Episode Guide – Switch

No.
overall
No. in
season
Title Directed by: Written by: Original air date
1 1 “The James Caan Con” E.W. Swackhamer Richard Powell September 9, 1975
Mac poses as a movie producer to get the goods on an actor who blackmails on the side.
2 2 “The Late Show Murders” Douglas Heyes Paul Playdon & David Chase September 16, 1975
Pete and Mac borrow ideas from classic detective stories to thwart a crooked small-time private eye. They’re decoying him from fencing stolen jewels by concocting a case he couldn’t refuse.
3 3 “The Old Diamond Game” Gordon Hessler Glen A. Larson & Michael Sloan September 23, 1975
In pursuit of a lawyer who made off with millions in a South American country, Pete and Mac head down to Rio to bring him back the old-fashioned way.
4 4 “Stung from Beyond” Jerry London David Ketchum & Bruce Shelly September 30, 1975
A group of con artists pull a con involving stock investors and their family.
5 5 “The Deadly Missiles Caper” Walter Doniger Glen A. Larson October 7, 1975
Robin Morgan hires Pete and Mac to find her missing timber magnate father. She is convinced that her uncle is responsible.
6 6 “The Man Who Couldn’t Lose” Bruce Kessler Michael Kozoll October 14, 1975
Pete and Mac play on a hijacker’s weakness for gambling and women to find the location of the armored truck heist loot.
7 7 “Death Heist” Glen A. Larson Eugene Cotton,
Paul Shilling
October 21, 1975
Pete and Mac have only 11 days to get a jewel thief to produce a stolen emerald before the statute of limitations runs out on the crime.
8 8 “The Body at the Bottom” E.W. Swackhamer Teleplay by: Rudolph Borchert & Paul Playdon & David Chase
Story by: Rudolph Borchert
November 4, 1975
A ruthless businessman figures out an insurance scam: He sets his plant ablaze and lets an ex-con, who has been working there, serves as the fall guy. Mac and Pete must lead the crooked businessman to confess his deed.
9 9 “The Cruise Ship Murders” Bruce Kessler Teleplay by: Mort Zarcoff, Charles Sailor & Eric Kaldor
Story by: Charles Sailor & Eric Kaldor
November 11, 1975
Aboard a cruise ship Pete and Mac try to solve the mysterious death of a bookkeeper.
10 10 “Kiss of Death” Allen Baron Teleplay by: Gregory S. Dinallo, Glen A. Larson & Michael Kozoll
Story by: Gregory S. Dinallo
November 25, 1975
A feuding mob family becomes victim to an intruder.
11 11 “Death by Resurrection” Alf Kjellin Teleplay by: Stephen J. Cannell
Story by: John Thomas James
December 2, 1975
Pete and Mac are doing what they think is a routine background check when everyone — including the police, the FBI and the mob — want the check to stop immediately.
12 12 “The Cold War Con” John Peyser Michael Kozoll December 9, 1975
In order to rescue a model abducted by white slavers, Pete and Mac pretend that the girl is a valuable pawn in a struggle between Soviet and American agents.
13 13 “Through the Past Deadly” John Peyser Michael Kozoll December 16, 1975
When someone attempts to take Pete’s life, Mac recalls how their friendship came to happen.
14 14 “Mistresses, Murder and Millions” Allen Baron Teleplay by: David Chase
Story by: Paul Playdon
December 23, 1975
A business magnate involved in a hideous divorce is kidnapped, and the kidnappers later critically wound a police officer. Pete and Mac suspect that the man’s soon-to-be ex-wife and his girlfriend
15 15 “The Walking Bomb” John Peyser Teleplay by: David Chase, David Ketchum & Bruce Shelly
Story by: David Ketchum & Bruce Shelly
January 6, 1976
Extortionists kidnap a bank executive and strap a bomb to his chest in order to force him to pay them a fortune. When the bank executive suffers a heart attack, they let him go — and strap the bomb to Pete Ryan instead.
16 16 “Ain’t Nobody Here Named Barney” John Newland Michael Kozoll January 13, 1976
A loony sculptor claims her grandfather wasn’t really buried in his grave. It turns out he was, but there is also evidence that 4.3 million dollars in embezzled money is — or was — down there too. When Pete and Mac take up the case and find the money hijacked from a computer account, they also come upon a shadowy killer who is intent on making the sculptor look crazy or dead and taking them with her.
17 17 “Come Die with Me” John Peyser Bill Stratton January 27, 1976
18 18 “One of Our Zeppelins Is Missing” Dick Moder Gene R. Kearney February 10, 1976
19 19 “Before the Holocaust” Edward M. Abroms David Chase February 17, 1976
20 20 “Big Deal in Paradise” Bruce Kessler Lou Shaw February 24, 1976
Pete and Malcolm are suspected of stealing a million dollars of underworld money.
21 21 “The Case of the Purloined Case” John Peyser Michael Kozoll March 2, 1976
In Las Vegas, Pete and Mac hunt for a twice-stolen tote bag that a lot of shady people want, but for mysteriously different reasons.
22 22 “The Girl on the Golden Strip” John Peyser Glen A. Larson & David Chase March 16, 1976
Unknown to himself, a Vegas nightclub singer turns into his alter ego, a deranged slasher-killer, when he hears one of his own classic songs. Pete and Mac get on the trail of the murderer but are sidelined by criminal activity on the parts of his managers.

