Diagnosis: Murder season 7

Diagnosis: Murder
Season 7
No. of episodes	24
Release
Original network	CBS
Original release	September 23, 1999 (1999-09-23) – May 11, 2000 (2000-05-11)
Season chronology

Diagnosis: Murder's seventh season originally aired from September 23, 1999, to May 11, 2000. The season was released on DVD complete and available in two parts by Visual Entertainment, Inc.

Cast

• Dick Van Dyke as Dr. Mark Sloan
• Victoria Rowell as Dr. Amanda Bentley
• Charlie Schlatter as Dr. Jesse Travis
• Barry Van Dyke as Steve Sloan

Episodes

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	U.S. viewers (millions)
133	1	"The Roast"	Christopher Hibler	Mark Solomon	September 23, 1999 (1999-09-23)	11.70
Dr. Mark Sloan is to be the guest of 'honor' as Man of the Year at the Roast, where comedians makes merciless fun of him in the Jokers Club. Andy Baxter, a sideman, makes an unexpected appearance and grossly insults the speaker, Lou Summers. A brief power surge blankets the room in darkness and when the lights come back on, Baxter falls over dead with a knife in the back. And, Lou is later found bludgeoned to death in the bathroom.
134	2	"Sleeping Murder"	Ron Satlof	Chris Abbott	September 30, 1999 (1999-09-30)	12.19
When a businessman runs through the streets to shoot an apparent nobody in clear daylight, Steve is puzzled. Mark is even more surprised when his younger brother, Stacy, appears after a drive all the way from Arkansas for a free medical consult about bad back pain. Even worse, he is found to have relapsed into a dangerous childhood habit of sleepwalking, placing him in suspicious circumstances at the scenes of both a murder and an attempted murder. This episode marks the first appearance of two significant female characters who become semi-regulars on the show. They are Dr Madison 'Maddie' Wesley (Joanna Cassidy) and Detective Cheryl Banks (Charmin Lee).
135	3	"Bringing Up Barbie"	Ron Satlof	Steve Brown	October 7, 1999 (1999-10-07)	11.99
Dr Mark is at BBQ Bob's talking on the phone to Dr Jesse. Jesse is spending the day patiently babysitting Amanda’s exuberant young son, CJ. While talking to Mark, Jesse reveals that Nurse Susan Hilliard, his previous girlfriend, has now moved to Oregon “with a chiropractor”. On his way out of the restaurant, Mark is delighted to recognise Chuck Greer, who once saved Steve's life in Vietnam, and happily agrees to minding Chuck’s teenage daughter, Barbie, for a few hours. Barbie also proves to be quite a handful. But Mark's babysitting of Barbie turns out to be far more perilous than Jesse’s babysitting of CJ. This episode marks the first appearance of Steve’s new Captain (John Schuck). Oddly, this new character is not named.
136	4	"Murder at Midterm"	Christopher Hibler	Melody Fox & Marc Cushman	October 14, 1999 (1999-10-14)	12.24
Dr Mark Sloan is delivering a lecture to a class of final year students at Community General Medical School. While speaking, he appears to gradually become unwell and then collapses in front of the entire class. The group of soon-to-be doctors speculate in an attempt to accurately diagnose the complaint when Quinn Montgomery, one of the brighter students, concludes that Dr Sloan is in fact, faking his symptoms as a practical test for the class. Dr Sloan immediately ‘recovers’ and congratulates Quinn for his cool-headed deduction. But we quickly learn that although Quinn is a gifted student, he is also a deceitful two-timer. He is engaged to heiress Jennifer Warner while also seeing Nurse Holly Harris at the same time. When Holly informs Quinn that she is pregnant, he realises that the prospect of his brilliant career as a doctor married to a wealthy wife, is in distinct danger of disappearing unless he can excise the problem… Guest Stars: Jonathan Scarfe, Joanna Cassidy and Randall Horn
137	5	"The Flame"	Christian I. Nyby II	Joel Steiger	October 21, 1999 (1999-10-21)	12.71
While Dr Jesse is out jogging, he sees smoke billowing from a domestic garage. He manages to break in, but unfortunately, is too late to save Frank Baumgart - the apparent suicide victim. Baumgart's former boss, John Parkinson, is later arrested by Steve, on suspicion of murder made to look like a suicide. All of this is complicated by the fact that John happens to be married to Livia, the first woman Mark developed feelings for after his wife died. Rather inconveniently, Livia previously had an affair with the deceased. The evidence against John seems overwhelming but he argues his innocence so passionately it causes Dr Mark to question the evidence and his own unconscious bias. Guest Stars: Michelle Phillips, Ray Wise, Charmin Lee
