Jake and the Fatman (1987)

Crime · Drama

Jake and the Fatman is a television crime drama starring William Conrad as prosecutor J. L. "Fatman" McCabe and Joe Penny as investigator Jake Styles. The series ran on CBS for five seasons from 1987 to 1992. Diagnosis: Murder was a spin-off of this series.

IMDb rating: 6.4 (3,594 votes)
Episode average: 7.7 ↑ +1.3 vs IMDb
Seasons: 5
Language: EN
Type: TV series

Rating trend: this show's seasons do not settle into one shape. Rising Shows ranks whole shows by the shape of their rating trend rather than one average score, which is how you find a show that got better rather than a show that started well.

Browse shows by rating shape → Open in Rising Shows app → View on IMDb

Ratings refreshed Oct 3, 2026 · 5 seasons indexed

Cast

Seasons

Season 1 (1987)

7.84 avg 22 episodes 8.1 → 8.1 50 min avg

Season 1 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Happy Days Are Here Again	8.1	71
2	Fatal Attraction	7.3	185
3	Laura	8.0	54
4	The Man That Got Away	8.3	51
5	Love for Sale	7.5	48
6	Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?	7.3	47
7	Body and Soul	7.3	47
8	The Man I Love	8.3	46
9	Love Me or Leave Me	7.9	45
10	Smoke Gets in Your Eyes	8.2	42
11	Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas	7.6	43
12	After You've Gone	7.7	43
13	It Had to Be You	8.0	44
14	But Not for Me	7.8	44
15	What Is This Thing Called Love?	7.6	40
16	Lady Be Good	7.9	42
17	I'll Be Seeing You	7.6	39
18	Babyface	7.6	41
19	Blues in the Night	7.7	44
20	How Long Has This Been Going On?	8.5	47
21	I Guess I'll Have to Change My Plan	8.1	43
22	Rhapsody in Blue	8.1	41

Season 2 (1989)

7.80 avg 10 episodes 8.2 → 7.2 120 min avg

Season 2 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Wish You Were Here	8.2	49
2	I'll Never Smile Again	7.9	44
3	Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered	7.4	37
4	Why Can't You Behave?	7.9	37
5	Poor Butterfly	7.7	40
6	It Ain't Necessarily So	7.7	36
7	Someone to Watch Over Me	8.5	38
8	They Can't Take That Away from Me	7.3	35
9	Side by Side	8.2	36
10	Snowfall	7.2	37

Season 3 (1989)

7.92 avg 26 episodes 8.0 → 7.8 51 min avg

Season 3 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	I Only Have Eyes for You	8.0	43
2	The Lady in Red	8.3	35
3	Easy to Love	7.4	38
4	The Way You Look Tonight	7.7	34
5	Dancing in the Dark	8.1	36
6	It All Depends on You	8.2	32
7	Out of Nowhere	8.0	33
8	Sweet Leilani	8.0	35
9	My Shining Hour	7.6	35
10	Long Ago and Far Away	8.1	36
11	What Child Is This?	7.8	40
12	In the Still of the Night	7.5	37
13	You Turned the Tables on Me	7.7	33
14	One More for the Road	8.0	39
15	Who's Sorry Now?	7.8	34
16	I'll Dance at Your Wedding	7.3	34
17	My Buddy	7.5	36
18	By Myself	8.1	37
19	I Ain't Got No Body	7.7	35
20	Put Your Dreams Away	7.7	39
21	If I Didn't Care	7.9	32
22	You're Driving Me Crazy	8.5	37
23	You Took Advantage of Me	7.9	31
24	My Heart Belongs to Daddy	8.3	33
25	Danny Boy	8.9	38
26	Chinatown, My Chinatown	7.8	33

Season 4 (1990)

7.70 avg 23 episodes 8.0 → 7.3 120 min avg

Rollercoaster

Season 4 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	God Bless the Child	8.0	32
2	The Tender Trap	7.3	37
3	Exactly Like You	7.8	32
4	'Round Midnight	7.7	32
5	Only You	8.1	31
6	My Boy Bill	7.6	30
7	More Than You Know	8.3	37
8	Night and Day	8.4	31
9	Goodbye	7.5	38
10	I Know That You Know	8.1	33
11	Let's Call the Whole Thing Off	7.6	31
12	I May Be Wrong	8.1	34
13	Daddy's Home	7.9	40
14	I'm Gonna Live Till I Die	7.7	34
15	Pretty Baby	7.3	32
16	I Cover the Waterfront	7.4	32
17	You Don't Know Me	7.7	37
18	It Never Entered My Mind	7.2	73
19	Second Time Around	8.2	34
20	I'd Do Anything	7.6	35
21	We'll Meet Again	6.9	34
22	It's a Sin to Tell a Lie	7.5	32
23	Nevertheless	7.3	36

Season 5 (1991)

7.40 avg 22 episodes 7.8 → 8.0

Rebound

Season 5 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Where or When: Part 1	7.8	35
2	Where or When: Part 2	7.7	37
3	Street of Dreams	6.9	36
4	I'll Never Be the Same	7.4	37
5	I Could Write a Book	7.5	34
6	Two Different Worlds	7.4	35
7	Every Time We Say Goodbye	7.3	34
8	Come Along with Me	7.1	33
9	Last Dance	7.4	32
10	Come Closer to Me	7.6	33
11	Since I Fell for You	7.5	33
12	Just You, Just Me	6.2	39
13	Stormy Weather: Part 1	7.7	34
14	Stormy Weather: Part 2	7.5	35
15	You'll Never Know	7.3	30
16	There'll Be Some Changes Made	7.7	36
17	Pennies from Heaven	7.5	41
18	I Can't Believe I'm Losing You	7.2	32
19	All Through the Night	7.3	32
20	Ain't Misbehavin'	6.9	42
21	Nightmare	8.0	35
22	Mickey Daytona	8.0	36