"Police Story" (1973) TV series 1973-1977

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Creator:

Joseph Wambaugh

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | unknown

Release Date:

25 September 1973 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Crime

Plot:

Classic anthology series, which details the personal lives of the men and women of the Los Angeles Police Department...

Plot Keywords:

Anthology | Police

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 4 wins & 11 nominations

Cast

Scott Brady	...	Vinnie (14 episodes, 1973-1976)
Joe Santos	...	Sally Pickles / ... (8 episodes, 1974-1978)
Dane Clark	...	Detective Lieutenant David Harman / ... (7 episodes, 1974-1978)
Shelly Novack	...	Cop / ... (7 episodes, 1974-1977)
Howard Duff	...	DeHart / ... (6 episodes, 1973-1977)
Laraine Stephens	...	Jenny LaFrieda / ... (6 episodes, 1973-1977)
Tony Lo Bianco	...	Tony Calabrese / ... (6 episodes, 1973-1976)
Don Meredith	...	Bert Jameson / ... (6 episodes, 1973-1975)
Phillip Pine	...	Deputy Chief / ... (6 episodes, 1974-1976)
Ron Masak	...	Dimaggio / ... (6 episodes, 1975-1978)
Eddie Egan	...	Captain Mead / ... (6 episodes, 1975-1977)

Runtime:

USA:60 min (94 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Television

Trivia:

The episodes that served as the pilots for "Police Woman" (1974) and "Joe Forrester" (1975) and "David Cassidy - Man Undercover" (1978) all aired on this show.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Emergency!: Loose Ends (#6.12)" (1977)

One of the finest police shows of all time

I remember this series well. I tried to make sure that I watched it every week. Of course, my social life came first. What I liked most about this show, in contrast to its daughter Police Woman and so many others, it did not have a recurring main cast that you knew would always return the next week, thus there was really no cause for alarm when the main cast came in jeopardy. Most of the regulars were background players such as Profaci on Law and Order is now.

Instead, Police Story was an ensemble series more akin to later shows such as St. Elsewhere and Hill Street Blues that deliberately sometimes knocked off likeable leads and there were so many recurring leads that one did not get sick of them every week. The show was unpredictable, not Mission Impossible or other gimmick shows such as McGyver where you always knew the good guys would win.

The most similar current shows are Deep Space Nine and Law and Order, which are not afraid to knock off a major character for the sake of the story.

There were so many Police Stories, and I have forgotten most of them; if they ever were rerun, I did not see them again. Two of the most memorable ones were, one where the hero was undercover and went to Tijuana to track down a drug shipment but the buy went wrong.

The other memorable one starred Claude Akins, a well-known character player, as a detective, who with his partner, was tracking down violent felons and bail jumpers.

Of all the thousands of movies and TV shows I've seen since the late 1940s, it takes a real powerful one to stick in my mind as those episodes did. The whole series was full of powerful episodes of equal impact. I just don't have room here for all them.