The BEST episodes directed by Bruce Kessler

#1 - Emily By Hart

Hart to Hart - Season 4 - Episode 12

A young reporter influenced by Jennifer is murdered by her fiance's employer.

#2 - A Lighter Hart

Hart to Hart - Season 4 - Episode 22

Jennifer's cousin slips into a coma after being continually drugged by the owners of a health club.

#3 - Homecoming for a Dead Man

Barnaby Jones - Season 8 - Episode 8

At the Olympic gymnastic tryouts for young Kim Barnaby recognizes her father Richard Gibson, a man presumed dead after robbing the coin exchange ten years ago. While Barnaby is trying to find a ghost, accomplice Jordan orders Gibson alias Simmons to get rid of the private detective.

#4 - Dreams

The Greatest American Hero - Season 2 - Episode 17

An act of kindness backfires when Ralph uses the suit to help a coworker with a personal project. This leads his other co-workers to take daring chances for their own shots at success. Soon, he must don the super suit not only to prevent them from ruining their lives, but also to save Bill from a vengeful, recently paroled killer.

#5 - Charlie

Renegade - Season 2 - Episode 13

Harris and his seven-year-old daughter Charlie make the city uncertain: The gangster and his daughter live on small crimes. But then the two land unintentionally make a large coup: In a video shop they let go along a few videos, in which one a quarterly million dollar mafia money are hidden. The mafia rushes the two a professional killer on the neck. But Harris and his daughter have luck - also head money hunter Renegade is behind them ago.

#6 - You Can't Get There from Here

The Flying Nun - Season 1 - Episode 30

Sister Bertrille is beached on a desert island with Carlos and the girl who threw him off his yacht.

#7 - Death of a Friendship

Barnaby Jones - Season 7 - Episode 6

Jeff McKnight is kidnapped and his wealthy father Dan asks Barnaby to assist Paul Craig with the ransom payoff. When his friend Paul is killed after the delivery Barnaby feels guilty. He doesn't know that Paul faked his death to escape with the money and Ellie, Jeff's girl friend.

#8 - The Hand-Painted Thai

The Greatest American Hero - Season 2 - Episode 11

Years ago, prisoners of war were brainwashed to respond to a code phrase. Now, someone is using them to commit acts of sabotage. Bill and Ralph investigate, but Bill inadvertently falls under a hypnotic trance, leaving the heroics up to Ralph.

#9 - Bear Bondage

B.J. and the Bear - Season 2 - Episode 16

When Bear becomes ill B.J. takes him to a vet and is subsequently told that he has died. However it turns out that the vet is secretly selling animals to a laboratory and Bear is still alive.

#10 - One Hundred Miles a Gallon

The Fall Guy - Season 2 - Episode 19

The son of one of Colt's friends skips, and Colt goes to South Carolina after him. However, they aren't running moonshine like he thought, and the regular drivers quit.

#11 - That Sister Ain't No Cousin

Baretta - Season 3 - Episode 14

Baretta is after drug kingpin El Greco; too many kids are ending up dead, and the dealers are selling to younger and younger kids.

#12 - Pirates

MacGyver - Season 2 - Episode 15

While on an expedition to find a Spanish treasure fleet, Dr. Barbara Ortega's boat is hi-jacked by modern-day pirates. They steal the small amount of treasure that she has already found - including the ship's log, which is the key to finding the whole fleet - and take off. When she makes it public that she was hi-jacked, the Phoenix Foundation sends MacGyver to help. Now, MacGyver and Barbara must recover the ship's log, so she can find the treasure before the pirates do.

#13 - Slay Ride

T.J. Hooker - Season 3 - Episode 12

Despite being undercover dressed as Santa Claus, Hooker is finding it hard to get into the Yuletide cheer faced with his first Christmas away from Fran and the children; Stacy too, is low on Christmas spirit, after splitting up with her boyfriend. The Christmas blues set in even deeper when a drug stakeout doesn't go to plan, allowing the main target to get away. Later, after Stacy witnesses an armed hold-up by a man and woman connected with the wanted dealer, the woman is forced to abandon her young baby at a local church. As they try and get a lead on the offenders, Stacy looks after the young baby, but Hooker, Corrigan and Romano become concerned that she may be coming to attached to it too want to give it back...

