Police Story (1973 TV series)

Police Story
DVD cover
Genre	Police procedural
Created by	Joseph Wambaugh
Opening theme	Jerry Goldsmith
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	6
No. of episodes	103 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	David Gerber
Running time	60 min.
Production company(s)	David Gerber Productions Screen Gems Television (1973-1974) Columbia Pictures Television (1974-1978)
Distributor	Columbia Pictures Television (1983-1984) Sony Pictures Television
Release
Original network	NBC
Original release	September 25, 1973 – December 3, 1978

Don Murray and Michael Anderson, Jr. in an episode of Police Story (1975)

Police Story is an anthology television crime drama that aired on NBC from 1973 through 1978. The show was created by author and former police officer Joseph Wambaugh and was described by The Complete Directory of Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows as "one of the more realistic police series to be seen on television." It was produced by David Gerber and Mel Swope.

Overview

Although it was an anthology, there were certain things that all episodes had in common; for instance, the main character in each episode was, obviously, always a police officer. The setting was always Los Angeles and the characters always worked for some branch of the LAPD. Notwithstanding the anthology format, there were recurring characters. During the first three seasons, Scott Brady appeared in sixteen episodes as "Vinnie," a former cop who, upon retirement, had opened a bar catering to police officers, and who acted as a sort of Greek chorus during the run of the series, commenting on the characters and plots. Others who appeared more than once were Tony Lo Bianco and Don Meredith, each making five appearances as Robbery-Homicide Division partners Tony Calabrese and Bert Jameson, four of these appearances being in the same episodes; Vic Morrow played surveillance specialist Joe LaFrieda in the pilot, "Slow Boy," and in the first season two-part episode, "Countdown." Vice officer turned homicide detective Charlie Czonka was played by James Farentino in two episodes; and John Bennett Perry played Officer Chick Torpey five times during the first two seasons, including the pilot film. Chuck Connors and Jackie Cooper also starred in various episodes, as different characters on both sides of the law.

The anthology format allowed the series to depict a wider variety of police activities and experiences than was usual in police dramas. In addition to detectives investigating major crimes, or patrol officers patrolling high crime beats, the show depicted newly hired cadets trying to make it through the academy, woman officers trying to fit into a male-dominated profession, traffic officers investigating accidents, officers dealing with marital difficulties or alcohol dependence, fingerprint techs trying to develop suspects from a single print, high-ranking administrators dealing with the stresses of command in a major metropolitan police force, officers adjusting to permanent physical disabilities caused by on-duty injuries, and officers trying to juggle two different jobs to make enough money to support their families.

The anthology format also allowed the show to try out characters and settings for series development, and, during its broadcast run, Police Story generated three spin-offs. A first-season episode, "The Gamble," starring Angie Dickinson, became the pilot for the successful Police Woman, which ran from 1974 to 1978. "The Return of Joe Forrester," a second-season episode starring Lloyd Bridges, was developed into the weekly series Joe Forrester, which lasted a full season. Finally, "A Chance to Live," a special episode from the fifth season starring David Cassidy, was spun off into the series Man Undercover. That series didn't do as well, and lasted only ten episodes.

In later seasons, perhaps because of the expense of maintaining the anthology format on a weekly basis, Police Story became a series of irregularly scheduled TV movies.

Police Story was a precursor to later shows such as NBC's Hill Street Blues (1981-1987), Law & Order (1990-2010), ABC's NYPD Blue (1993-2005), NBC's Homicide: Life on the Street (1993-1999) and FX's The Shield (2002-2008)

Guest stars

Numerous actors, musicians, sports figures, radio personalities and former real-life cops who were familiar to audiences in the 1960s and 1970s made appearances on the series, including Claude Akins, Edward Albert, Robert Alda, Loni Anderson, Tige Andrews, Michael Ansara, Pedro Armendariz Jr., Desi Arnaz Jr., Ed Asner, John Astin, Frankie Avalon, Jim Backus, Diane Baker, Kaye Ballard, Martin Balsam, Sandy Baron, Noah Beery, Jr., Edgar Bergen, Carl Betz, Joan Blondell, Danny Bonaduce, Lloyd Bridges, Jim Brown, Robert Brown, Dick Butkus, Edd Byrnes, Godfrey Cambridge, Joseph Campanella, Jack Carter, David Cassidy, Dennis Cole, Michael Cole, Dabney Coleman, Gary Collins, Chuck Connors, Mike Connors, Bert Convy, Jackie Cooper, James Cromwell, Brandon Cruz, Robert Culp, Cesare Danova, Kim Darby, James Darren, Clifton Davis, Angie Dickinson, Kevin Dobson, David Doyle, Howard Duff, Patty Duke, Vince Edwards, Eddie Egan, Richard Egan, Chad Everett, Shelley Fabares, Norman Fell, Mel Ferrer, Glenn Ford, John Forsythe, Joe Garagiola, Christopher George, Louis Gossett Jr., Harold Gould, Robert Goulet, David Groh, Clu Gulager, Larry Hagman, George Hamilton, Earl Holliman, Rodolfo Hoyos, Jr., Robert Ito, David Janssen, Russell Johnson, Gordon Jump, Gabe Kaplan, Lenore Kasdorf, Casey Kasem, Sally Kirkland, Cheryl Ladd, Steve Lawrence, Michael Learned, Jerry Lee Lewis, Cleavon Little, Tony Lo Bianco, Gary Lockwood, Tina Louise, John Lupton, Robert Mandan, George Maharis, Darren McGavin, Donna Mills, Martin Milner, Sal Mineo, Cameron Mitchell, Ricardo Montalban, Vic Morrow, Diana Muldaur, Don Murray, Tony Musante, France Nuyen, Hugh O'Brian, Donald O'Connor, Freda Payne, Joanna Pettet, Paul Picerni, Della Reese, Pernell Roberts, Smokey Robinson, Alex Rocco, John Russell, Kurt Russell, Albert Salmi, Joe Santos, John Saxon, William Schallert, Martha Scott, William Shatner, Gregory Sierra, Sylvester Stallone, Stella Stevens, Dean Stockwell, Rufus Thomas, Jan-Michael Vincent, Gary Vinson, John Vivyan, Robert Walden, Dennis Weaver, Stuart Whitman, Larry Wilcox, Cindy Williams, Fred Williamson and Lana Wood.

Episodes

Awards and nominations

Two episodes received an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for Best Episode in a Television Series: "Requiem for an Informer," written by Sy Salkowitz (from the first season), and "Requiem for C.Z. Smith," by Robert L. Collins (second season). In 1976, the show won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series.

Home media

Shout! Factory (under license from Sony Pictures) has released the first three seasons of Police Story on DVD in Region 1.

1988 Revival

In 1988, ABC aired four Police Story TV films using scripts from the original run to fill in for the ABC Mystery Movie, then delayed by the writers' strike. The stars of the films included Ken Olin, Robert Conrad, Lindsay Wagner, and Jack Warden.^[4]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Police Story (1973 TV series).

• Police Story on IMDb
• Police Story at TV.com
• Police Story at CVTA with episode list