Home / Series / The Associates (1979) / Aired Order /

All Seasons

Season 1

  • S01E01 The First Day

    • September 23, 1979
    • ABC (US)

    Eliot and William Simmons meet Tucker at Harvard, and welcome him into the firm. Back in New York, William waits for Tucker and the other new associates to arrive, while Johnny talks with him about the possibility of being made partner. After Tucker and nervous Leslie, who's been escorted by her overprotective mother, get there, William introduces them, and says they and the third newcomer will have to share two offices. Leslie reminds Tucker that they previously met at a party while she was hammered. They both meet Sara, who's already claimed her office, and demands they share the other one -- which is fine with Tucker, since he's infatuated with her. During their indoctrination, Mr. Marshall pops in, and tells Eliot and William he wants to talk about making them partner, prompting them to call a hasty end to things. Mr. Marshall's got bad news; due to finances, he can only appoint one junior partner. Since he hasn't yet decided which, Eliot sucks up. Tucker feels guilty that his firs

  • S01E02 Is Romance Dead?

    • September 30, 1979
    • ABC (US)

    Johnny laughs when Tucker admits to him that he has a crush on Sara, who is not only out of Tucker's league, she's out of Johnny's league, too. Mr. Marshall announces that the firm will represent best-selling author/professor Julius Barnes, who's being sued for plagiarism by a former student. Tucker says he's offended when Sara changes clothes in front of him and parades around in her lingerie like he's not even there. Barnes shows up to begin his deposition, but Tucker is too flustered over Sara to concentrate. Tucker and Barnes have a private meeting later, where Barnes figures out what's up when he sees Sara's name all over Tucker's pad. Since romance is what his book is all about, he offers to coach Tucker on what to say to woo her. Tucker attempts to try out his newfound knowledge on Leslie, but even though he says he's just testing her before he uses the words on another woman, he's so convincing she's fooled into thinking they're not for another woman. The case hits a bump in th

  • S01E03 Tucker's Courtroom Coup

    • October 7, 1979
    • ABC (US)

    The firm handles the case of Louis Forrestal, who's being sued for support by a former live-in love, Camille. Though Eliot doesn't want to represent him, he can't say no; Forrestal pays the firm a huge yearly retainer. Mr. Marshall tells Eliot to try for a settlement. Forrestal says he agreed to provide for her when they were in the relationship, not after it. Eliot tries unsuccessfully to talk Forrestal into settling, and panicks when he says no. So Tucker, Leslie and Sara have their first day in court, and Mr. Marshall has his first in years when he comes by to give support. Eliot shows Forrestal pictures from a P.I. that show Camille cheating on him over and over. When it looks like he's going to lose, Eliot takes the pictures and tries to smear Camille's name, but the judge puts a stop to it and Tucker convinces Eliot to let him take over. Since Camille is suing over a lost singing career she claims she gave up because of her devotion to Forrestal, Tucker makes her sing in court to

  • S01E04 Mr. Marshall's Love Affair

    • October 14, 1979
    • ABC (US)

    Mr. Marshall returns from a trip to Palm Beach, and brings back the ninth wealthiest woman in the world, Mary Nicholson, so he can ask for her hand in marriage. It's good news for Eliot too, since Mr. Marshall wants to relocate him to Palm Beach to handle all the other rich folks' estates there. Eliot, who thinks he'll be meeting all these hot babes in Florida, is allowed to take one of the new associates with him, and chooses hot babe Sara. But first he'll have to handle the will of the very old and tan Mrs. Nicholson, which proves a daunting task after she unwillingly jumps his bones. Eliot turns down her advances because Mr. Marshall has designs on her, but Mrs. Nicholson sets the record straight -- Mr. Marshall doesn't anymore since she told him about her new love affair! After trying to hide from his boss, Eliot eventually goes to talk with him, but Mr. Marshall makes him wait for hours until his anger passes. Then he cancels the assignment to Palm Beach. Mr. Marshall has a partin

  • S01E05 Eliot's Deadly Serve (a.k.a. The Deadly Serve)

    • October 28, 1979
    • ABC (US)

