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Wiseguy Season 1 Episodes
Season 1 Episode Guide
21 Episodes 1987 - 1988
Episode 1
Pilot
Wed, Sep 16, 1987100 mins
This was the pilot for the hit series. Ken Wahl stars as Vinnie Terranova, a Justice Department agent reassigned to the Organized Crime Bureau (OCB) as a "wiseguy", a specially trained deep undercover agent. To help support his cover, Vinnie has just finished serving 18 months in a New Jersey prison. Vinnie is frustrated that he can't tell his mother that he is a government agent and not the criminal that he is now perceived to be. He wants out of the assignment, but after a friend is killed while investigating the Steelgrave crime family, Vinnie decides to go after them. He first picks a fight with the ruthless Sonny Steelgrave; impressed, Steelgrave offers him a job in his organization, and Vince begins the arduous task of living continuously undercover.
Episode 2
New Blood
Thu, Sep 24, 198746 mins
In an attempt to take over Sonny Steelgrave's business, mob head Paul Patrice frames Sonny for several murder attempts he makes on the life of the special prosecutor investigating Sonny.
Episode 3
The Loose Cannon
Thu, Oct 1, 198748 mins
Vinnie's girlfriend, a police widow, knows he is a cop; his biggest threat comes from Sonny's unbalanced nephew.
Episode 4
The Birthday Surprise
Thu, Oct 8, 198748 mins
When Vinnie's young cousin, a boxer, is found dead of an apparent drug overdose, Vinnie jeopardizes his cover by going to "legals" -- the coroner, the homicide cops -- to get them moving on what he knows was a murder.
Episode 5
One on One
Thu, Oct 15, 198748 mins
When the local cops put the heat on Sonny Steelgrave and bust up several of his secret deals, he smells a rat in the inner circle and Vinnie finds himself the number one suspect.
Episode 6
The Prodigal Son
Thu, Oct 22, 198748 mins
After his mother is mugged in Brooklyn, an enraged Vinnie sets out to find the punk who did it, but when he visits his mother in the hospital, it breaks his heart that she still won't forgive him for his life of "crime."
Episode 7
A Deal's a Deal
Thu, Oct 29, 198749 mins
Sonny's cruel punishment of a lounge singer who wants out of his contract triggers a cascade of events that leads to Vinnie's being photographed with McPike -- a photo that is to be delivered to Sonny.
Episode 8
The Marriage of Heaven & Hell
Thu, Nov 5, 198749 mins
Sonny's impending marriage to a syndicate boss' daughter begins a supposedly businesslike realignment of "families, " but Vinnie learns that the wedding is a pretext for a bloody gang war.
Episode 9
No One Gets Out of Here Alive
Thu, Nov 12, 198748 mins
An outraged Sonny Steelgrave accuses Vinnie of betraying him to his arch-rival, then realizes the devastating truth--that his paisan is an undercover federal agent.
Episode 10
Last Rites for Lucci
Thu, Nov 19, 198747 mins
In the aftermath of the Steelgrave case, Vinnie tries to vindicate himself of his lingering feelings of betrayal and disloyalty by risking his life to save an old friend from the Brooklyn neighborhood who has a contract out on him.
Episode 11
Independent Operator
Mon, Jan 4, 198849 mins
Vinnie's assignment to check out a contract killer leads him into a huge global contraband syndicate -- an operation that far exceeds the scope of the Steelgrave family -- overlorded by brother and sister Mel and Susan Profitt.
Episode 12
Fascination for the Flame
Mon, Jan 11, 198849 mins
Vinnie, now a bodyguard for the Profitts, gets his first trial by fire when Mel Profitt, the brilliant but paranoid overlord of an international crime empire, disrupts the wedding of an associate, who retaliates by kidnapping Susan.
Episode 13
Smokey Mountain Requiem
Mon, Jan 18, 198848 mins
Vinnie tells Mel Profitt he is leaving to go home to New Jersey, but Mel offers him the biggest cocaine distribution network in the country -- a plum that Vinnie feels is too juicy for any undercover cop to turn down.
Episode 14
Player to Be Named Now
Mon, Jan 25, 198848 mins
Mel Profitt uses a former girlfriend as a sexual pawn in a power game with a rival to gain ownership of a basketball team.
Episode 15
The Merchant of Death
Mon, Feb 1, 198849 mins
Vinnie retrieves secret records that enable Mel Profitt to blackmail a French official into buying munitions.
Episode 16
Not for Nothing
Mon, Feb 8, 198848 mins
Small-time hood Aldo Baglia notices a photo of Vinnie in a newspaper, and tracks him down and shoots him for revenge.
Episode 17
Squeeze
Mon, Feb 15, 198849 mins
When Mel Profitt's armaments deals go sour, he sends Vinnie back East to set up a narcotics import distribution deal with the mob.
Episode 18
Blood Dance
Mon, Feb 22, 198848 mins
After rejecting an offer to finance a coup d'etat in the Caribbean, Mel Profitt becomes obsessed with a supposed voodoo death curse, and Vinnie, horrified, can only watch as Mel's personality begins to disintegrate.
Episode 19
Phantom Pain
Mon, Mar 14, 198848 mins
After Susan is arrested for Mel's murder, Vinnie refuses McPike's order to pull out of the Profitt case, because Susan, who has seemingly lost her grip on reality, has told him she is pregnant with his child.
Episode 20
Dirty Little Wars
Mon, Mar 21, 198849 mins
With Mel and Susan Profitt undone, McPike begins dismantling their empire, but Vinnie demands to stay on the case to get to the bottom of Roger Lococco's ties to a rogue CIA operation to stage a Caribbean coup d'etat.
Episode 21
Date with an Angel
Mon, Mar 28, 198848 mins
Roger Loccoco in effect signs his own death warrant by testifying to a Senate committee about a cabal within the U.S. intelligence community, but to back him up he needs Vinnie to testify as an O.C.B. operative -- testimony that would end Vinnie's career as an undercover agent.