A hotel janitor (and wino) named Harry witnesses a murder in a hotel room, but refuses to talk until Reed shows him compassion and respect, both of which are lacking from his family and friends, but his testimony is clouded by his alcoholic past. Malloy relives his childhood by telling the story of his chaperoning a junior high dance.

During Malloy's birthday, he lets Reed know he does not enjoy surprise parties, but becomes increasingly suspicious and believes the others are actually planning a surprise party, much to his chagrin; it is soon revealed that is not the case. Meanwhile, Sgt. MacDonald warns the officers about a rash of robberies using milk crates to break store windows; during a routine traffic stop, Reed notices a milk crate in the back of a car and surreptitiously marks it for identification later, and the thief is apprehended later using the same milk crate. Calls include a backup call for a jewelry store robbery when the officers pull over the owner of said store for DUI, an embarrassed male purse snatching victim inside a negligee shop, a phony gas station worker at a closed gas station, a shootout in the police garage between the entire station and a drunk suspect officers failed to handcuff, and Officer Wells capturing a B&E suspect based on a hunch by Malloy.

Malloy and Reed encounter an armed private investigator from out of state, who is in Los Angeles to find a bail jumper. Later the PI is in the middle of an altercation with two black men, one of which is injured; the PI claims the men tried to rob him, but the men tell a different story, and Sgt. MacDonald orders the PI arrested. The PI is found roughing up the bail jumper and is arrested. Calls include an elderly man wanting a group of cars driven by hippies ticketed for illegal parking, and a woman who demands the officers ticket her husband's car because he refuses to replace the balding tires on it.

Malloy and Reed are called to a hotel to stop a woman's suicide attempt; while there, they learn of a parolee there who refuses to speak with the woman because he thinks someone from the mob is after him. Later the officers are called back to the hotel because the manager wants the parolee evicted; another call to the hotel leads to shots fired from the parolee, who was having delusions the mob was after him. In another case, the officers offer assistance to a man whose extremely damaged car simply needed a tire change; the man and his car are later the suspects in a robbery, and detectives arrest the man with the officers' help.

Malloy's old landlady, Mrs. O'Brien, has her purse stolen and refuses to leave the station until her case is settled. Mrs. O'Brien resorts to other means, including hounding detectives and setting up a picket line to vent her frustrations. Malloy makes connection between her theft and a string of purse snatchings involving social security checks, and a decoy leads to the end of the theft ring. Calls include two suspicious men and a pursuit involving them, and a homicide where candy wrappers and tire tracks from the pursuit suspects are found.

Reed spreads his flu to several other officers, leaving the station undermanned. Calls include a shootout with a rifle-toting bookie, an argument between a storekeeper and a customer over a cantaloupe during an unrelated traffic stop, Reed locating a burglar after seeing a flashlight inside a store, and a teenager evading Reed in a foot pursuit. Due to the understaffing situation, Malloy and Reed are asked to do double shifts, and Malloy tickets a woman for turning right at a red without stopping. Later, Sgt. MacDonald assigns them to drive around a police commissioner for the night; the commissioner is actually the woman Malloy ticketed.

While on second shift, Malloy and Reed take Police Commissioner Dixon on a ride-along. They encounter a bar owner who locked a naked, elderly man inside, a fight with a knife-wielding man and another man with a gun, and a missing 17-year-old deaf boy with mental instabilities, which Reed recognizes as the boy that escaped his foot pursuit in the previous episode.

Malloy and Reed are given an older cruiser with 300 miles to go until retirement. They quickly learn the car is extremely unreliable and barely works: the accelerator surges, the glove compartment door constantly drops on Reed's knees, the water hose breaks while they are sneaking up on a prowler suspect (actually just a man who once lived there), their malfunctioning taillights prevent them from writing a ticket to a citizen whose car had the same problem, the distributor cap fails when trying to respond to another call, and finally, after capturing a pursuit suspect, the car's brakes fail and the unmanned car totals itself on a light pole. Another call regarding a truck loading up at a warehouse leads to the arrest of a large group of organized burglars after Malloy notices a slight discrepancy in their otherwise foolproof plan.

Reed spends a Saturday night talking about buying a used car, during the watch the officers handle a possible DUI but the driver passes the field sobriety tests, a shooting during which a man kills his recently paroled son-in-law, a car stripper, trick a man into revealing his name after pulling him over for speeding and finding the car has over $900 of unpaid tickets, and two beatings at motels.