138	6	"The Killer Within"	Frank Thackery	Terry Curtis Fox	October 28, 1999 (1999-10-28)	13.60
Dr Madison Wesley discovers Lisa, a medical student and Madison’s de facto stepdaughter, after Lisa has overdosed on Demerol. The concerned Madison asks Dr Mark if he could pull some strings to get Lisa into Community General’s highly regarded narcotics rehab program. Mark complies. But the self-loathing Lisa has difficulty getting along with the other members in the group therapy sessions. Fellow addict and ambitious actress, Kiki, is particularly hostile when she detects an attraction between Lisa and another rehab patient, Tommy Santini. Lisa realises that the Senior Therapist, Dr Carla Meyer, follows sloppy procedure when issuing prescribed medications. Subsequently, Lisa manages to steal a dose of Demerol. Sometime later, when Lisa comes to, she discovers Tommy’s dead body. Dr Amanda determines that Tommy’s cause of death was a Demerol overdose - but it was widely known that Tommy was in rehab due to marijuana and alcohol abuse. Lisa pleads ignorance of the crime, but Dr Carla ejects her from the program and then she is arrested by Steve. Meanwhile, a stellar review in the newspaper means that BBQ Bob's is besieged by trend-following ‘foodies’ and business booms. But Dr Jesse has trouble maintaining a sense of proportion between his work and his wildly popular establishment. Guest stars: Joanna Cassidy, Lisa Sheridan, Lauren Dahl and Bruce A. Young Note: In a truly tragic instance of life imitating art, actress Lisa Sheridan’s body was discovered at her home in New Orleans, in February 2019. The cause of death was later determined to be chronic alcoholism with benzodiazepine abuse being a non-contributory factor.
139	7	"Gangland"	Victor Lobl	Terry Curtis Fox	November 4, 1999 (1999-11-04)	13.86
140	8
Veteran gangster 'Mr. G', who happens to be a perfect Mark Sloan lookalike, is released from prison. His gang, now under the leadership of his daughter Maya (Susan Gibney) and her right hand man Eddie Michaels (David Marciano), has shifted location to California and rented a Malibu beach-house. Later, Mark is rushed into Community General Hospital as a gunshot victim. Jesse saves him - while student Alex Smith does his rounds - by removing the bullet. It appears he has temporary amnesia, but no, that's lookalike mobster John 'Mr. G' Gotti. The genuine Dr Mark walks in with Steve, but soon the ruthless Mr. G knocks him out and takes his clothes and hospital ID. Maya finds Mark tied up in the closet, but the mobster walks into a trap arranged by his treacherous girlfriend, Trish (Michelle Stafford). Also starring: Kathleen Lloyd
141	9	"The Mouth That Roared"	Terrence O'Hara	Cathryn Michon	November 11, 1999 (1999-11-11)	11.79
During an appearance on Donny and Marie Osmond’s TV chat show, radio shock-jock, Denise Steiner, declares (in jest) that she would have to kill her birth mother - who had given her up - if she found her after all these years. Later, while Dr Mark is her radio guest, she receives a call from someone claiming to be her mom. Denise dismisses it, but after the show her producer reveals that the caller, Joanne Lombardi, knew about Denise’s birthmark and the heart valve problem she had as an infant. But we know that Joanne has been receiving threatening phone calls from someone unknown. Overcoming her own cynicism, Denise visits Joanne and comes to believe that she really is her birth mother. Later, Denise receives old newspaper clippings that may implicate Joanne in a scandal involving betraying illegal immigrant families. She goes to see Joanne to confront her but discovers only her dead body. After Denise is arrested by Steve, Mark fills in as presenter of her radio show – which allows him to investigate those at the radio station who may have a grudge against Denise. Guest stars: Christine Tucci, Mark Adair-Rios and Alyson Croft
142	10	"The Seven Deadly Sins"	Christopher Hibler	Chris Abbott & Steve Brown	November 18, 1999 (1999-11-18)	11.50
Mark matches wits with a beautiful jewel thief and her accomplice who is being framed for murder.
143	11	"Santa Claude"	Nancy Malone	Burt Prelutsky & Steve Brown	December 16, 1999 (1999-12-16)	12.01
Claude Campbell, the hospital's janitor, is looking forward to play Santa Claus again, but Mark diagnoses him with terminal cancer. To add further insult to injury, Claude is actually an escaped convict, as he was serving time for a murder he didn't commit.