#14 - The Last Kill

Hunter - Season 1 - Episode 17

Hunter and McCall trail a hit man who leaves a napkin with a purple circle on it at the scene of each crime. Hunter believes that the killer is the husband of his former girlfriend, a former magazine model. McCall believes Hunter is focusing on the husband of his ex out of jelousy. And Hunter's ex believes her husband is cheating on her, never suspecting the true nature of her spouse's activities.

#15 - Return to Devil's Hole

Alias Smith and Jones - Season 1 - Episode 7

An outlaw leader faces a dilemma; he must decide who is telling the truth, Heyes' lady friend or the man she's trying to kill.

#16 - Wizards and Warlocks

The Greatest American Hero - Season 3 - Episode 10

King Abu Al-Fahad asks Ralph and Bill to help find his son, Prince Aha, who was kidnapped by Middle Eastern terrorists while playing a Dungeons and Dragonsesque game, Wizards and Warlocks. Their search leads them from Aha's college campus -- where they meet Aha's Keeper of the Clock, Joey Margolis -- to the game's author himself, Norman Fackler.

#17 - The Good Samaritan

The Greatest American Hero - Season 2 - Episode 19

Tired of using the suit to fight crime, Ralph decides to branch out. He tries to intervene in a battle between an old man fighting for his home and the city taking it away, but Bill has him on the hunt for bank robbers.

#18 - Monkees at the Circus

The Monkees - Season 1 - Episode 22

The four boys pitch in to save a struggling circus.

#19 - Return to the 38th Parallel

The Rockford Files - Season 3 - Episode 9

Friends prove to be more trouble than they're worth when Rockford's buddy gets him involved in a missing-person case that leads to a dangerous and wealthy smuggling ring.

#20 - The Garbage Man

Hunter - Season 1 - Episode 11

Hunter and a friend of the victim, a parole officer, are both on the trail of the killer, only to cause a lot of problems for Hunter along the way.

#21 - An Astronaut in Sheep's Clothing

I Dream of Jeannie - Season 5 - Episode 23

On Jeannie and Tony's 6 month wedding anniversary, Jeannie wants desperately to please Tony by knitting him a cashmir sweater while Tony wants to get her a string of pearls. None of which ends up being accomplished.

#22 - I've Got a Little Song Here

The Monkees - Season 1 - Episode 12

Mike is duped by a dishonest music promoter into believing that he has written a hit song.

#23 - Hard Contract

Hunter - Season 1 - Episode 2

Dee Dee McCall's former partner, Gus Trancus, becomes a hit man for the mob. His victim is a police informant.

#24 - The Rabbit Who Ate Las Vegas

The A-Team - Season 1 - Episode 6

The A-Team gets involved in a mob power play when two girls ask them to find their college professor who went to Las Vegas with a perfect gambling system and never came back.

#25 - Chopper

Kolchak: The Night Stalker - Season 1 - Episode 15

The strange disappearance of an antique motorcycle is the first indication of trouble. What follows are a rash of murders where each victim is decapitated with superhuman force by what witnesses report is a headless motorcyclist. As Kolchak investigates, he discovers that the victims were all members of a cycle gang back in the 50's. A prank they played on a rival gang member, Harold "Swordsman" Baker, resulted in his unintentional decapitation. Baker's ghost killed several of their gang back in the 50's until his head was reunited with the rest of his corpse. However, the cemetary where Baker was interred was dug up and his head and body separated once more. Now, Kolchak must reunite the head and body once more before the headless cyclist finishes off the gang.

#26 - Bad Time on the Border

The A-Team - Season 2 - Episode 4

Hannibal goes undercover as an illegal alien when the A-Team is asked to find a sick woman who was apparently left behind by alien smugglers.

#27 - Classical Gas

The Greatest American Hero - Season 2 - Episode 5

Ralph's students start a band, and a promoter lands them a spot on a big ticket concert while trying to get Pam to go out with him.

#28 - Alias Micky Dolenz

The Monkees - Season 1 - Episode 25

Micky's resemblance to a mobster lands him in hot water.

#29 - Murder in the Courthouse

Diagnosis Murder - Season 3 - Episode 4

Dr. Sloan suspects a cunning D.A. in the murder of an acquited defendant.

#30 - Return of the Supercycle

CHiPs - Season 3 - Episode 7

Ponch ends up in hospital when he crashes while pursuing a jewelry thief on a motorbike. Jon and Ponch think it could be Roy Yarnell, who's back in town with his own stunt show. Meanwhile, a new female officer is interested in Jon, but his colleagues think she's there to spy on them.