Malloy and Reed spot a runaway young boy hiding in the woods and prepare to take him home, then respond to his address for a disturbance and find his mother and step-father quiet. They return a second time with the couple throwing things at each other and break it up. A third call to the same address forces the officers to send the husband to his sister's house, but he returns to the apartment and when he does, shots ring out just as the officers arrive for the fourth time. Calls include a motorist encountering a girl who offers him drugs, a man trying to break into his own truck after his dog locked him out, and a drunk bicycle thief.

Malloy and Reed are stunned to discover that the driver who led them on a high-speed chase is the son of Sgt. MacDonald, and Malloy takes it upon himself to help his boss figure out why the young man is acting out. In the meantime, they investigate a possible burglary in progress at an apartment building, mediate a dispute at a park over an elderly woman feeding ducks, respond to a call of two armed men fighting over a woman and deal with a wino who is attempting to direct traffic at a busy intersection.

Reed loses a case against a young car thief in juvenile court, who later dies in high-speed pursuit. A girl's boyfriend dies from a heroin "hot shot", she buys drugs from the supplier and provides the serial number of the $10 bill she used to buy them. An elderly woman insists on being arrested rather than ticketed for a traffic violation.

Malloy needs to sell two tickets to the ballet after his date cancels, but he quickly regrets putting a notice on the station's bulletin board. While patrolling the harbor and surrounding area, he and Reed investigate a marine fuel dealer accused of forgery, pull over a driver with a suspicious box on the roof of his car, question a suspicious young couple, deal with an astrologer who is driving recklessly and encounter a drunken cook shooting a rifle from the crow's nest of a docked ship.

Malloy has his eye on an attractive woman he's seeing all over town walking a scotty dog, which eventually turns out to be bad news for her. Meanwhile, he and Reed assist a police helicopter track down a young man riding his dirt bike in the hills illegally during fire season, search for an armed suspect who held up a movie theater before escaping on a motorcycle and coordinate with the police helicopter in a futile search for two armed robbery suspects who fatally shot a night watchman inside a department store.

Malloy and Reed have to break the news to a young model that her press agent lied when he said there would be nothing wrong with having a nude photo shoot on a busy public beach. Later, they discover a man stealing from a phone booth, assist in the chase of a stolen dune buggy, try help an attractive woman whose safety is put in grave danger by an obscene phone caller, deal with a wino who dies while eating at a diner and pull over a woman towing a large jack-o-lantern.

Today's patrol begins with a traffic stop of a high-society cat burglar who's just finished serving a four-year prison term, and Malloy senses the guy is about to return to his old ways. Meanwhile, he and Reed engage in a standoff with a wounded robbery suspect who fatally shot a convenience store worker, examine an abandoned vehicle, investigate the theft of a book from a library and deal with a distraught unemployed man who takes his young daughter hostage in his home.

Malloy returns from vacation sporting a mustache, prompting chuckles and guffaws from the squad. The officers then assist Air Ten in rescuing two people from an airplane crash. Reno West, a paroled thief, is suspected in the theft of some stamps from a mansion. A witness provides excellent descriptions of suspects involved in a jewelry store robbery. And a woman takes an alleged purse snatcher to the police station in her car rather than walk four miles to do so. Malloy shaves off the mustache when he has trouble trimming it.

A rookie cop with a "know-it-all" presents problems for the officers on the force, including Officer Wells, Malloy and Reed. Barrett bungles the arrest of a kooky but ultimately harmless elderly man suspected of holding up a bank. Later, a bomber has planted an explosive device inside a cereal box at a local grocery store, with the bomb set to go off within the hour.

Reno West's burglary reign continues, and the Captain orders it stopped at all costs. Other cases include having to divert a vicious guard dog so the officers can save a 70 year old man in a diabetic coma, investigate a theft of a rare jade statue from a mansion, and a domestic dispute between a couple where it appears the wife is the abuser.

There's a new dispatcher on today's day watch, and while Reed can't stand her voice, Malloy sees the situation much differently. On patrol, they search for a hit and run driver who left a small girl in serious condition, investigate a break-in at a synagogue, deal with a drunk woman who is searching for her daughter and become part of a SWAT team attempting to neutralize a sniper terrorizing the movie studio from which he was just fired.

Reed needs his TV repaired, and brings in his Boy Scout neighbor with a merit badge in electronics to work on it. Cases involve pursuing a juvenile on a souped-up minibike, a woman suspected of killing and burying her husband in the back yard, a robbery committed by a long haired woman in high heels, a picket line at a store resolved when the lead picketer found out she went on a "computer date" with the store manager and he lied about his occupation, and a report made on a robbery turned out to be made by the actual robbers.