Filmed on location in Las Vegas and on Lake Mead.

23 23 “Round Up the Usual Suspects” John Newland Teleplay by: Gene R. Kearney
Story by: Gene R. Kearney & David Ketchum & Tony DiMarco
March 23, 1976
24 24 “Death Squad” John Peyser Lou Shaw April 6, 1976

No.
overall
No. in
season
Title Directed by: Written by: Original air date
25 1 “The Pirates of Tin Pan Alley” David Impastato Walter Dallenbach September 21, 1976
The ex-wife of a DJ and her companion die mysteriously, and Mac and Pete start an investigation.
26 2 “The Twelfth Commandment” Sutton Roley Leigh Vance September 28, 1976
A stolen attache case reveals a bundle of money and an apparent death note pinned to a picture of several priests.
27 3 “Fleece of Snow” Leo Penn Morton Fine October 5, 1976
The police decline to investigate the supposed suicide of a detective, a suspected cocaine user.
28 4 “The Argonaut Special” John Peyser Walter Dallenbach October 12, 1976
The manager of a ranch in which Mac has invested is being pressured to sell by a ruthless land speculator.
29 5 “The Things That Belong to Mickey Costello” Sutton Roley Shirl Hendryx October 19, 1976
Mac goes after a singer whose alibi covers the thug responsible for the near-fatal beating of Pete.
30 6 “Quicker Than the Eye” David Friedkin Sue Milburn November 9, 1976
A peppery old con artist is marked for murder after witnessing a payoff.
31 7 “Gaffing the Skim” Bruce Evans Robert Dellinger November 16, 1976
Pete poses as a carnival barker while investigating the abduction of a county-fair executive.
32 8 “The Lady from Liechtenstein: Part 1” David Impastato Norman Hudis November 23, 1976
Impressionist Jim Bailey poses as a wealthy baroness to help Pete and Mac trap a womanizing crook.
33 9 “The Lady from Liechtenstein: Part 2” David Impastato Norman Hudis November 30, 1976
A baroness is jeopardized by an announcement of the woman’s marriage.
34 10 “Switch-Hitter” Edward M. Abroms Teleplay by: Arthur Rowe & Stephen Kandel
Story by: Gene Thompson
December 7, 1976
Pete and Mac pose as hit men after a reporter about to expose a union racket is an assassination-attempt victim.
35 11 “Maggie’s Hero” Noel Black Edward J. Lakso December 14, 1976
36 12 “The 100,000 Ruble Rumble” Leo Penn Morton Fine December 21, 1976
Mac is framed for murder in an elaborate international swindle that also nets him a 100,000 ruble reward for the killing.
37 13 “Portraits of Death” John Peyser Shirl Hendryx January 4, 1977
Acting only on a hunch and perhaps a bit of jealousy, Pete probes into the background of an old flame’s fiance, unaware that the man is a homicidal gigolo.
38 14 “The Snitch” Sigmund Neufeld Jr. Teleplay by: Carey Wilber & Jack Guss
Story by: Carey Wilber
January 16, 1977
Pete and Mac play mob bosses to learn who made an attempt on Malcolm’s life.
39 15 “Eyewitness” Leo Penn Lewis Davidson January 23, 1977
A blind music teacher hires Pete and Mac for protection after her presence at a murder is noted by the killer.
40 16 “Camera Angles” Bruce Kessler David Taylor January 30, 1977
To help a friend — and without telling each other — Mac and Pete tackle a case involving murder, kidnapping and a revolutionary new camera.
41 17 “Butterfly Morning” Sutton Roley Robert Earll,
Alan Godfrey
February 6, 1977
42 18 “The Four Horsemen” Sigmund Neufeld Jr. Michael I. Wagner February 13, 1977
Maggie is abducted by a mobster to ensure that Pete and Mac find whoever killed his father’s buddy, and who likely has similar plans for Papa.
43 19 “Eden’s Gate” Gerald Mayer Teleplay by: Robert Earll
Story by: David Taylor
February 20, 1977
44 20 “The Hemline Heist” Leo Penn Jack Guss February 27, 1977
A fashion designer is murdered three times simultaneously during a fashion show: he drinks cyanide-laced champagne, gets shot, and has a spotlight tumble onto his head all at once. The rest of the episode is shown in flashbacks, as the story unfolds of how people stole the formula for his latest show-stopping fashion and tried — independently of each other but at the exact same moment — to kill him for trying to find out who did it.
45 21 “Three for the Money” Sigmund Neufeld Jr. Stephen Kandel March 6, 1977
Gunmen kidnap Maggie and a stunt pilot’s wife, as part of a plan to free a gangster from custody.
46 22 “Two on the Run” Arnold Laven Cynthia A. Cherbak March 13, 1977
Pete and Mac are invited to settle a racketeer’s estate, a substantial legacy left to the three women in his life but coveted by his former partner, a sadistic loan shark.
47 23 “Whatever Happened to Carol Harmony?” Ivan Dixon Teleplay by: Leigh Vance
Story by: David P. Lewis
March 27, 1977
Pete is asked by a former fellow inmate to locate a dancer who can clear him of murder charges.
48 24 “Heritage of Death” John Peyser Larry Forrester April 3, 1977
An unidentified four-year-old African boy is left at Malcolm’s doorstep, along with a note warning that the child needs protection.