#31 - The Chaperone

The Monkees - Season 1 - Episode 9

The boys host a chaperoned party so that Davy can date the daughter of a strict retired general.

#32 - The Crystal Duck

Hardcastle and McCormick - Season 1 - Episode 4

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. While at the guest house, he overheard Hardcastle telling McCormick that they are going to play cards with some other judges. While they are playing, someone breaks in a robs them, and he is wearing the watch that McCormick lent to Teddy. When Hardcastle and McCormick go home McCormick tells Hardcastle that Teddy's the robber and he has been staying with McCormick in the guest house, they also discover that the guest house has been robbed also. One of the judges discovers that the robber is Teddy and learning that he McCormick were cellmates, suspects that McCormick was in on the robbery, and has him arrested. Teddy returns and is caught by Hardcastle, who in turn gets M

#33 - Nitro

Mission: Impossible - Season 3 - Episode 21

General Zek of Karak is opposed to a peace treaty between his country and Agir, and is working with a munitions maker named Ismir Najiid to start a war by destroying King Said during his announcement of the treaty. The IMF must stop Zek and Najiid for good. The two conspirators hire Aristo Skora, a terrorist, to plant the explosives and incriminate Agir. Barney as a systems analyst sets up Najiid's factory's alarm system so Rollin can sneak in and steal the nitro from Najiid with Willy's help while letting himself be seen. Meanwhile, Jim has identified Cinnamon to Zek as an ally of "Hakim", the Agirian terrorist Rollin is pretending to be. Rollin and Willy grab the real Skora and then Rollin-as-Skora tells Zek their plan won't work. The IMF let Zek follow Cinnamon to an unconscious "Hakim" (actually a drugged and masked Skora) who has the nitro and a radio-controlled truck so Zek takes over his plan which he believes is the Agirians. Meanwhile Najiid has been drugged during Said's spee

#34 - Silent Knight

Knight Rider - Season 2 - Episode 12

Michael is preparing to attend the Christmas banquet when he encounters a gypsy boy who has witnessed a bank robbery and is sought by the robbers from whom he stole a gold watch.

#35 - Four-Eyes

Riptide (1984) - Season 1 - Episode 9

rc: Jack Ging (Lt. Quinlan) At great reluctance, Cody, Nick and Murray accept a job from shady attorney Myron Bell that turns out to be working for an arrogant, rude character named Roger Ramsdale, who wants them to get evidence that his wife Joan is supposedly cheating on him, to help him win a divorce law suit. But as the trio begrudgingly take on their assignment, they find that far from being the harlot Roger claims, the woman is in fact an upstanding, thoroughly nice lady, and what's more, she herself has hired two female private investigators to prove that Roger is actually the one cheating on her. But when Roger is murdered, Joan is arrested as the prime suspect, and the male and female private investigators are forced to not only join forces to try and find the real killer, but more demandingly to simply manage to get along together...

#36 - Long Distance Daddy

Riptide (1984) - Season 1 - Episode 11

rc: Marsha Warfield (Max), Jack Ging (Lt. Quinlan) A member of a gun smuggling racket takes the opportunity to use a flight to bump off the irritating son of the head of the operation. Nick has a surprise when Chin Lee and Mia, two Cambodian children that he sponsors, unexpectedly arrive in American and at the Riptide when Chin must get urgent heart surgery for his young sister. But unbeknown to them, the pair came into the country by stowing away on the smuggler's aeroplane. The killer plans to get rid of the children along with their friends at the Riptide to stop them from sharing what they saw, but when the bemused detectives investigate who's responsible for trying to kill them, the mobster head of the smuggling operation believes them to be his son's murderers! The fact that a mean character who Cody and Nick sent to prison while serving as M.P.s in Vietnam has just been released does not help matters...

#37 - Mirage

Riptide (1984) - Season 2 - Episode 4

rc: Jack Ging (Lt. Quinlan) Teaching a science class at a local collage, Murray falls for an attractive student who appears to be interested in him too. But when two thugs steal the girl's paper that Murray is marking, the detectives are shocked to learn that the girl is actually married, to a millionaire Arabian, who ordered the papers taken after becoming worried that Murray is having an affair with his wife. He warns him that in his culture, the punishment for committing adultery is death. But afterwards, the girl claims that her husband is abusing her and begs for Murray's help; unfortunately, everything is not as it seems about the girl, and Murray is unwittingly being set-up...