While Reed is having his shoes fixed at the repair shop, the squeakiness of his replacement shoes is driving Malloy crazy. On patrol, they deal with a deranged homeowner destroying his own possessions, stop a cargo van whose driver misunderstands the meaning of double jeopardy, search for a young boy hiding in an industrial building about to be demolished and create a hostage situation after shooting a bank robber.

Malloy and Officer Woods return from a day of fishing smelling like fish...which is aggravated when a disoriented woman spills perfume in the back seat. Numerous trips to the police garage fail to get the smells out. Other incidents include a mute woman informing the officers someone had broken into a church, a kidnapping call that turns out to be a man picking up a drunk woman to take her home, and a boy whose bike was stolen by a big boy and was recovered when the boy's friends caught and held the big boy until the police arrived.

While on a quiet patrol, Reed decides to spend part of his lunch break doing business at his bank while Malloy waits in the patrol car. Unfortunately, he walks into the clutches of a pair of ruthless robbers who take him hostage.

Reed volunteers to write a profile on Malloy for the LAPD's magazine to honor his 10th anniversary on the force, but soon discovers he may be in over his head. Out on patrol, an apparent gas station armed robbery gets turned on its head when they question the parties after a long chase, a man goes to extreme lengths to get his neighbor's poodle to stop barking, a woman's plan to get her husband arrested backfires and a liquor store robbery suspect barricades himself inside a house's garage after a high-speed chase.

Reed is suffering from a wrist injury which puts him on desk duty, while Malloy has to break in a new rookie partner. Reed's day is far from routine as he has to handle a bomb threat that results in the evacuation of the station, Officer Brinkman accidentally discharges his shotgun twice, a young man wants to report misconduct by a police officer, an elderly man brings a shotgun into the station to drop off, Malloy brings in a group of children abandoned by their mother, and Malloy and his partner pursue a car into the police parking lot, where the suspects are arrested.

Malloy and Reed begin today's patrol by responding to a call of a drunken woman threatening the patrons of a bar with a handgun. Afterwards, they search for a group of four carjackers who go on a robbery spree after targeting a man with a cache of guns in his trunk, and investigate the suspicious death of a mentally disabled man.

Reed returns from an off-day with an uncomfortable full-body sunburn, which causes him problems throughout the watch. Calls include responding to a traffic accident, acting on a tip from an informant, busting a drug dealer working out of abandoned homes, searching for a robbery suspect based on a vehicle description, and assisting in the rescue of two boys when their boat capsizes.

Malloy and Reed are chosen to ride in Air-70 to observe how the LAPD's air patrol works. The chopper's cases include searching for two robbery suspects inside a high-rise building and tracking an escaping murder suspect.

Malloy and Reed take to separate helicopter units to continue their observations. The choppers assist in a stolen light plane from LAX by a distraught man, track two robbery suspects fleeing in separate cars, and assist in a nighttime house fire.

Malloy, Reed, and Officer Woods are assigned airport duty at LAX, now equipped with closed-circuit cameras, which were used to observe a burglary in progress and apprehend the suspects before they could leave. An argument over a suitcase resulted in the discovery of drugs, another dispute involving an Army soldier and another man uncovers a scheme where the civilian took Japanese Yen from the soldier. A ticket clerk that catches Malloy's eye informs him of a man who bought tickets from her previously under a different name, which results in the breakup of a credit card theft ring, a runaway is escorted to security until his mother can pick him up, and a silent alarm at a toll gate results in the capture of a robber who was holding a hostage. As a reward for breaking up the credit card theft ring, the company invites Malloy and the ticket clerk to lunch—Reed is invited too but Malloy pays Reed (a week's worth of lunches) NOT to join the couple on the lunch date.

A young boy, Greg Whitney, is arrested for a burglary attempt and is released to his mother's custody. However, it is later determined that Whitney had a record under another name and the man he was with was posing to be his father. After Whitney is arrested for fleeing a robbery he actually did not commit, Malloy takes him to a special police-sponsored camp for troubled youth. Other cases include an attempted robbery of a taxicab, and an accident involving an elderly man and a long-haired motorcycle rider.

