1. Pilot
The sudden death of the Tin Man during a community performance of The Wizard of Oz throws the normally sleepy town of Rome, Wisconsin, into chaos and throws Sheriff Jimmy Brock right into the middle of a difficult murder investigation. Meanwhile, when the favourite singing group of Brock's teenage daughter Kimberly arrive in town, they prove not to be what either she or Deputy Kenny had anticipated.
2. The Green Bay Chopper
A bizarre case begins to unravel when a girl in Zach's class brings a severed hand in a jar into Show and Tell. Then another hand is discovered on the highway that runs from Rome to nearby Green Bay, which leads the Rome Sheriff's Department on a hunt to find a particularly vicious assailant, dubbed the "Green Bay Chopper," who severs the hands of each of his victims. Max, especially, becomes obsessed with cracking the case and refuses to bow to the FBI's authority when they arrive to take charge of the situation. The FBI order Jimmy to keep away from "their" case but things change, however, when Carter delivers interesting news about the latest victim. Unlike the previous victims, this man was dead, and that means the case remains under the jurisdiction of Jimmy and his officers, not the FBI. Max and Kenny follow up a hunch she has about the case and manage to track down a suspect; he turns out to be their man but he opens fire when they go to arrest him and is gunned down by Max. It's the first time she killed someone and she's shaken up by it.
3. Mr. Dreeb Comes to Town
A midget named Mr Dreeb rides into Rome on a sick elephant, which promptly crushes Max and Kenny's patrol car. The elephant takes up residence in the Brocks' garage and Jill has to perform an emergency enema on it. It transpires Mr Dreeb stole Big John, the elephant, from its circus owners. He accuses them of cruelty and a custody battle begins over Big John's wellbeing. Judge Bone concurs there is evidence of cruelty and rules that Big John go to a zoo until alternative custody can be sorted out. Max and Mr Dreeb fall for each other but she realises that it would never work out - he can never fit her profile of the "ideal man" - so he and Big John leave Rome, bound for the sanctuary of the zoo. Meanwhile, Kimberly's favourite teacher starts acting oddly and further tests reveal that a potentially fatal brain tumour is the cause of his erratic behaviour. He is fired from his job on the grounds he could endanger his students and decides to undergo risky surgery to remove the tumour. However, his heart arrests during the procedure and he dies in theatre.
4. The Autumn of Rome
As the campaigns for the Mayoral election begin, Mayor Pugen is involved in a serious car accident: while eating an egg salad sandwich behind the wheel, he swerves and hits a tree and has to be lifted out of the wreckage with a crane. Wambaugh, Pugen's opponent, turns his campaign into a circus with marching bands and fake assassination attempts. As the campaign deteriorates into a petty dirty tricks battle, Jimmy is asked by the church to consider running against them. He considers it, but when Wambaugh produces a huge photo of Pugen being lifted out of the wreckage during a public meeting, he instead takes the opportunity to publicly berate them both for their antics and warns the residents their town is going to hell. In the aftermath of the car accident, Kenny discovers incriminating photographs in the back of Pugen's car. It leads them to dodgy dealings involving shady local businessman Pauly Thigpen. When Thigpen has Harold beaten up to keep him quiet, Kenny retaliates by doing the same to Thigpen and gets suspended over it.
5. Frank the Potato Man
The townspeople of Rome are plagued by a mysterious "serial bather", who sneaks into their homes while they are out and has a bath. The pressure is on for the Sheriff's department to apprehend the disturbed felon as suspicion falls on Frank the Potato Man, a homeless man who lives in the woods around the town. Meanwhile, a farmer claims a neighbor's still intoxicates his cows.
6. Remembering Rosemary
It's Halloween and Jimmy decides to reopen the ten year old suicide case of Rosemary Bauer when Karina Shaw, her former maid who hasn't spoken since the death, suddenly utters the word "murder." On the strength of this new piece of evidence, the case is reopened and elderly Rome resident Howard Buss confesses to killing Rosemary, bringing proof of his guilt to the authorities. Meanwhile, holiday tricks get out of hand.
7. The Contenders
Jimmy considered it before but now Jill decides she will run for mayor after Bill Pugen ignores women's rights once too often. At a police speed checkpoint, Max and Kenny stop a man with false papers and Kenny, recognising him as former Middle-Weight Champion of the world Jeff Freed, wants to waive the charges against him. He then arranges a match between himself and Freed, with half of the proceeds going to the boxer and the other half going to a local charity.
8. Sacred Hearts
Max searches for a nun suspected of killing an elderly leukemia patient. When the nun is caught, she confesses to committing a series of mercy killings and the furore over prosecuting her divides the town and causes Zachary to fear death.
9. Thanksgiving
Jill's father arrives for Thanksgiving with a young love in tow. Wambaugh has his wife Myriam arrested after he catches her in bed with Harold Lundstrom. It all adds up to a typically riotous and far from peaceful holiday in the Brock house.
10. The Snake Lady
Jimmy, Max and Kenny investigate the mysterious death of a woman who may or may not have committed suicide. Suspects in her death are her snake-raising sister and her own husband, who gets involved with Max.
11. Pageantry
Zach's teacher, Louise Talbot, defies a court-ordered ban of the annual Christmas pageant on public property, after which disturbing facts come to light about her.
12. High Tidings
Brock catches Kimberly in bed with her boyfriend, arrests him and cancels Christmas in the household. At the Sheriff Station, Max and Ginny are held hostage at gunpoint by an elderly man dressed as Santa Claus.
13. Frog Man
Investigating a burglary with Max, Kenny is shot and seriously injured by the Frog Man, a burglar who leaves live frogs at the scene of his crimes.
14. Bad Moons Rising
When Alice Freeman is charged with murdering her estranged husband by running him down with a steamroller, Wambaugh defends her by claiming insanity as the result of the menopause. The onset of puberty unsettles Matthew.
15. Nuclear Meltdowns
When a school friend gets pregnant, Kimberly tells her parents she thinks it resulted from incest. Kenny's girlfriend meets her long-lost twin and Cynthia Parks' pet duck is sacrificed.
16. The Body Politic
An HIV-positive dentist sues the city of Rome after being fired. A man and his mother-in-law battle over whether to keep his brain-dead pregnant wife alive.
17. Be My Valentine
Max goes undercover to catch a vicious serial killer named 'Cupid' who murders women he meets through classified ads.
18. Fetal Attraction
Jill asks Dr David Williams, her ex-fiance, to perform a controversial foetal tissue transplant on a man suffering from Parkinson's Disease.
19. Sightings
A corpse found in the Brocks' trash is found to be a sheriff who mysteriously disappeared 38 years earlier. Carter believes he may have been killed by radiation emitted by a UFO, bringing alien enthusiasts to town.
20. Rights of Passage
A group of heavily armed Chippewa Indians declares war on Rome and takes over the courthouse, as a dispute over enlarging the golf course gets violent. Ginny accuses Jill of discrimination when she agrees to give an abnormally young boy a controversial growth treatment. Matthew stands up for Zach against the school bully.
21. Sugar and Spice
Attraction to a girlfriend confuses Kimberly. Max and Kenny vie for undersheriff but Max loses out on the promotion.
22. The Lullaby League
Zach plays horn for an ailing blues legend but Jill is frustrated when the woman takes ill and fails to appreciate medicine's ability to keep her alive. Max delivers a criminal's baby and begins procedures to adopt it.
