is set to blossom twice; unless Ann knows more about Bernie than she is letting on.

#3 - The Town

Mission: Impossible - Season 2 - Episode 21

On holiday and going to meet Rollin at a mountain lodge, Jim stops off in a small town. However, a young couple drop a package containing a gas gun. Exposed, an old man named Doc takes Jim prisoner. The town is populated entirely by enemy agents and they plan to kill a Societ defector in L.A. Doc shoots Jim with curare and the young couple head off to kill the defector. When Rollin arrives, Doc claims Jim had a stroke and can't be moved, but Jim clues him in by blinking a warning in Morse code. Rollin mobilizes the team. Cinnamon goes in as Mrs. Jim and Barney as her chauffeur, and Willy as a trucker. Together the four of them have to get Jim out and thwart the assassination plot.

#4 - Split Second to an Epitaph (1)

Ironside - Season 2 - Episode 2

Ironside is the only witness to a murder, but has to go into hospital for exploratory surgery immediately after the events that he witnessed. The murderer is determined that he should not leave hospital alive, and as the Chief deals with the possibility of maybe one day being able to walk again, his presence in the hospital helps various other citizens right wrongs in their lives. Meanwhile Ed, Eve and Mark deal with their own worries and fears for the Chief as the murder attempts escalate.

#5 - The Target

Ironside - Season 4 - Episode 17

An ex-con determined to go straight is roped into a scam to steal dynamite, after his son is kidnapped. The Chief manages to get the boy back, but by then a bomb has already been planted, and there may be no time to stop it before it blows up. The Chief not only has to find the bomb, he also has to work out how to defuse it.

#6 - The Man on the Inside

Ironside - Season 4 - Episode 10

When a drug pusher is arrested following a spate of botched drug raids he fingers Ironside as a gang informer. Ed is press-ganged onto a team set up to investigate the Chief, which leads to conflict with Eve. Meanwhile Ironside himself seems to be taking the investigation very calmly, which leads to concern all round.

#7 - The McCreedy Bust

Alias Smith and Jones - Season 1 - Episode 2

Smith and Jones become the pawns of two greedy ranchers who have a running feud about the ownership of a Roman bust.

#8 - Murder by One

Ironside - Season 7 - Episode 2

The teenage son of a friend of Fran's appears to commit suicide, however the evidence seems to point in a number of different directions. Did he kill himself, or was it a murder made to look like suicide? Or, alternatively, was a suicide made to look like it could have been murder? The Chief has to unravel the story, but he has little real evidence to help him along.

#9 - Shadow Soldiers

Ironside - Season 6 - Episode 15

Whilst in London at a conference with the Chief, Ed witnesses an assassination, and promptly becomes the killer's next target. Meanwhile he and Ironside have to work with the local forces to find the assassin, but find themselves hampered by the Superintendent on the case, an old friend of the Chief's who seems to have a hidden agenda.

#10 - Split Second to an Epitaph (2)

Ironside - Season 2 - Episode 3

#11 - An Inside Job

Ironside - Season 1 - Episode 7

Two killers break out of their cell in the precinct and hold Ironside and Eve Whitfield hostage, forcing the Chief to come up with a fool-proof plan for their escape. As always Ironside has a trick or two of his own up his sleeve.

#12 - Tiger By The Tail

Hawaii Five-O - Season 1 - Episode 5

A young singer, Bobby George, plans his own kidnapping as a stunt, but when his father offers $500,000 for his release, his co-conspirators decide to double-cross him and take the money.

#13 - Noel's Gonna Fly

Ironside - Season 4 - Episode 5

An ageing accountant, weighed down by the responsibilities of his life, decides to break free from the grindstone and try for something different. On the way he comes close to going off the rails, and the Chief makes it his personal crusade to ensure that nothing goes too wrong.

#14 - Love, Peace, Brotherhood, and Murder

Ironside - Season 4 - Episode 20

The team is at a theatre to watch the rehearsals of a play Ironside has some money invested in, when one of the actors is found dead. Two attempted murders soon follow, and the Chief has his work cut out for him trying both to find the guilty party and to save the play.

#15 - Shell Game

Ironside - Season 2 - Episode 1

A notorious jewel thief named Justin arrives in town at the same time as a shipment of famous jewels arrives for display in a local museum. Ironside must keep the thief guessing about the method of shipment so that the jewels will remain safe; but he is up against a mastermind and there is still an inside man who has to be unmasked.