144	12	"Man Overboard"	Frank Thackery	Michael Lyons	January 6, 2000 (2000-01-06)	13.26
Mark's life is in danger on a cruise ship vacation when he suspects that a fellow passenger may have murdered her husband onboard.
145	13	"Frontier Dad"	Frank Thackery	Story by : Paul Vincent Picerni & Barry Van Dyke Teleplay by : Barry Van Dyke	January 13, 2000 (2000-01-13)	12.53
Steve goes undercover as a TV stunt man to save the life of an egotistical young star from the frustrated crew of his show and investigate an on-set death.
146	14	"Too Many Cooks"	Christopher Hibler	Joyce Burditt	January 20, 2000 (2000-01-20)	13.80
A famous chef is killed at a charity auction while eating one of his own creations, a dish poisoned by a competitor at a popular food network.
147	15	"Jake's Women"	Victor Lobl	Mark Solomon	February 3, 2000 (2000-02-03)	14.35
Dr Sloan is shocked to discover that his late friend was in a bigamous marriage. Meanwhile, Steve tries to find a balance between investigating Jake's murder and a new friendship.
148	16	"Murder by Remote"	Christopher Hibler	Terry Curtis Fox	February 10, 2000 (2000-02-10)	13.28
Now noisy construction work drives Steve crazy at Mark's beach-house, he decides to move out, making his dad nostalgic. Steve's new house has its security system installed by a shady home security mogul, who claims that his rival has been sabotaging his computer. But that is only the beginning.
149	17	"Teacher's Pet"	Vince McEveety	Joel Steiger	February 17, 2000 (2000-02-17)	13.64
When a man is found murdered at Dr Sloan's home, the man's wife testifies that a gang of robbers broke into the house and killed him. However, details of an extramarital affair soon begin to emerge and contradict her version of events.
150	18	"The Unluckiest Bachelor in L.A."	Bernie Kowalski	Cathryn Michon	February 24, 2000 (2000-02-24)	13.55
Despite his clumsy and willful appearance, his honesty gets Steve picked in a TV dating program by candidate Lily Wilson. Everything goes well between the two until she is murdered. A corrupt private investigator and Lily's estranged brother, a doctor at Community General, become suspect.
151	19	"A Resting Place"	Farhad Mann	Story by : Charlie Schlatter & Craig Tomashoff Teleplay by : Burt Prelutsky	April 6, 2000 (2000-04-06)	11.52
Steve's retired colleague Dave 'Hawk' Hawkins is murdered while undercover in the resting home Sunny Meadows. Mark goes undercover and discovers a hidden secret about one of the deceased patients.
152	20	"Murder at BBQ Bob's"	Victor Lobl	Paul Bishop	April 20, 2000 (2000-04-20)	11.47
While US Marines Captain Paul Davis, Lieutenant Richard Martinelli -an MP- and Lt. Col. Sally MacPherson are eating at BBQ Bob's during Jesse's shift, a fourth, Captain Hank Thomas, bursts in saying "You'll all be sorry" and shoots himself in the head. Or so he did. When Steve and a Naval investigator investigate, they discover Thomas's personal life which included an affair with a commanders Wife among other things, they deduce he might have been murdered. Question is, how?
153	21	"Two Birds With One Sloan"	Nancy Malone	Terry Curtis Fox	April 27, 2000 (2000-04-27)	11.99
Wheelchair user Saul Singer has a car accident but Mark gets him by ambulance to TV presenter Drew McIntyre's trivia quiz "Through the Roof" where he is breaking the earnings records - because he blackmails him to hand over the answers in advance. But when Singer suddenly dies on air, Mark poses as a contestant to uncover the culprit.
154	22	"Swan Song"	Victor Lobl	Joel Steiger	May 4, 2000 (2000-05-04)	11.48
A famous jazz musician and old friend of Dr Sloan arrives in LA for a performance, but she soon starts to display some unusual behavior. She also insists that someone is stalking her.
155	23	"Out of the Past"	Victor Lobl	Steve Brown	May 11, 2000 (2000-05-11)	10.80
156	24	"Getting Mad, Getting Even"	Donald L. Gold	Burt Prelutsky
When a girl cop is brought in wounded, Jesse patches her up and dates her, but as Amanda finds and brings her out, she sets him up for a staged scary ride. Also, intern Alex reunites with an old flame, who had connections to a well-known call girl. Two weeks later, Brett Hayward murders Dr. Hjortsberg, the plastic surgeon who created his present identity, knowing him as patient Eddie Dagabosian, and as such harbors something against Madison, with whom he moves in, but Steve's LAPD team finds the drugs the killer 'stole' in a nearby dumpster. Meanwhile, Jesse is accused of writing a tell-all book about Community General and its staff. Guest Stars: Joanna Cassidy and John Schneider.