Malloy goes to camp with Greg Whitney and a group of other boys, and due to his short height is told to bunk with the younger boys. Greg gets into trouble right away, accused of stealing ice cream and a watch from one of the other boys, but runs off before it was determined the watch was misplaced, and is found. Olympic gold-medalist pole vaulter Bob Seagren stops by to coach the boys on a cross-country race, which Greg wins, while Reed speaks with his mother about handling Greg in the future. Back on patrol, Reed and Officer Wells deal with a woman whose alleged attacker fainted when he discovered she had a python under her coat.

As part of a trial program, Malloy and Reed team with Motor Officer Grant to better combat crime. Out on patrol, they make a safety check at a residence, investigate a suspicious witness at the scene of a traffic accident, deal with a young member of a neighborhood watch, respond to an annoying complaint about illegally parked cars and perform a daylight stakeout to catch a serial burglar.

An 'officer needs help' call comes in with no callsign or location. The dispatcher starts a division wide radio "roll-call" in order to account for every officer on patrol. While the roll-call is going on, calls for service from the public still needs to be handled. When a motorcycle officer fails to check in when prompted, a division wide search is instituted to look for him, which Malloy & Reed are assigned to assist in.

Sgt. MacDonald is unhappy about two things: his marriage and radio problems among the officers causing delays in response. Mac reaches out to Malloy about his wife opening an antique shop which is taking time away from him and the kids. Mac later realizes his situation during a call with an old married couple where the wife (whom the husband thought had run away) likes to go to the pizza parlor alone and listen to music, and the husband doesn't understand her need for some alone time. Other calls include a woman taken hostage by two robbers who head to the roof of a building; the suspects jump to a different roof but leave the hostage behind, and the robbers are apprehended with the help of Air Ten.

A serial rapist is on the loose. Malloy and Reed team up with Sgt. Gloria Tyler to teach self-defense techniques to a group of girls at a school near where the attacks have been occurring. Later, Tyler is used as bait to lure the rapist out, and he is captured after a pursuit. Other incidents include a home burglary involving a man whom the officers know and his nephew, and a shoplifter in a rain coat who escapes into a bar where he tries to be a stand-up comic.

Malloy and Reed search for a six-year-old girl in a red sweater who was kidnapped. Malloy finds the girl in a neighbor's house – the neighbor has kidnapped and raped the girl, and she is unconscious. The perp attempts to escape, Malloy catches him and loses his cool when the suspect claims that the girl was "asking for it." The suspect files excessive force charges against Malloy, which he admits to; he knows he will be punished by his old mentor, Capt. Moore which may derail his ambition to become sergeant. Moore gives Malloy a four-day suspension for his actions. Other calls include rescuing a man who got stuck in the storm drain system.

Reed's wife Jean is turned down for credit when purchasing a washer and Reed goes to the credit bureau to see why; the reason was that his name was confused with another James Reed with a different middle initial, and is cleared up. Other incidents include a hit-and-run accident, the victim gives a description and license number of the car that hit her, which is found with damage but the owner insists she was not involved; further investigation proves the owner right and they locate the real suspect, two boys that stole camping gear and later found when they were trying to hitchhike, and they arrest a liquor store owner in error while he was chasing the robbery suspect.

During their Christmas Eve Patrol, Malloy and Reed contemplate using their patrol car to deliver a Christmas tree to the residents of a soon-to-be-closed retirement home. Meanwhile, an elderly man's bagpipe playing is considered a public nuisance, a couple of teenagers steal a delivery truck containing radioactive material, a nervous man is desperate to cover up the smell of perfume on his clothing and an armed robbery suspect becomes intent on committing suicide-by-cop.

While paying a visit to the laundromat before going into work, Malloy encounters a man using the facilities to dry something much different from clothing. On patrol, he and Reed deal with a minister-in-training who uses a very unorthodox method to get his message across, try to reunite a Finnish-speaking child with her family, mediate a strange dispute between feuding neighbors and engage in a high-speed chase with a well known drug dealer.

Malloy and Reed investigate a large car theft operation that targets older cars, then stages them around the city as abandoned vehicles so they can be towed and scrapped. Meanwhile, they try to figure out why the son of Malloy's girlfriend is getting bad grades, search for a suspect who robbed an elderly woman and attempt to rescue two foolish teenagers who enter a house that is being fumigated.