#38 - Fuzzy Vision

Riptide (1984) - Season 2 - Episode 20

Out at sea on a fishing trip, a blown armature on the Riptide brings the P.I.s vacation to a halt. They manage to make it to shore to a nearby small village, which is seems to be stuck in the 1950s, for help, where they meet an eccentric elderly lady who seems to be a clairvoyant and is expecting them! What's more, she warns them that her nephew will soon be murdered and that she will be arrested. The trio take her with a pinch of salt, but the more they are stuck in the village, the more the predictions come true. Helping to clear her of the murder which indeed does take place, the trio find themselves digging up an unsolved seven-year-old killing of a local beauty queen... The fact that locals mistake Cody for an infamous local trouble-maker whom he seems to resemble, does not exactly help matters...

#39 - The Frankie Kahana Show

Riptide (1984) - Season 3 - Episode 13

At Straightaway's club, Murray and his girlfriend Carla (who is not mentioned in any other episode) are trying to fix up a music teacher named Lisa with either Nick or Cody. However, the matchmaking is interrupted when some armed men arrive and unsuccessfully try to capture Frankie Kahana, the club's marginally talented Hawaiian singer. Carla, who is the club's manager, convinces the guys to find Kahana, who had fled the scene. The guys begin to investigate but, unfortunately, Cody is captured and brought to a mobster named Lemana. While Lemana tries to convince Cody to tell him where Kahana is, Nick and Boz go to speak to Parisi. Then, based on pictures some club customers had taken of Kahana's attackers, Parisi realizes that Lemana is involved. Murray and Nick go to Lemana's hotel only to end up in a car chase. Although Lemana's men escape, Nick and Murray do manage to rescue Cody. The guys soon locate Kahana (who Cody has learned is not an entertainer but was Lemana's bookkeeper) wh

#40 - The Faded Image

Ironside - Season 8 - Episode 16

#41 - Somebody's Killing the Great Geeks of America

Riptide (1984) - Season 1 - Episode 4

A woman in Boz's high-IQ club needs help after a member of her "brain trust" has a fatal accident and an attempt is made on her own life.

#42 - Circle of Fear

Baywatch Nights - Season 2 - Episode 5

After a report of a possible black arts event in the woods, Mitch and Ryan search. Ryan finds a burned book and a duplicate in a specialty book shop. She attempts one of the ceremonies with spectacular results. The shop owner helps them understand and counteract the evil invoked.

#43 - Pirates of Nashville

The Fall Guy - Season 3 - Episode 9

Colt encounters a case of piracy when he goes after a bounty in Nashville. He performs "The Unknown Stuntman."

#44 - Jailbirds

CHiPs - Season 3 - Episode 16

First Jon then Ponch get put in jail for contempt of court when they refuse to name their informant. Getraer gets the rest of the team searching through parking violations to prove the defendant was no stranger to the raided warehouse.

#45 - Dynamite Alley

CHiPs - Season 3 - Episode 24

Bonnie flips her cruiser on the way back from Bakersfield, and the only witness is a boy she talks to on the CB. Grossman is writing an article for Highway Patrol magazine about hallucinations experienced while driving.

#46 - Vagabonds

CHiPs - Season 5 - Episode 2

A family in a camper van cause an accident to claim the insurance money. Ponch and Jon give chase.

#47 - The Homecoming (1)

Hardcastle and McCormick - Season 1 - Episode 19

Hardcastle returns to his hometown in Arkansas for a high school reunion, only to learn from an old friend that people are being swindled out of their farms. After the friend is murdered, and his daughter asks the judge for help, Hardcastle enlists McCormick to burglarize the local land office.

#48 - The Homecoming (2)

Hardcastle and McCormick - Season 1 - Episode 20

Hardcastle hides out with another old friend, recovering from his injuries, while he tries to figure out how to retrieve the evidence against the town officials. Meanwhile, Mark and Christy take refuge in an abandoned cabin.

#49 - D-Day

Hardcastle and McCormick - Season 2 - Episode 4

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.

#50 - Seavers: Dead or Alive

The Fall Guy - Season 5 - Episode 7

The tables are turned when Colt is framed and becomes a fugitive.