#16 - The Park Avenue Rustlers

McCloud - Season 3 - Episode 3

As part of a pilot program, McCloud is assigned a female partner, and the two go undercover against a big-time auto theft ring.

#17 - This Could Blow Your Mind

Ironside - Season 4 - Episode 13

Ironside attends a hospital for psychological evaluation, and whilst he is tying knots in his psychiatrist's theories, it transpires that a crook is trying to use the situation to find out the whereabouts of a police informer. With Mark and Eve on holiday, however, there is just Ed to help the Chief, and a whole city to search through for clues.

#18 - The Case of the Gallant Grafter

Perry Mason - Season 3 - Episode 15

Corporate intrigue is the backdrop of this episode when embezzling accountant Robert Doniger is murdered and Edward Nelson is charged with his murder.

#19 - The Case of the Nimble Nephew

Perry Mason - Season 3 - Episode 21

Mason is sought out by land tycoon Adam Thompson, who suspects one of his nephews of rifling the house safe. The twist? The land tycoon's next in command is found dead, after it's found out that he was the one stealing the secrets.

#20 - The Case of the Credulous Quarry

Perry Mason - Season 4 - Episode 2

Perry defends Richard Hammond who is charged with killing his former girlfriend by running over her with his car. A shady lawyer and a witness demanding a payoff complicate the defense.

#21 - Fragile Is the House of Cards

Ironside - Season 7 - Episode 4

A lawyer turns up at Ironside's door late at night, badly bruised and unable to remember what has happened to him. All that he can recall is that a man who needs rescuing is trapped in a sinking boat; but he cannot remember where the boat is, or who the man might be. The Chief begins a race against time to find the victim before it is too late.

#22 - The Case of the Larcenous Lady

Perry Mason - Season 4 - Episode 12

A mayor's political career is jeopardized when his conniving wife goes too far. Mason's defense of a murder suspect hinges on untangling a net of intrigue involving political rivalries and extortion

#23 - A Time for Waiting

Rawhide - Season 7 - Episode 16

On his way to Fort Mason Rowdy is chased by indians. Rowdy testified against Captain George Ballinger at his trial, even though they are friends. He asks Rowdy to stay until he is hung. .

#24 - To Bear Witness

The Virginian - Season 6 - Episode 11

Harness maker Walter Varig (Harry Landers) and Dr. Baldwin (Malachi Throne) have an argument due to the fact Varig is reneging on a promise to let the doctor use some property for a new hospital in Medicine Bow. In town on business, Trampas has to restrain the doctor and escorts him back to his office. At the office, Dr. Baldwin finds his nurse, Carol Fisk (Joanna Moore), removing the damaged leg brace of Nancy (Lorette Strome), the young daughter of lawyer Arthur Blanton (William Windom). Trampas accompanies Carol to the blacksmith's, she to leave the leg brace for repairs, he to get a plow fixed. As Carol leaves she is approached by a drunken Walter Varig, her former boyfriend. He accuses her of having an affair with the doctor and reveals that is why he put a stop to the hospital. He knocks Carol down so Trampas intervenes and knocks down Varig who swears he will get Carol. He begins staking out Carol's residence to catch her with the doctor. After dinner, Trampas goes to retrieve t

#25 - Grand Deceptions

Columbo - Season 8 - Episode 4

Frank Brailie runs a private military foundation for wanabe soldiers owned by the wheelchair bound General Padget. The General has become suspicious of Frank as a great deal of money seems to be going to a Special Projects Fund. The General tells a close colleague to investigate Frank and the Special Projects Fund. Instead of reporting his fraudulent findings back to the General, he decides to blackmail Frank for some of the money, Frank agrees and starts to plan his murder.

#26 - Light at the End of the Journey

Ironside - Season 1 - Episode 10

A recently blinded woman is witness to a murder, and not knowing that she couldn't see him the murderer attempts to silence her. Ironside is on hand to protect her, and also to help her to come to terms with her new way of life.

#27 - The Case of the Difficult Detour

Perry Mason - Season 4 - Episode 21

Contactor Pete Mallory is charged with the murder of a vacation resort developer.

