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Kojak Season 5 Episodes
Season 5 Episode Guide
22 Episodes 1977 - 1978
Episode 1
The Queen of Hearts Is Wild
Sun, Oct 2, 197749 mins
Kojak is ordered not to interfere with a Federal investigation when he locates a witness to the killing of a police officer in pursuit of the man who murdered a store owner. The killer is caught but will soon be released without her identification. Kojak learns that she is the girlfriend of a mobster who is known for his extreme violence. Kojak's problem? Get her cooperation, jail the mobster and secure her testimony without jeopardizing the Federal case.
Episode 2
A Strange Kind of Love
Sun, Oct 9, 197749 mins
A taxicab driver listens to a female late-night talk-radio host during his beat. The host frequently inveighs against evildoers in the city, and the psychotic driver decides to take her up on it - stalking the people who she names and gunning them down.
Episode 3
Laid Off
Sun, Oct 16, 197749 mins
A New York City budget crisis results in "last hired, first fired" for a friend of Kojak's who had recently joined the police force. As the rookie's bills mount, he winds up in debt to a numbers-running gang as well and joins it, secretly feeding information to Kojak from inside the gang.
Episode 4
Cry for the Kids
Sun, Oct 23, 197749 mins
A teenager accidentally kills a gangster's hired hand while robbing him, only to have a rival gangster then force him (by threatening the boy's family) to take out the competition in order to gain control over the neighborhood.
Episode 5
Once More from Birdland
Sun, Oct 30, 197749 mins
A singer helps clear her father of a murder for which he was imprisoned 14 years earlier.
Episode 6
Caper on a Quiet Street
Sun, Nov 6, 197749 mins
A year ago, a gang of thieves knocked over a bank, killed three people and got away with $6 million. They then split up, leaving one member to hide the loot. Now that the heat has died down, the gang plans to reunite and divide the cash. The bag man, however, is recognized by a cop and suffers a fatal heart attack while running away. The thieves decide to scour the neighborhood where the bag man died, and eventually focus on an apartment building which they invade with assault rifles. Kojak, trying to slip into the building, is cornered by a woman who used to be the gang leader's girlfriend but dumped him for his violence. She holds Kojak at bay with a gun but then leaves him - whereupon Kokak douses another thug with a water hose and escapes - in order to keep the gang leader from killing a group of apartment-house tenants he holds hostage.
Episode 7
Letters of Death
Sun, Nov 13, 197749 mins
Anonymous messages begin turning up informing a model that someone close to her is in danger of being murdered.
Episode 8
Tears for All Who Love Her
Sun, Nov 20, 197749 mins
A femme fatale in the truest sense of the term persuades her gangster husband's bodyguard to help her murder him. Kojak, formerly involved with her, turns the investigation over to Crocker (but continues to act behind the scenes). The mob boss suspects the widow and orders a hit; she continues to wield her wiles on all concerned. The murder weapon, with her fingerprints, is still around though, and both Kojak and Crocker are in on the arrest.
Episode 9
The Summer of '69: Part 1
Sun, Dec 4, 197749 mins
A young woman is found stabbed to death in the trunk of a car, the MO that of the serial murderer who terrorized Manhattan some eight years earlier (the summer of '69). The main suspect as the "Clothesline Killer" was shot and killed by Kojak while trying to escape. Theo (and his bosses) then question whether or not he killed the right man, especially after more bodies start turning up.
Episode 10
The Summer of '69: Part 2
Sat, Dec 10, 197748 mins
Kojak goes on vacation to continue to work the case after being told he's transferred to administration and during the course of his investigation he reunites with several people who were in his life during the original case, including a young woman with whom he had a brief affair.
Episode 11
Case Without a File
Sat, Dec 17, 197749 mins
When a private detective (a partner of an ex-cop) is murdered, Kojak gets involved. The victim's girlfriend (Jocelyn Mayfair) is now a target because she saw the killer. Kojak is attacked when he traces the girlfriend's apartment, which leads to Phil Breen (Jocelyn's husband). Kojak also needs to find the records cop who is feeding info to the ex-cop as well as blackmailing now-respectable citizens. When the records cop is killed, Kojak finally is able to catch the murderer.
Episode 12
I Could Kill My Wife's Lawyer
Sat, Dec 24, 197749 mins
Everett Coughlin is a divorce attorney, a Satan in a business suit, who mercilessly harasses a cop (whose wife he represents). Even his client doesn't know some of the lawyer's tricks, such as hiring a thug to bomb the cop's pleasure boat. The bomber is killed when the bomb explodes prematurely; Kojak, the cop and the cop's wife team to try to put the attorney out of business and hopefully in jail.