The watch starts with an elderly woman whose TV was stolen and asks why nothing more is done for victims of crime. A silent alarm at a shop results in the owner being shot and critically injured; one suspect is caught, the other escapes when Reed has to save a baby in a runaway carriage. The shooting puts the family in a financial crunch, which can be helped with paperwork from a new program to help victims of violent crimes, but none are available. The officers question the bail bondsman to determine where the second suspect is, obtain the vehicle description and license number from a neighbor, then arrest him after pursuit in vehicle and foot. Another silent alarm finds young men robbing a drive-in, but their car stalls trying to get away. The forms for victims' families finally arrive and are provided to those that need them. Amy Milner, Martin Milner's daughter, appears in the episode as the shop owner's daughter.

Officer Woods' new partner is a nervous and quiet recruit, and the embarrassing secret he's trying to keep from his fellow officers might actually imperil them. On today's patrol, a real estate broker's well meaning but poorly thought out gesture nearly leads to a mob scene, a drug store owner discovers a way to profit from armed robbers and an armed robbery suspect opens fire during his escape attempt.

Malloy and Reed back up Officers Wells and Brady (who, like Wells, likes to "do things his own way") on a domestic dispute involving a husband with a gun. Calls include a dead body which turned out to be a girl playing with a mannequin, a man who likes to climb the sides of abandoned buildings, and a taxi driver who tips off the officers to an in-progress pawn shop burglary; they find the suspect working at a car wash and arrest him. The officers once again back up Wells and Brady on a prowler call where the homeowner comes out shooting. The four officers also hone their skills on the firing range in preparation for their monthly qualification.

Reed thinks he's got a great deal lined up on a used boat, but Malloy's convinced there's something fishy going on. While on patrol, they search for a man who sold a stolen horse to a riding academy, use an informant's tip to investigate a suspicious restaurant parking lot attendant and face an accusation of stealing a socialite's diamond ring during a burglary investigation.

Malloy and Reed are on the lookout for a traveling business man driving a green pinto, who called his wife in Nebraska and told her he was going to commit suicide at 2 PM. Meanwhile, they search for a woman who abandoned her newborn baby in a garbage can, and get a tip from an elderly woman about a group of car strippers.

Malloy is kidnapped leaving the station by a drug runner and his female accomplice, demanding her boyfriend be released from jail in exchange for Malloy. When the couple has Malloy contact the station to confirm his status, he reveals a clue about where they found a girl with a mannequin (a reference to the episode "Citizen With Gun"). Reed finds Malloy's car and a citizen gives a description of Malloy's kidnappers and their car, which Reed finds abandoned but he locates their hideout from case files, meanwhile Malloy manages to spill gasoline and ignites it, allowing Malloy to be rescued by Reed who notices the gunfire and smoke.

Malloy is filling in for Sgt. MacDonald as Watch Commander, so Reed rides with a new partner, Gus Corbin, an officer with nine months on the job, and they begin watch with a purse snatcher found inside a church confessional, then a break-in at a pharmacy leads to the real intention of the thieves—the next door pawn shop. Corbin defies Malloy's direct order not to search the pawn shop until backup arrives, which results in a dressing down by the acting Watch Commander, and the two suspects are captured. Finally, Corbin loses his gun during a foot pursuit and captures the suspect despite being unarmed.

Malloy continues his assignment as acting Watch Commander, so Reed is paired with Officer Dana Hall, while Officers Wells and Woods treat the new policewoman with the typical (for the 1970s) "not the woman's place" attitude, Reed treats her with respect and they go on patrol, where they encounter an underage DUI suspect with an uncooperative mother, locate and search a car stripping operation, and arrest numerous young people who riot at an outdoor rock concert.

Reed's bust of a drug dealer named Sparky was thrown out in court, and after Sgt. MacDonald offers him a chance to join the Vice squad for 30 days to gain experience, Reed volunteers, however the lifestyle and training cause a rift between him and Jean, and Reed quickly discovers how dirty Vice is; he's involved in a bust where a man wants to trade drugs for pictures of young boys, and the assignment is taking its toll on him. Malloy and Officer Woods team up to assist in the arrest of two drug dealers, but Malloy is shot and wounded during the bust and rescued by Reed.

Reed is awarded the Medal of Valor by the LAPD for rescuing a wounded Malloy from the shootout, and despite Jean's feelings about her husband's new assignment and about him taking the investigator's exam to become a Detective, she decides to attend the ceremony. Malloy and Reed reunite and handle cases; including a typing school B&E where both money and typewriters were suspected to be stolen, a suspicion confirmed by an assistant who allows the officers to freely check the typewriters; and a shootout in a warehouse full of mannequins with two young people.