The show began as an NBC Made for TV Movie in 1987 and the show was to have begun weekly in 1988 though because of a writer's strike in 1988 it didn't begin weekly until 1989. After it's 1st season the show left NBC and ABC took the show from 1990 until 1991. First Telecast: November 30, 1987 Last Telecast: May 2, 1991 Episodes: 1 TV Movie, 42 Episodes
Father Dowling stumbles into a kidnapping plot when he befriends a young woman who is about to disappear. Fearing the worst, Sister Steve signs on as the family's new maid to try and find out what happened to the girl.
Father Dowling does his duty, jury duty, in a murder case that should have been open and shut. Father Dowling is not so sure and his claim of reasonable doubt ends in a deadlocked jury. While the DA angrily works toward a retrial, Father Dowling and Sister Steve conduct an investigation of their own, at the center of which is the testimony of an eyewitness who seems to keep company with some unusual sorts.
It's man against machine when a hired killer uses computer technology to conceal his crime during a weekend retreat for mystery writers. A series of traps further complicate the investigation and one of them almost costs Sister Steve her life.
Father Dowling lands on the wrong side of the FBI after a dying man falls at his feet. Father Dowling puts the church in a bad light when he insists on tracking down the killer. While doing so, he seems to have helped botch a FBI sting operation!
There's a murder attempt on a woman who has left her son in the temporary care of St. Michael's and the search for the culprit leads to a department store on Christmas Eve.
Sister Steve's return to her Mother's house to celebrate the convent's Silver Jubilee ceremonies should be a time of great joy for everyone. But shortly after arriving the Sister discovers a nun with a gun. Not quite what she expected. And her worst fears are indeed realized when another visiting nun is murdered.
While visiting the Chicago Museum to take in a Pharaoh's burial chamber, Father Dowling and Sister Steve encounter an ancient Egyptian curse. Father Prestwick almost becomes a victim himself when he attempts to uncover the tomb's deadly secrets.
Father Dowling and Sister Steve go out on a limb when they kidnap a chimp accused of murdering an animal activist. The killer-chimp will be put to sleep unless they can prove it has been framed.
When a rooftop sniper almost kills Father Dowling, Sister Steve goes undercover as a cab driver, hoping the flush out the would-be priest-killer.
Sister Steve has disguised herself as a trashy lady-of-the-evening in order to track down a witness who can clear the name of a young businessman charged with murder. But was he really framed or is he actually guilty? Father Dowling is not certain.
Father Dowling and Sister Steve are caught in the middle of the battle of the bugs when warring exterminators do battle over franchise rights. The plot is further thickened by a nun who isn't, a hitman who is and a mobster who will do anything to rescue his daughter.
Trouble is brewing for Father Dowling when his evil twin brother rolls into town. Blaine manages to frame his brother for a bank robbery, while protecting himself with a perfect alibi: He's been arrested for overdue parking tickets. With the help of Sister Steve, Father Dowling masquerades as his troublesome twin in order to track down his underworld associates.
The local District Attorney's office is home to bullets and ballots as deadly rivals battle for power. One man is already dead and an innocent boy has been charged with murder. Father Dowling tries to expose the real killer before a political rally becomes a blood bath.
A blast from the past rocks Father Dowling's world when a man he's never met shows up claiming to be his son. The man disappears before Father Dowling can question him. And then his would-be son is charged with murder.
An author who used Dowling and Steve as characters in his murder mystery dies before its completion.
A hired killer has a change of heart when he discovers that Father Dowling is his intended victim. He warns the priest that someone else is certain to accept the contract. Now it's up to Father Dowling to figure out who, and why, someone is out to get him.
It is difficult to tell who is consulting with whom when Sherlock Holmes comes to the aid of Father Dowling. The pair prove to be an unbeatable team as they put their powers of deduction to the supreme test as eyewitnesses to multiple murders. There's only one hitch: No one other than Dowling can actually see Mr. Holmes!
Father Dowling is on the trail of a runaway teen who is taking a walk on the wild side of L.A.'s night life.
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