1st & Ten

- Season 1

(1984)

The wealthy owner of a ragtag California football team is forced to relinquish his rights to his team to his wife in an acrimonious divorce, leaving her to attempt managing a professional sports franchise in disrepair by herself.

Diane Barrow, the new and inexperienced owner of her former husband's professional football franchise, struggles to gain a grasp on her roster and general manager, as running a team proves harder than anticipated with a score of outside influences discouraging her success.

The dangerous, mob-connected Arcolo Brothers try to manipulate Diane through everything from her general manager to her quarterback in attempt to embarrass her into forfeiting her ownership of the Bulls.

Politics and egos take the forefront of the Bulls surprisingly promising season as Diane struggles to get a hold of the many factors keeping the somewhat tumultuous season from resulting in a fruitful playoff-bound year.

Diane finds herself in a personal bind when her attraction and emotional attachment to one of her players conflicts with the team's needs to trade him to another franchise. Plans get complex when the player on the trading block's backup is severely injured in a freak accident.

When the Bulls' coach has a life-threatening heart attack, Diane is forced to step in at the top position, making history as the first female coach in professional football history and scaring both her team and herself in the process.

Coach has an eerie premonition in his sleep that that devil and God are pitting him between them in their divine battle over the Bulls, leading to confusion and distractions in the team's must-win situation to maintain their marginally winning record.

Controversy and turmoil overtake the Bulls when the starting quarterback gets injured and the backup accidentally impregnates a cheerleader, despite being married to a devout Mormon. He initially makes plans to leave for Tibet to become a monk but the rest of the team is determined to keep him on payroll.

The jokester of the Bulls finds himself in an existential crisis when he is told the team plans to cut him after the season's end. The team is also facing a questionable situation in that a couple of their cheerleaders are being fired despite their intimate histories with the general manager who is hellbent on saving their jobs.

After several Bulls players attack a con man for scamming them, he threatens to sue the organization. This places Diane in a situation in which she may have to consider abandoning her morals and ask the Arcola gangsters for assistance against her better judgment.

Coach Denardo is stressing over the importance of the next game, which would make or break a playoff spot for the Bulls but the Arcola brothers devise a plan to keep the season alive by paying off a referee. Meanwhile, Rona pursues a relationship with Tim, a much younger man whom she met in rehab.

The Bulls pull off a last-second win in the semi-finals, sending them to the championship. When Mace is offered a role in an upcoming film and Diane is distracted by the surprise appearance of her former fiance, while Coach Denardo is left struggling to prepare his team for the most important game of the year.

With all the buzz surrounding the championship game, the media and advertisers are causing significant distractions from the Bulls' game plan, much to the frustration of Coach Denardo. To make matters worse, Diane receives a $60 million offer to sell the team along with the news that the whole organization is on the brink of bankruptcy.