Shades of LA

Season

1990

7.2

Det. Michael Burton of the Los Angeles Police Department is a shallow, casual kind of guy until a near-death experience changes his life. Grazed in the head by a bullet during a stake-out, Burton dies and finds himself in limbo, surrounded by "shades"--spirits of the dead who are trapped there, unable to proceed to Heaven or Hell until they can complete whatever unfinished business binds them to Earth. Paramedics restart his heart, and Burton wakes up in the hospital--only to discover he can still see shades.

Episode List

S1 • E1

Shades of L.A.

A dead astronaut contacts Michael.

S1 • E2

The Wrong Man

A deceased thief feels guilty that the wrong man was convicted and sent to death row for a crime he committed and asks Burton to clear the man.

S1 • E3

Coopers Coroner

The ghost of a baseball announcer seeks Burton's help to redress things with a player he rebuffed years before.

Where There's No Will, There's a Weigh-In

S1 • E4

Where There's No Will, There's a Weigh-In

Janis Paige plays a shade who wants Burton to find out why her nephew is stalling the execution of her will and testament that instructs that her money be given to her financially strapped senior center.

S1 • E5

Concrete Evidence

Burton meets the late Frankie Mannis at an Italian restaurant who requests that he find his missing corpse so that he may move on to the after-life.

S1 • E6

Pointers from Paz

A slain policeman, supposedly shot because he was corrupt, wants Burton's help to find the officer who framed him.

S1 • E7

Episode #1.7

S1 • E8

Big Brother Is Watching

A murdered ventriloquist returns to point out his killer.

S1 • E9

Some Like It Cold

Detective Burton falls for the shade of a murdered attorney (Lee Purcell) while searching for her killer.

S1 • E10

The Teacher from Hell

The ghost of Michael Burton's former high-school science teacher helps him in the investigation of a reporter's murder.

S1 • E11

Dead Dogs Tell No Tales

Michael is haunted by the ghost of a dog that was used in a bank robbery and accidentally run over by the getaway car.

S1 • E12

Send Up the Clowns

Michael is entertained by the ghosts of two circus clowns whose amusing antics provides clues to their mysterious deaths.

S1 • E13

Last Laugh

S1 • E14

Burial Ground

The ghost of a policeman leads Detective Burton to a hidden payroll meant for Nevada Indians and the murderous thieves who stole it.

S1 • E15

Cross the Center Line

The ghosts of two bikers from the 1950s help Detective Burton clear Lt. Wesley of charges that he planted a gun on a suspect he shot.

S1 • E16

Till Death Do Us Part

Det. Michael Burton tries to clear the name of a shade accused of killing his wife, however the original investigator impedes his efforts.

S1 • E17

Ten Little Thespians

Michael Burton attends a murder mystery weekend where he encounters a murdered novelist who wants him to discover the identity of her killer.

S1 • E18

The Really Big Sleep

Don Stroud plays a private detective who was murdered 50 years ago who seeks Burton's help to find his killer.

S1 • E19

Line of Fire: Part 1

Michael Burton becomes romantically involved with his former partner's widow, a TV producer who obtained a videotape of a murder committed by an evangelist.