    Mr. Marshall announces that Bass and Marshall will soon become Bass, Marshall and Milestone, as they're getting a new senior partner, former Secretary of Treasury Thomas Milestone. At a welcoming party, Eliot tries to flatter Milestone by impressing him with his knowledge about the man's life, only to come off like a stalker. Milestone lights up when Eliot mentions squash, which they both like to play, but Milestone's the only one who likes to be both a sore loser and someone who has no respect for those who play badly. So Eliot decides to let him win, albeit by a narrow margin so he'll still look like a worthy opponent. Eliot changes his tune when Tucker tells him he overheard Milestone saying he's a despicable toadie who would lose on purpose to advance his own career. After the game, Eliot says he killed Milestone. In more ways than one. When Eliot can't work, he confesses to the others what he did on the court that made it a real deathmatch. He didn't care about Milestone, only how

  • S01E06 Eliot's Revenge

    • March 27, 1980
    • ABC (US)

    Bass and Marshall's new case has them representing a newspaper that wants to print information about the defense department, but can't because the government got a restraining order. Eliot's uneasy about the case, since the government's attorney is his tyrannical Harvard law professor, Charles W. Kingsfield. Eliot was so afraid of him that he developed a stutter -- which the professor made light of in front of the class, and which caused Eliot to earn the nickname ""Porky."" Old colleagues Mr. Marshall and Kingsfield come to blows when Marshall accuses Kingsfield of being a senile teacher and Kingsfield accuses Marshall of being a greedy pig surrounded by toadies. Eliot plans to ask Mr. Marshall to take him off, until Kingsfield sees him again and calls him by his old class nickname. In court, Kingsfield tries to break Eliot down by reminding him of his stuttering. The others help him press on when his voice falters, but before Eliot can finish his motion, the case ends abruptly when the

  • S01E07 Danko's a Daddy

    • April 3, 1980
    • ABC (US)

    Johnny comes to Mr. Marshall for help, as he needs a lawyer but is poor. Mr. Marshall says they can handle his case pro bono, until Johnny says he needs one because he just found out he's a father -- which Mr. Marshall thinks will bring negative publicity. But Johnny doesn't want a lawyer to avoid responsibility, he wants a lawyer to accept responsibility. He can't, because Susan, the mother, won't let him. Eliot talks with Tucker, Leslie and Sara about Johnny's paternity case that Mr. Marshall stuck him with, hoping to pass it on to one of them. Leslie jumps at the opportunity as it'll be her first human interest suit, meets with Johnny, and says Susan's defense is that the baby's not his. Susan, and her lawyer, Mr. Simms, arrive, and Simms says they know who the father is, but won't share the wealth as the burden of proof is on Johnny -- especially so since they're going to claim the pair were nothing more than friends. Leslie refuses settlement and threatens a messy court battle, ca

  • S01E08 The Censors

    • April 10, 1980
    • ABC (US)

    A network is having censorship issues with a new sitcom, Me and Stevie, whose producer is threatening to sue if forced to cut things requested by S&P. Since the firm represents the network, one of the associates will handle it. After testing the group with off-color ethnic jokes, Mr. Marshall selects Tucker -- who didn't laugh -- and sends him to Hollywood to meet Gerald McMartin, the network chief, and Phil Kramer, the inflexible producer. Kramer says he'll only cut the scene in question if Tucker tells him it isn't funny, so it's performed live for him to judge. In it, a father has to explain to his young Boy Scout son Stevie about the airhead, Vera, that he just caught his dad in bed with. But Stevie locked himself in the bathroom and won't come out. During the course of the scene, Chick appears in his underwear, while Vera says she has to go tinkle, uses a slur for gays and gets her hair caught in Chick's zipper. S&P sends over gay group rep Adamson, who convinces Kramer the gay ja

  • S01E09 The Party

    • April 17, 1980
    • ABC (US)