#28 - The Case of the Runaway Racer

Perry Mason - Season 9 - Episode 10

Test driver Pete Griston cracks up one of ace car builder Pappy Ryan's vehicles. Pappy accuses Havey Rettig of tampering with the car and files charges against Rettig and Griston. Then Rettig is killed and Griston is found standing groggily over the body.

#29 - No Game for Amateurs

Ironside - Season 4 - Episode 2

A sniper working for the criminal underworld seeks refuge in the anti-Vietnam protest movement, and with a number of draft-dodgers relying on his silence, the only man who can help the Chief is unwilling to follow proper channels.

#30 - The Happy Dreams of Hollow Men

Ironside - Season 4 - Episode 3

The Chief travels into the mountains to spend the weekend with an old friend, only to be snowed in following a bad blizzard. Trapped in a small cabin, Ironside discovers that his friend is now an addict, violent and unpredictable without the fix he cannot get.

#31 - Down Two Roads

Ironside - Season 6 - Episode 5

Mark's graduation from law school coincides with the arrest of a caretaker that he has befriended. Believing the man innocent, he finds the weight of the law stacked against him, and quickly becomes disillusioned with his new career. Should he turn his back on law altogether, though, or should he just find another way to devote himself to justice?

#32 - The Professionals

Ironside - Season 5 - Episode 3

A phoney cab driver is taking men to so-called parties, where they are drugged and robbed; but when one of the victims winds up dead, the Chief takes on the case. When he and his team try to follow the cab driver, however, they find that the gang are rather more dangerous than they had first appeared.

#33 - The Gambling Game

Ironside - Season 5 - Episode 4

After the murder of Police Captain Belding, his daughter, a rookie cop, is anxious to prove that the allegations of corruption against him were false. She hampers the Chief's investigations and generally gets in the way, but he takes a shine to her, and has her drafted onto the team.

#34 - Walls Are Waiting

Ironside - Season 4 - Episode 26

A parole officer famed for his hard line against drug pushers begins to fear for his life after a shooting. The line of suspects, however, as well as including one of his current clients, also seems to include that client's lawyer, and even the parole officer himself.

#35 - The Monkey Wrench

The Untouchables - Season 3 - Episode 28

March 2, 1933. The remote section of the northern Michigan Lake front, 180 miles northeast of Chicago. The Chicago Syndicate, to improve the quality of their booze, is now smuggling in master brewers from Germany; the illegal immigrants had come 6,000 miles to the new country. Tonight, 8 new immigrants are brought in. One of them looks at the sign: ""Welcome to Chippewa Landing, Michigan""-- Bernd asks, ""Chippewa? What does that mean? But this is America, yes?"" Max Kerner tells him to move on. Meanwhile, in Chicago, Eliot Ness and his Untouchables are using their armored truck with the V-wedge on the grill to smash through the large metal doors of a brewery; they shut down yet another bootleg operation. March 22. Another raid by Ness and the police. No one is killed since the brewers surrender peacefully, but then one of the mobsters shoots Bernd in the back, fatally wounding him. Lee Hobson and the police chase the hitman, but he gets away. They find out Bernd was the maste

#36 - Memory of an Ice Cream Stick

Ironside - Season 1 - Episode 18

An old friend of Mark's is a suspect in a murder investigation, but Mark refuses to accept that the man may be bad. Ironside tries to convince him otherwise, but in the process risks breaking his own friendship with Mark.

#37 - Robert Phillips vs. the Man

Ironside - Season 2 - Episode 5

A black rights activist is arrested for murder, and San Francisco's Black community threatens to take to the streets in protest. Commissioner Randall asks the Chief to investigate the case in an attempt to prove Phillip's innocence; but certain citizens do not appear to want to co-operate.

#38 - Goodbye to Yesterday (1)

Ironside - Season 3 - Episode 2

Barbara Jones, the amnesiac victim with whom the Chief once fell in love (season one episode Barbara Who), calls Ironside in when her daughter is kidnapped. Not only is it a difficult case, but the Chief has an over eager Sheriff, a jealous husband and his own feelings to contend with, as he attempts to find the girl before it is too late.

#39 - Barbara Who

Ironside - Season 1 - Episode 24

A friend of Ironside's turns out to be an amnesiac victim without a past. The need to discover who she really is comes to the forefront when somebody tries to kill her, and it becomes clear that the Chief's hopes for a long term relationship might not be possible with this particular girl.

