Post by owlcroft on May 2, 2014 14:15:52 GMT -5
As a favor for a friend, Hardcastle takes a position as one of the judges of the "Miss Sixteen" pageant in the SoCal town of Asuza. A local RV salesman, Ed Whitman, is a bigwig in the town's annual celebration. He's also particularly fond of one of the contestants--his daughter, Melissa.
While Milt is doing his duties in the high school auditorium (watching a less than stellar talent performance), at the nearby US/Mexico border, smugglers are bringing across a group of illegal immigrants. In exchange for payments, they've been promised safe passage and jobs.
The operation goes wrong and one of the immigrants objects to their treatment . He's shot and killed by the smugglers.
Things aren't quite that grim in the auditorium, though Milt and Mark (who's apparently along for moral support) have to suffer through Melissa's bathetic monologue on growing up. But after that it's a wrap for the day's judging.
Ed invites the guys home for dinner. Melissa stays behind, purportedly to have pizza with her co-contestants. In reality, she has a rendezvous with her boyfriend, Victor. He tells her his uncle (a fellow illegal immigrant) was supposed to arrive that night. He hasn't shown up and Victor is worried. Melissa tells him she's help him look for the missing man.
Meanwhile, Milt and Mark are guests at the Whitman's. While they're partaking of macaroni and cheese, Ed gets two more visitors. It's the smugglers. They meat with him privately, telling him what happened. It's apparent that they work for him.
The next day there's a photo shoot. The contestants array themselves on and around the RVs in Ed Whitman's lot. Two of the girls mistake Mark for another contestant's father. He doesn't have much time to mull that over before Melissa approaches the judge, asking for help. She tells him about Victor's missing uncle. Hardcastle doesn't approve of the smuggling, but agrees to meet with Victor.
Meanwhile, the missing uncle turns up at the carwash where Victor works. When Milt, Mark, and Melissa arrive, Mark persuades Victor to tell the judge what's going on. Victor implicates a local lawyer, Antonio Morales, in the smuggling operation.
They pay him a visit. He denies everything. Victor shames him into confessing that he's a go-between, but he still denies that he knows who the smugglers are. Hardcastle tells Victor they will need his uncle's help to convict the smugglers.
Later that day, while Milt and Mark are again guests of the Whitmans, Victor shows up and tells the judge his uncle has agreed to help. When they arrive at the car wash to meet with him, they find the uncle has been killed. The investigating officer says the rest of the immigrants will be too scared to testify. After he leaves, Mark asks Victor how much it costs to hire the smugglers.
Ed Whitman meets with his henchmen again. He's cranky about the body count but tells them they have to deal with Hardcastle, too.
While Hardcastle continues with his judging duties, Mark makes arrangements to come across the border illegally. Morales takes the money. Mark and Milt meet with the police sergeant that evening. The pick-up has been arranged for 6 am the next morning. The police sergeant tells them about the other victim who's been found. He also tells them they'll be operating outside his jurisdiction.
Ed's having his own meeting. Morales and his henchmen are there. He knows Milt and Mark's plan and Morales assures him that the two will be taken care of in the morning.
The judge and Mark are at the appointed place on the border the next morning. When the smugglers arrive, a gunfight ensues. Mark outflanks the enemy and comes out swinging. After the dust settles and the smugglers are captured, they are identified as employees of Ed Whitman.
Returning to town, Milt and Mark enter the auditorium, where the pageant is in full swing. Ed spots the two, realizes his plans have failed, and tries to flee. Mark chases after him and takes him down.
In the epilogue, the crown goes to . . . Sara Jane. Mark, by now a pageant connoisseur, has his own opinion.
Written by Larry Hertzog
Premiered on Nov. 25, 1985
While Milt is doing his duties in the high school auditorium (watching a less than stellar talent performance), at the nearby US/Mexico border, smugglers are bringing across a group of illegal immigrants. In exchange for payments, they've been promised safe passage and jobs.
The operation goes wrong and one of the immigrants objects to their treatment . He's shot and killed by the smugglers.
Things aren't quite that grim in the auditorium, though Milt and Mark (who's apparently along for moral support) have to suffer through Melissa's bathetic monologue on growing up. But after that it's a wrap for the day's judging.
Ed invites the guys home for dinner. Melissa stays behind, purportedly to have pizza with her co-contestants. In reality, she has a rendezvous with her boyfriend, Victor. He tells her his uncle (a fellow illegal immigrant) was supposed to arrive that night. He hasn't shown up and Victor is worried. Melissa tells him she's help him look for the missing man.
Meanwhile, Milt and Mark are guests at the Whitman's. While they're partaking of macaroni and cheese, Ed gets two more visitors. It's the smugglers. They meat with him privately, telling him what happened. It's apparent that they work for him.
The next day there's a photo shoot. The contestants array themselves on and around the RVs in Ed Whitman's lot. Two of the girls mistake Mark for another contestant's father. He doesn't have much time to mull that over before Melissa approaches the judge, asking for help. She tells him about Victor's missing uncle. Hardcastle doesn't approve of the smuggling, but agrees to meet with Victor.
Meanwhile, the missing uncle turns up at the carwash where Victor works. When Milt, Mark, and Melissa arrive, Mark persuades Victor to tell the judge what's going on. Victor implicates a local lawyer, Antonio Morales, in the smuggling operation.
They pay him a visit. He denies everything. Victor shames him into confessing that he's a go-between, but he still denies that he knows who the smugglers are. Hardcastle tells Victor they will need his uncle's help to convict the smugglers.
Later that day, while Milt and Mark are again guests of the Whitmans, Victor shows up and tells the judge his uncle has agreed to help. When they arrive at the car wash to meet with him, they find the uncle has been killed. The investigating officer says the rest of the immigrants will be too scared to testify. After he leaves, Mark asks Victor how much it costs to hire the smugglers.
Ed Whitman meets with his henchmen again. He's cranky about the body count but tells them they have to deal with Hardcastle, too.
While Hardcastle continues with his judging duties, Mark makes arrangements to come across the border illegally. Morales takes the money. Mark and Milt meet with the police sergeant that evening. The pick-up has been arranged for 6 am the next morning. The police sergeant tells them about the other victim who's been found. He also tells them they'll be operating outside his jurisdiction.
Ed's having his own meeting. Morales and his henchmen are there. He knows Milt and Mark's plan and Morales assures him that the two will be taken care of in the morning.
The judge and Mark are at the appointed place on the border the next morning. When the smugglers arrive, a gunfight ensues. Mark outflanks the enemy and comes out swinging. After the dust settles and the smugglers are captured, they are identified as employees of Ed Whitman.
Returning to town, Milt and Mark enter the auditorium, where the pageant is in full swing. Ed spots the two, realizes his plans have failed, and tries to flee. Mark chases after him and takes him down.
In the epilogue, the crown goes to . . . Sara Jane. Mark, by now a pageant connoisseur, has his own opinion.
Written by Larry Hertzog
Premiered on Nov. 25, 1985
