Fighting O’Haven

The murder of an up-and-coming prize fighter (after he fails to take a dive during a rigged fight he was intended to lose) hits close to home for Cleaver and Bundy, but when Haven demonstrate his superior strength and agility in a couple of incidents on the beat, they realize they can give the rookie his first undercover assignment. Cleaver has to handle this delicately, as Haven can barely convincingly act human, let alone play the part of an Irish boxer. But Haven’s abilities make his boxing “career” explode quickly, and he too is approached to take a dive. When he misunderstands that instruction, it puts him (and his two undercover “trainers”) in serious danger.

written by Mann Rubin
directed by Robert Douglas
music by J.J. Johnson

Cast: Ernest Borgnine (Cleaver), Michael Shannon (Haven), John Amos (Bundy), Irene Tsu (Dr. Tingley), Herbert Nelson (Chief Skaggs), Michael V. Gazzo (Charlie Willis), Rod McCarty (Jack Cassey), Steve Gravers (Kurtz), Angela May (Waitress), Mwako Cumbuka (Gang Leader #1), Stan Shaw (Ollie Dawson), Jesse Emmett (Man), Morris Buchanan (Airport Security Man), Wally Rose (Referee #1), Gene LeBell (Referee #2), Jimmy Joyce (Bartender), Giles Douglas (Reporter #1), Dorothy Dells (Reporter #2), Darren Dublin (Reporter #3), Victoria Carroll (Woman), Jim Healy (TV Commentator)

Notes: Herbert Nelson appears here in a very different role from the somewhat Gepetto-like android programmer he played in the pilot. (It had been nearly a year since the broadcast of the pilot, and there was no home video market for television in 1976-77, so it was unlikely that anyone would notice.)