Episode 13
Justice for All
Sat, Jan 7, 197849 mins
Kojak has been recruited to be lead investigator for a powerful law firm--great salary and benefits. His involvement with a series of deaths due to "hot smack" leads him to believe the offer has strings. A young man who has bankrolled the drug operation is represented by the firm, and his father has bribed a lower echelon dealer to confess ($150,000 per year in prison). Kojak decides to remain on the force because of his sense of justice.
Episode 14
Mouse
Sat, Jan 21, 197849 mins
When an enforcer for a bookie pushes a "mouse" of a man too hard, the former is, surprisingly, the one who winds up needing an ambulance. Kojak doesn't believe the eyewitness description of the assailant. How could such a small man have done the deed? He (Irving Abernathy) was furious because a surgeon who "killed" his mother with an unnecessary surgery was pressuring him for money the doctor needed to pay his bookie; the enforcer was part of the pressure. When Kojak learns the circumstances, he arrests Abernathy (but omits Miranda warnings, warrants, and other civil protections); in interrogation Kojak sees the mouse turn into a MAN. Justice is served.
Episode 15
Chain of Custody
Sat, Jan 28, 197849 mins
Tired of paying a loan shark, Kojak's tailor decides to swear out a warrant. While officers are en route, Henessey shoots the tailor and steals a cab to escape. Understandably frustrated when the case falls apart due to an incompetent ADA, Kojak verbally attacks him just outside the courtroom. He is convinced there was a fix in place and refuses to back down. IAD suspends him, but Kojak is determined to catch his friend's killer. Is the fix the judge or the ADA--or both?
Episode 16
The Captain's Brother's Wife
Sat, Feb 4, 197849 mins
Captain McNeil's brother's widow (Shelley Winters) relies on Kojak to rescue her, get her employment, even pick up a bad check. She always has an excuse; now she's using her job at a brokerage to lay off bets and winds up losing $12,000 for some hoods. Meanwhile, Kojak's men are protecting a threatened witness that was involved with the gamblers. He decides to make a run for it, so the hoods take the ditsy widow as hostage. Kojak's attempts to insulate his Captain from all of this breaks down, and results in Internal Affairs looking for Kojak.
Episode 17
No License to Kill
Sat, Feb 11, 197849 mins
Kojak's efforts to stop a professional assassin are confounded by a jealous police lieutenant.
Episode 18
The Halls of Terror
Sat, Feb 18, 197849 mins
Kojak is called to a hospital when a nurse is strangled, the second murder within a week connected to the same hospital. As the investigation continues and others are killed or attacked, an attractive doctor starts getting calls saying the perpetrator is giving out pain for pain, that he can't help himself. Kojak and his men need access to patient information to find and stop the killer. Why are medical staff being targeted?
Episode 19
May the Horse Be with You
Sat, Feb 25, 197849 mins
A 40-year veteran cop stables his horse (illegally) in the NYPD stables where he is a groom; he is shot trying (unsuccessfully) to prevent her being stolen. The thief knows that the filly is expecting, that the sire is a champion racehorse. The plan is to sell her foal to the highest bidder. The incompetent thief is in over his head with a gangster literally calling the shots. The chase scenes are reminiscent of a Keystone-Cops-type western.
Episode 20
Photo Must Credit Joe Paxton
Sat, Mar 4, 197849 mins
Even retiring as an actress does not stop paparazzi, especially Joe Paxton, from pursuing a retired actress. She sets up a fake jewelry theft and kidnapping to elude him when she returns to the US from Paris. When someone robs her for real and she is shot, Kojak arrests Paxton who was, of course, at the scene. The real thief doesn't know that the jewelry was long ago replaced with paste and tries to fence it. Kojak and Paxton (who has escaped from custody) try to catch a thief.
Episode 21
60 Miles to Hell
Sat, Mar 11, 197849 mins
Crocker is ready to extradite a prisoner from Las Vegas when they are kidnapped, along with a theatrical agent and one identical twin (half of the "Only Topless Magicians"). Kojak, who flies to Vegas, and the other twin try to discover the reason for the snatch--including a casino crawl and interviewing Liberace, a client of the agent. The two of them join the Jeep posse out in the desert, but it's Crocker's booby trap which saves the day.
Episode 22
In Full Command
Sat, Mar 18, 197849 mins
Kojak has cultured an informant to solve a series of gangland killings. An assistant chief inspector, often passed over for promotions, sees an opportunity to achieve the position of commissioner he so desperately desires. He moves in on Kojak's investigation, though he is sabotaging it and is a danger even to himself. Kojak tries to sidestep him but risks an inquiry launched by the vengeful senior officer (played by Danny Thomas). After a successful capture of the gang bosses, the truth comes out at the inquiry, but Theo is gracious, not gloating.