Ep Title Directed by: Written by: Original air date
49 1 “Net Loss” Reza Badiyi Stephen Kandel September 23, 1977
Pete and Mac are hired by a murdered tennis pro’s coach, who fears someone is trying to kill off the entire team.
50 2 “Downshift” Sigmund Neufeld Jr. Robert Earll September 30, 1977
51 3 “Legend of the Macunas: Part 1” John Peyser Leigh Vance October 14, 1977
A Las Vegas pilot crashes in the desert on a photo shoot, and Mac and Pete look into the cause.
52 4 “Legend of the Macunas: Part 2” John Peyser Leigh Vance October 21, 1977
Conclusion to the case of the missing pilot and the search for buried treasure.
53 5 “Fade Out” Lawrence Doheny Richard H. Landau November 4, 1977
Pete and Mac are hired by the producer of a movie after the film’s leading lady has her life threatened.
54 6 “Dancer” Paul Krasny Patrick Mathews December 5, 1977
Pete and Mac do a literal song and dance as they help an old vaudeville hoofer try to figure out who took several shots at him onstage, killing his dance partner.
55 7 “Go for Broke” Sigmund Neufeld Jr. Mel Goldberg,
Chris Lucky
December 12, 1977
Pete and Mac are hired by a wealthy woman to locate her missing husband, a philanderer with a gambling problem. But the woman is murdered before they find her husband.
56 8 “Lady of the Deep” Sigmund Neufeld Jr. Larry Forrester December 19, 1977
A marine biologist has disappeared along the coast of Mexico while engaged in a salvage operation for the government.
57 9 “Thirty Thousand Witnesses” Fernando Lamas Tom Bagen December 26, 1977
Pete becomes a rather overaged soccer goalie (Robert Wagner, though he looked younger, was 47 at the time of filming) in order to figure out who killed the team’s previous goalie and how.
58 10 “Dangerous Curves” Phil Bondelli Larry Forrester January 2, 1978
An all-woman cab company has been bombed and their drivers mugged, so they hire Mac and Pete to find out who and why.
59 11 “The Tong” Ray Danton David Carren,
Peter Allan Fields
January 9, 1978
Malcolm’s cook is involved in a murder that may presage war among Chinese clans.
60 12 “Who Killed Lila Craig?” Paul Krasny Steve Fisher January 16, 1978
Mac becomes one of his own clients when he becomes a suspect in a 20-year old unsolved murder.
61 13 “Three Blonde Mice” James Sheldon Michael I. Wagner January 30, 1978
Some interesting underwater footage highlights this episode as Pete and Mac, in full business suits, dive into a swimming pool to defuse a nuclear bomb threatening to take out a society party and much of Los Angeles to boot.
62 14 “Coronado Circle” Michael Caffey Donald P. Bellisario February 7, 1978
An elderly captain and his deckhand are missing from a yacht found drifting where several vessels recently disappeared.
63 15 “Stolen Island” Fernando Lamas Robert Earll March 28, 1978
Pete and Mac look for a militant ecologist who went into hiding after a chemical-company bombing.
64 16 “Formula for Murder” Sigmund Neufeld Jr. Madeline Di Maggio,
Kathy Donnell
April 28, 1978
65 17 “Blue Crusaders Reunion” Seymour Robbie Robert Earll,
Leigh Vance
May 5, 1978
66 18 “Mexican Standoff” Fernando Lamas John Lewis Figueroa,
Larry Forrester
May 12, 1978
Pete and Mac investigate white-slavers who smuggle aliens from Latin America.
67 19 “Play-Off” Sigmund Neufeld Jr. Larry Forrester June 18, 1978
A gambling mogul kidnaps Malcolm to ensure that Pete will protect his golfer son.
68 20 “The Cage” Phil Bondelli Larry Forrester,
Patrick Mathews
June 25, 1978
A zoo’s veterinarian has mysteriously disappeared and the only clue may have to do with a rare white rhino.
69 21 “Photo Finish” Ray Danton Cynthia A. Cherbak July 2, 1978
70 22 “The Siege at the Bouziki Bar” Seymour Robbie Larry Forrester,
John Peyser
July 9, 1978
The mob sends hitmen after a pregnant woman who can testify against them, and she takes refuge in Malcolm’s bar while Pete, Maggie, and Mac are there.