Guest Cast

After 10 years, the judge is paid a visit by his brother Jerry. Suspicious, Hardcastle begins to wonder when his brother, a habitual gambler, will ask him for money. Although he decides not to tell his brother, Jerry is in fact in debt to a hood named Manny. Hoping to find a way to get out of debt, Jerry decides to bet on the outcome of a high profile murder trial. Thanks to Judge Sheila Mooney, one of his brother's friends, Jerry gets all the particulars about the case in which model Tori Van Zandt is on trial for killing Harland Eagle, her fiancee. After a private investigator named Horace Munson provides Tori with a convenient alibi, Jerry is confronted by Manny about his debt. Drawn into the Van Zandt case by his brother's involvement, Hardcastle begins to look into the case. Searching Munson's office, Hardcastle discovers that the private investigator, who has since been murdered, lied in court. Hoping to incriminate Tori, Hardcastle publicizes the fact that he has evidence in the case. As expected, Tori tries to kill the judge and the police gather the proof they need to convict her. At the same time, the police also arrest Mooney.

Cleaning out his shed, Hardcastle comes across an old trophy belonging to Teddy Hendrix, his college roommate. Deciding to visit Teddy, who is now a basketball coach, Hardcastle walks into an attempted kidnapping. Since Teddy flees the scene before he has a chance to confront him, the judge visits his old friend's wife. Thanks to Fran Hendrix, Hardcastle discovers that Teddy has been having a disagreement with a man named Roy Barlow. Realizing that his best chance of solving his problems lays with the judge, Teddy decides to tell Hardcastle about how he has been fixing basketball games. Agreeing to help his friend come clean, Hardcastle arranges a meeting between Teddy and the district attorney's office. Before Teddy can testify, Fran, who has secretly joined forces with Barlow, lures her husband into a trap. Meanwhile, Fran also helps Barlow capture Hardcastle. Thanks to Mark and their old basketball team buddies, Hardcastle and Teddy are rescued. Additionally, Mark and the former team members capture Fran and Barlow.

After winning a Los Angeles area bar in a poker game, Sonny Daye, Mark's barely seen father, decides to run it with his son. With some financial help from the judge, Mark and his father prepare to reopen the bar as "McCormick's Bar and Grill". Meanwhile, Teddy Peters, the man who lost the bar to Sonny, is ordered to recover the bar by Doyle Madison, a reputed mobster. Despite an excessive cash offer from Teddy, Sonny, having given the bar to Mark, refuses to sell back the bar. Not willing to accept no for an answer, Teddy has his men rough up Sonny. After Teddy is killed in a drive-by shooting, Hardcastle realizes that there is more to the bar than meets the eye. Searching the bar, they discover that the mob has been burying bodies on the premises. Hoping to tie the bar back to Doyle, Hardcastle has Sonny arrange a meeting with the mobster. Taking the bait, Doyle makes a move to regain the bar. With the help of a bar full of police officers, Hardcastle and McCormick arrest Doyle and his men. Afterwards, the police impound the bar as evidence and Sonny, Hardcastle and McCormick are forced out of the restaurant business.

When Mark gets a date with a woman named Debbie Pledger, Hardcastle has to find a new player for poker night. To the judge's regret, Judge Mattie Groves, Lieutenant Frank Harper, and bailiff Charlie Masaryk, the other poker players, arrange to have Assistant District Attorney Freddie "Bummer" Bumgarner, a man Hardcastle despises, join them for the game. Meanwhile, a nearby liquor store is robbed. Needing a place to hide, robbers Tommy Kitchens, Crazy Horse and Joey Britton flee to Hardcastle's estate. Entering the judge's house, the robbers quickly take the poker players hostage. The situation worsens when they discover Frank is a cop and shoot him. Arriving at the main house to get some wine, Mark learns about the hostage situation. With some help from Frank, who was left in one of the bedrooms, Mark prepares a trap for the robbers. Thanks to an uncharacteristic heroic act on Freddie's part, Mark is able to successfully implement his plan and capture Tommy and his men.

