Jake and the Fatman is a television crime drama starring William Conrad as prosecutor J. L. "Fatman" McCabe and Joe Penny as investigator Jake Styles. The series ran on CBS for five seasons from 1987 to 1992. Diagnosis: Murder was a spin-off of this series.
CreatorsDean Hargrove, David Angell, Joel Steiger
Happy Days Are Here Again
Sep 26, 1987
Senator candidate Kyle Williams' lover is killed after she threatens to reveal their affair. His speechwriter admits to him that he was the murderer, but threatens to frame him unless he cooperates.
Fatal Attraction (1)
Sep 29, 1987
Carson Warfield is having an affair with his stepmother, and together they kill his father and frame a thief who used to work for them. When things don't add up McCabe gets suspicious, and starts nosing around.
Fatal Attraction (2)
Sep 29, 1987
Carson Warfield is having an affair with his stepmother, and together they kill his father and frame a thief who used to work for them. When things don't add up McCabe gets suspicious, and starts nosing around.
Laura
Oct 6, 1987
Jake's former partner is killed by his fiancée in an alley. She blames the murder on a Latin kid she saw stealing a VCR just before she pulled the trigger.
The Man That Got Away
Oct 13, 1987
A wealthy lawyer kills his ex-wife's new man and frames her for the murder. She is arrested, and he takes the job of being her lawyer.
Love for Sale
Oct 20, 1987
A call girl discovers that her pimp uses her to smuggle drugs. She contacts McCabe, but is killed just as they meet.
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
Oct 27, 1987
For some time David Thompson has gone out and killed bums, so that the police believe a serial killer is loose. Then when he lures his brother to an alley and kills him the same way, he won't be a suspect.
Body and Soul
Nov 3, 1987
""Mad"" Marvin Michaels, the owner of an electronics store, is killed, and ex-con Bradford Long is the main suspect. McCabe assigns the case to the cop Karen Stetson, whose father was killed by Long.
The Man I Love
Nov 10, 1987
Glen Latimer pushes his newly married rich wife Nancy of their boat, but she survives and is brought to a hospital. She is unsure if it was just an accident, so Jake goes befriends Glen posing as Nancy's brother.
Love Me Or Leave Me
Nov 17, 1987
Ed Galvin escapes while he is being transported to prison, after threatening the life of McCabe and Andy Harmon (the cop who arrested him) during his trial.
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes
Dec 1, 1987
A burglar kills a woman and blinds her nurse before fleeing. The police catch him, but have to let him go because the nurse can't identify him. When she is scheduled for an operation that could restore her eyesight, they fear he'll try to kill her.
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
Dec 8, 1987
One of the deputy DAs finally gets her first murder case when a man she was investigating for skipping alimony payments turns up dead.
After You've Gone
Jan 5, 1988
Jake spots the hit man Sagittarius at the airport and follows him, but he spots Jake and is fatally wounded in the following gunfight. Jake takes his place to try to find out who the target was.
It Had to Be You
Jan 12, 1988
Leslie Randall, a former PR manager for McCabe is raped. The rapist, a psychiatrist, frames one of his patients with an anonymous tip to the police.
But Not for Me
Jan 19, 1988
A known mob man is killed in the home of star reporter Candace Morgan. She says he was shot through the window while she was interviewing him, but McCabe gets suspicious when there is one too many bullets.
What Is This Thing Called Love?
Jan 26, 1988
A man takes a courtroom hostage - with Derek and McCabe in it.
Lady, Be Good
Feb 2, 1988
A friend of McCabe is murdered just as he is about to fake his own death so his wife can collect a 4.5 million-dollar life insurance.
I'll Be Seeing You
Feb 16, 1988
A small time crook comes to McCabe offering to testify against the crime boss O'Rourke, after laying low for ten years. McCabe is suspicious, but is more than willing to go along with anything that can get O'Rourke behind bars.
Babyface
Feb 23, 1988
The daughter of the wealthy Amos Banning arranges her own kidnapping, and murders her accomplice once she has the ransom.
Blues in the Night
Mar 16, 1988
Jennifer Wilding gets a surprise when her identical twin sister turns up wanting to resume their previous partnership - one steals jewelry and the other provides an alibi.
How Long Has This Thing Been Going On?
Mar 23, 1988
A friend of Jake, Matthew Hammond, is having an affair with a rich lady. They decide to marry, but when she asks her husband for a divorce, he kills her and frames Hammond.
I Guess I'll Have to Change My Plans
Mar 30, 1988
A former cop who is now a crime writer commits a clever murder so that he can write a book about it that is likely to become a best seller.
Rhapsody in Blue
Apr 6, 1988
Ned Covington and his wife plan to kill his boss, Phil Duncan, when he is passed over for promotion, but they kill another employee by mistake. Realizing this they try to frame Duncan for the murder.
GenerationofSwine
@GenerationofSwine
Magnum P.I., Riptide (my personal favorite), Simon & Simon, and all the other little detective shows that were on during the late 70s and early 80s network battles were light entertainment. It's not to say that they weren't great entertainment, but just that the tone of the shows were less stressful and more family friendly. Jake and the Fatman got a bit darker. The action and comedy were still there, but it sort of feels like the older sibling of detective shows. And it does so in almost the same way that Columbo feels like the adult in the room of detective shows from that era. However, it's still entertaining fair that I would love to see brought back in some form. Buddy detective shows are a lot better than police