    Leslie is chipper when she starts seeing a political high-school teacher, Jerry Davis. Eliot plans his first party since being made partner, and Leslie plans to bring Jerry as her date, against Sara's whim. Leslie has second thoughts herself when she learns Jerry's got a big mouth with which he dubs the associates ""exploiters."" Fearful that Jerry not minding his manners around her peers will make it harder on the new girl in the future, Leslie convinces him to play nice there, and then asks Tucker, who shows up dateless, if he could help Jerry feel comfortable. Tucker agrees to do so with his Judy Garland impression. Eliot worries the party might stink until Johnny introduces him to the sexy rent-a-girl he asked to be fixed up with, Yvonne Winslow. Leslie worries Jerry will stick out like a sore thumb when Sara arrives with her date, Greek shipping magnate Thearkis Popodopolos. Her fears come to pass when Jerry and Elliot get into an angry political argument regarding the soon-to-be-ho

  • S01E10 A Date with Johnny

    • ABC (US)

    When Eliot remembers he may have forgotten to file a written argument with the judge and thus jeopardized a case, the associates track down Wendy Turner, the temp he gave the papers to, to make sure she delivered one set of copies to the court clerk and one set to the judge herself. But Eliot flies off the handle when she says she gave both to the clerk (who's incompetent), and told him to give the other to the judge. Tucker and Leslie want Eliot to go easy on Wendy because her marital problems are well-known, but he fires her anyway and she bursts into tears. To make her stop, he rehires her and begs Johnny to cheer her up by asking her out on a date, believing a married woman won't accept. Yet Wendy is so unhappily married, she does accept. While Leslie rushes to get a new argument delivered to the judge, Wendy shocks her by asking if it's wrong to have an affair with Johnny. Leslie tries to make him call it off, but he takes Wendy out anyway and has such a good time, he asks her out

  • S01E11 Tucker's Co-op

    • ABC (US)

    After Tucker's wild roommate keeps him up all night, he decides he's too old to have one and moves out. There's an old building-turned-co-op across from Bass & Marshall that Tucker's got his eye on, but he needs $30,000. So he asks Mr. Marshall if he could get an advance to buy the co-op, which Mr. Marshall gives him. In cash. Tucker invites the gang over to see his new digs and Mr. Marshall drops by with some ""wonderful"" news -- he lives in the penthouse upstairs! After he's settled in, Tucker gets a call from an old college friend, Darcy Mason, whom he had his eye on and who's now available. Since she's in New York temporarily, Tucker invites her over in hopes of making up for lost time. But no sooner than she arrives than Mr. Marshall begins treating the co-op he paid for like it's his own by coming over uninvited with his gall stone-carrying blind date, Edith Tally. Unfortunately, the five hours Tucker would have spent with Darcy before she has to catch a plane are spent having to

  • S01E12 Inferno

    • ABC (US)

    The firm's celebration in winning a case against the USA is cut short when they hear there's a fire below them. Eliot leads the gang out -- except a panic-free Mr. Marshall, who makes Johnny help him save his stuff -- through the fire escape. They're soon rejoined by Eliot and company, who were told by firemen to go back, as the stairwell's on fire. The next plan is to evacuate via the elevators, but they're on fire too. So is the roof, leaving the only other option to wait out on the ledge for a helicopter -- which can only carry one person at a time -- to pick them up. As there's a chance it can't pick up everyone, they all draw numbered pieces of paper to see who'll be rescued in what order. After Johnny gets picked up, a storm hits and the helicopter's forced to leave without the others, who go back inside with Mr. Marshall to wait for the end. They'll have to wait a little longer than expected when Johnny returns with some firemen he led through a crawlspace. Everyone returns to w

  • S01E13 The Out of Town Trip

    • ABC (US)

    Eliot, Tucker, Leslie and Sara head off to Akron to handle a case for Bob Woodson, the crooked head of a tire and rubber corporation. A mixup with their hotel forces the guys and the girls to have to share two rooms. Eliot explains to Woodson that a shareholder brought suit against him because he and his attorney, Alan Swathmore, believe Woodson misused company funds. While going over expenses he stuck the company with -- like his daughter's $80,000 wedding, a $40,000 grand piano and a $75,000 extension onto his house -- Eliot and the others see just how crooked Woodson is. Leslie questions why the firm is representing a criminal, which Sara shrugs off. Against the advice of the others, Leslie calls Mr. Marshall to tell him she's resigning. Mr. Marshall refuses to accept her resignation, but Leslie considers herself out anyway -- until Tucker convinces her to at least think about it some more. Eliot tells Woodson they're shooting for a $500,000 settlement. Swathmore arrives and has a d