In a change of pace episode, Mark begins to believe that Leprechauns are burying gold on the estate. Ignoring Mark's outrageous claims, Hardcastle concentrates on preparing the estate for an upcoming magazine contest. After Benny, Mark's mechanic, is assaulted by a group of men for information about a group of little people, Hardcastle admits that there may be some truth to Mark's Leprechaun story. That night, Mark and Hardcastle set a trap for the "Leprechauns". The trap works and Hardcastle captures the men who have been hanging around his estate. As the judge discovers, however, the little people are not Leprechauns but rather circus performers. Confronting the performers about why they are hiding out, Cluracan, the groups leader, explains that they are fleeing from communist agents that want to return them to their home country as well as Marvin, a circus promoter that had promised their services to Circus Maximus. As for the mysterious gold, Cluracan reveals that it is his family's money. The next day, communist agent Ivan and his men come to the estate disguised as employees of Ladies Garden Monthly, the magazine sponsoring the contest Hardcastle has entered. At the same time, Marvin and his men sneak onto the estate. With the circus performer's help, Hardcastle and McCormick manage to stop the agents as well as Marvin and his men. Later, Mark's continued suspicion that Cluracan's group are secretly Leprechauns seems to be confirmed when a rainbow leads to a mysteriously repaired Coyote. [The Coyote had never completely recovered from damage it suffered in an earlier episode.]

While driving through Arizona on his way home from Las Vegas, Mark is surprised to hear the voice of Nick Damion, a rock deejay he idolized in his youth, on local radio station KKSB. Back in California, Hardcastle is working on a dedication for the Pioneers of Music Hall of Fame Museum. Hearing that the Museum needs a master of ceremonies, Mark suggests Nick Damion. Returning to Arizona, Hardcastle and McCormick try to learn something from Jeannine Alexander, KKSB's manager. After helping Damion, who has been using the alias of Joe Cross, out of a fake drug charge, Mark convinces the deejay to return with him to California. Trying to find out why someone tried to frame Damion (as well as why the deejay originally went into hiding), Hardcastle begins to investigate Kello Records, a company that had received a great deal of air time in the deejay's old radio show. At the same time, Damion, who had gone into hiding after discovering that music executive Joe Kello had killed a singer named Danny Phillips to cover up a payola scheme, realizes that he needs to go public with the story. Hardcastle's investigation proves partially unnecessary for the case is resolved when Damion publicly accuses Kello at the Museum dedication. Afterwards, Damion is shocked to discover that Hardcastle has uncovered proof that Jeannine is working with Kello. As the series' penultimate episode ends, Damion gets a new deejay job at a Los Angeles station.

As the final episode begins, Mark, who has secretly begun attending law school, is offered a paralegal job by Kenneth Malcolm, one of his professors. Meanwhile, Hardcastle, realizing that Mark's parole is up, decides to buy a car repair business, as a surprise gift for his friend. Upon hearing about Mark's job offer, Hardcastle, not wanting to stand in his friend's way, lies and tells his friend that he bought the company for himself. For his first assignment at law firm Malcolm, Hughes and Dewitt, Mark is asked to reclaim the possessions of Elsey, a resident of the Sunset Acres Retirement Home. Arriving at the home, Mark makes the acquaintance of Mimi LeGrand, a retired actress. Immediately liking Mimi, Mark is more than willing to comply when the former actress asks him to open a bank account for her. To Mark's surprise, he discovers that someone has already opened an account in Mimi's name. Concerned, Mark decides to go to Hardcastle for help. Before the two men are able to really learn anything in the case, they end up in jail as a result of a mistake made by Leroy, Hardcastle's assistant at the car company. While awaiting their release, Hardcastle decides to tell his friend the truth about why he bought the company. In response, Mark reveals that he has been going to law school in an attempt to follow in his friend's footsteps. Once released, Hardcastle and McCormick discover evidence that Malcolm and resident home manager Leonard Porter have been killing the residents and stealing their money. (They were able to move the money by secretly creating bank accounts in the seniors' names.) Armed with sufficient evidence, the crime fighting duo stop Malcolm and Porter. Despite the fall of his professor, Mark vows to continue attending law school. After selling the car business, Hardcastle makes a generous bet with Mark: If the ex-race car driver can beat him in a game of basketball, the judge will pay the law school bill. Due in the most part to Hardcastle's generosity, Mark wins the game.