Murder in the First follows homicide detectives Terry English and Hildy Mulligan as they investigate a multitude of tragedies in San Francisco.

Two losers from Milwaukee, Coop and Remer, invent a new game playing basketball, using baseball rules. When the game becomes a huge success, they, along with a billionaire's help, form the Professional Baseketball League where everyone gets the same pay and no team can change cities. Theirs is the only team standing in the way of major rule changes that the owner of a rival team wants to institute.