#40 - Trial by Fury

Mission: Impossible - Season 2 - Episode 24

The head of a country's freedom party, Manuel Delgado, has been imprisoned by the dictatorship of his country. Cardoza, Delgado's assistant and liaison with the outside, has had himself arrested but is now believed to be an informer by the other convicts. The IMF must keep Cardoza from being killed by his fellow inmates and expose the real informer. Jim and Barney go in as prisoners, while Rollin goes in as a guard and Cinnamon as a Red Cross officer. Barney talks about his escape plan, and Rollin sees a guard recover a piece of foil with a message from one of the prisoners. Cardoza is beaten and humiliated by the convicts despite Jim and Barney's best efforts. Rollin smuggle the foil to Jim who uses it to clear Cardoza and find the real informer. Jim and Barney then use Rollin and Cinnamon as hostages to escape themselves.

#41 - Long Ride to Wind River

The Virginian - Season 4 - Episode 18

Medicine Bow storekeeper, Benjy Davis (Quinn Redeker), a friend of the Virginian, is sentenced to death for murdering Hobey Kendall (Robert Karnes), a man who sexually assaulted his wife. However, Benjy says he had met a man near the murdered man's home named Jonah McIntosh (John Cassavettes) and the Virginian traces that man to a colony of mountain men near Wind River. Jonah admits he killed Kendall in self-defence but will not return to clear Benjy. The Virginian takes Jonah a prisoner but has a difficult time getting Jonah back to Medicine Bow due to the pursuing mountain men and an encounter with a murderous trapper (Dub Taylor). He manages to accomplish his task thanks to the help of a beautiful young Shoshone widow, Hapamawa (Pilar Seurat) and to a growing respect and trust between himself and Jonah.

#42 - Side Pocket

Ironside - Season 2 - Episode 12

A young pool hustler is coerced into a contract with a crooked promoter when his brother amasses large gambling debts. The Chief steps in, but can he get through to the brothers in time?

#43 - Goodbye to Yesterday (2)

Ironside - Season 3 - Episode 3

#44 - Little Jerry Jessup

Ironside - Season 3 - Episode 23

A thirteen year old boy is the only witness to his mother's murder, but finds it hard to co-operate with the Chief, knowing that it was Ironside who put his father in prison. Allowing Marty Jessup a temporary pass is the only way for the Chief to solve the murder and to lessen his conscience at the same time.

#45 - The Fortress

The Virginian - Season 6 - Episode 15

The Viginian takes a herd of cattle to Montana near the Canadian border for the ranchers in Medicine Bow. He receives the $100,000 for the herd but the bank is robbed where he left the funds. He tracks the robbers into Canada where he learns the real thief is the buyer of the cattle who controls the area and people around him in his own empire. The Virginian devises a sting to recover the funds but not without consequences for others.

#46 - Rundown on a Bum Rap

Ironside - Season 2 - Episode 17

Mark's old boxing coach, an alcoholic, is found at the scene of a serious assault, and nobody seems prepared to entertain the theory that he might just be innocent. Mark battles to prove that he has been falsely accused, assisted by the rest of the team, and in the process wins the affections of his law school teacher.

#47 - Moonlight Means Money

Ironside - Season 2 - Episode 21

Ed and an old friend uncover a drug running operation whilst having a night on the town, and after becoming implicated in the affair they are suspended. Ed risks extreme wrath from above in order to continue his investigations, whilst the evidence against his friend continues to grow.

#48 - The Wrong Time, the Wrong Place

Ironside - Season 3 - Episode 18

Ed falls in love with an actress, accidentally caught up in a robbery case. Although the affair is mutual, Vivian Page is a pacifist, and unable to accept Ed's career in the force. Both have to decide what means the most to them, and in the end, separate; whilst the cameras pull back, and curtains fall across the screen, as though it had all been just a movie...!

#49 - Yesterday's Timepiece

The Virginian - Season 5 - Episode 17

Stacey buys a gold watch that may have belonged to his dead dad. It sets him off on a journey to find the truth about his parent's deaths. He meets an orphaned girl who owned the watch and is curious about her parents who she never knew.

#50 - Return to Fiji

Ironside - Season 3 - Episode 19

When he arrives in Fiji to spend his holiday with an old friend, the Chief is suspicious about news that his friend has gone to visit him in San Francisco. After sending for Mark and Ed to join him, Ironside himself promptly disappears, leaving the boys to put the pieces together themselves.