While chasing a criminal, Detective Sam Tyler is hit by a car and left for dead. When he wakes up, he finds himself in what appears to be the year 1973. Finding he is still a detective, he must learn to cope in this world without the hi-tech crime fighting techniques he has come to depend on and to deal with the morals and mind-set of 35 years ago, all the while trying to figure out what happened to him and get back to his own time.