The Practice (1976 TV series)

The pilot for the series. David diagnoses Jules' longtime friend Arthur Jarvis (J. Pat O'Malley) with a brain tumor and tells him he is terminally ill. While Jules and David feud over the diagnosis, Arthur resigns himself to his fate; but Jules does not want him to give up.

Jules treats a patient named Barbara Simms (Marge Redmond) for a thyroid condition and finds that she is suicidal because her husband has left her for another woman. He is sympathetic, but Barbara interprets his sympathy as a romantic interest in her. Pondering how to tell her that he is not interested in romance without making her become suicidal again, he decides upon an unorthodox treatment.

When it comes time to vote for a new chief of internal medicine for the hospital, Jules is forced to choose between David and Dr. Herb Chisholm (Severn Darden) – a brilliant and visionary physician who is also unkempt and absent-minded. Jules chooses Chisholm, much to David's dismay.

Molly falls in love with one of Jules' patients.

When Frankie Nyles (Vic Tayback), a known drug dealer, sees Jules for treatment of recurring bad headaches, Jules determines that he needs an operation. Jules does not want to treat a drug dealer, but his conscience won't let him turn Nyles away.

An overworked Jules grudgingly agrees to take a vacation in Florida, but he can't resist practicing medicine while he is there.

Jules promises an old friend to talk one of David's patients out of getting cosmetic surgery.

Eddie (Bryan Scott), a recently orphaned boy who is one of Jules' patients, gets along very well with Jules and wants Jules to adopt him. Jules, however, thinks that his long working hours would be bad for Eddie's upbringing and instead looks for a set of great parents who will adopt Eddie – much to Eddie's disappointment.

Although Jules thinks it is a bad idea, David takes in a once-acclaimed novelist who is one of his boyhood idols and has fallen on hard times – and discovers that even though the man has impeccable manners and courtly charm, he also drinks too much and engages in fraud.

Jules invests his life savings into one of David's real-estate schemes.

Jules arranges a date for Helen with a young medical intern, Dr. Byron Fisk (Barry Gordon). She thinks Byron is her new boyfriend – but is the last to realize that Byron is homosexual.

A tough and stubborn patient named Judy Sinclair (Marlo Thomas) needs an operation. The single mother of a little mentally disabled boy, she is determined not to undergo the procedure because of her fear of leaving her son alone. In the end, the Bedfords take care of the boy and Judy has her operation.

David hires a sexy woman named Rhonda Curtis (Caren Kaye) as his new secretary. He is attracted to her and has trouble resisting temptation when she makes advances toward him. They take a business trip together, infuriating Jules, but in the end, Jules' meddling saves David from committing adultery.

A blizzard hits New York City, and David's apartment loses power – and then a pregnant woman in labor and her husband arrive at his door in need of medical help.

Jules ends up in the hospital with painful cramps and is told he needs a gall bladder operation, but he does not want David to perform it.

An old flame tries to tempt Jules into marriage by promising a large donation to the hospital.

Jules takes his friend Dr. Michael Harrigan (David Huddleston) into his practice to keep him from retiring – and then regrets it.

Jules' deadbeat, money-grubbing, ne'er-do-well brother Harry (Jan Murray), from whom he has been estranged for many years, comes to visit, and David and Jenny arrange a surprise meeting between them. The two stubborn brothers fight at first, but after Jules learns that Harry may be dying, they become cordial – until the check that Harry writes to Jules to pay back the money he owes him bounces.

Jules wants Lenny (Mike Evans) to pass his medical exams and lets Lenny stay with him so he can study without the distractions of home – but Jules' meddling in Lenny's studying turns out to be a big distraction.