Adam-12

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For the 1990 TV series, see Adam-12 (1990 TV series).
Adam-12
Adam-12 title card.jpg
Adam-12 title screen, season 4
Format Police drama
Created by R. A. Cinader
Jack Webb
Starring Martin Milner
Kent McCord
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 7[1]
No. of episodes 174[2] (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s) Jack Webb
Running time 30 Minutes[3]
Broadcast
Original channel NBC
Picture format NTSC
Audio format Mono
Original run September 21, 1968 (1968-09-21) – May 20, 1975 (1975-05-20)[1]

Adam-12 is a television police drama that followed two police officers of the Los Angeles Police Department, Pete Malloy and Jim Reed, as they patrolled the streets of Los Angeles in their patrol unit, 1-Adam-12. Created by R. A. Cinader and Jack Webb, who is known for creating Dragnet, the series captured a typical day in the life of a police officer as realistically as possible. The show ran from September 21, 1968 through May 20, 1975, and helped introduce police procedures and jargon to the general public in the United States of America.

Contents

Premise [edit]

Adam-12 was a realistic style police drama following the lives of two officers of the Los Angeles Police Department, veteran Police Officer III (P-3) Pete Malloy and his rookie partner, probationary Police Officer I (P-1) Jim Reed. Each episode of the series covered a variety of incidents that the officers encountered during a shift, from the tragic to the trivial.[4]

In the series' first episode (filmed in September 1967, a year before the pilot was picked up, and directed by Jack Webb), Reed is less than a week removed from graduating from the prestigious Los Angeles Police Academy, and is eager to begin his career. Three weeks before, Malloy's patrol partner (and friend) had been killed in an attempt to apprehend an armed robbery suspect; Malloy is deeply saddened, to the extent that he plans to resign the force. On what is to be Malloy's last night on patrol, the lieutenant assigns Malloy to take the young, raw, rookie Reed out for his first night on patrol. While Reed shows tremendous potential on his first night on the job, Malloy realizes that his new partner has plenty to learn, and with renewed purpose, the veteran officer decides to stay on the job and guide Reed during his nine-month probationary period. His comment to Reed at the end of their first watch together was," How can I quit? You're not ready to be turned loose on Los Angeles without a leash."

Viewers had been introduced to the character of Jim Reed during the 1967-1968 season of Dragnet (which was called Dragnet 1967 for that particular season) in the episode "Internal Affairs", in which he and Malloy were witness to a case of alleged police brutality against another officer. McCord had appeared in several episodes, alongside other veteran officers who were neither seen nor referred to when Adam-12 was picked up.

Reed's rookie term is played out during the first two seasons, after which he is promoted to a full officer. Reed and Malloy remain beat partners.

Reed and Malloy comfort a boy whose sister was the victim of a hit and run driver.

In later seasons, Malloy and Reed began patrolling other beats of Los Angeles, including the L.A. International Airport, the Los Angeles Harbor, the Foothill District, the West Valley area, Venice, Van Nuys, Hollywood and North Hollywood. With Reed having completed his probationary police officer training period and now holding the rank of Police Officer II (P-2), several episodes featured the officers working with other rookie officers, with guest actors playing these one-time characters; some episodes had Reed serving as the training officer, while Malloy having been promoted to the rank of Senior Lead Officer (who coordinate patrols in many neighborhoods) worked as the watch officer.

Malloy and Reed reported to Sgt. William "Mac" McDonald (William Boyett), who occasionally took a black and white command cruiser (a Plymouth station wagon carrying extra police equipment) with the call sign 1-Ell-20 into the field. Several of their fellow officers were recurring characters; the most frequent were Jerry Woods (Fred Stromsoe), Ed Wells (Gary Crosby) and Officer Brinkman (Claude Johnson). Shaaron Claridge, a real-life LAPD dispatcher, was the dispatcher.

The personal lives of Malloy and Reed come up on occasion, and are always tied into their duties. Malloy is a bachelor who has at least two girlfriends during the course of the series, the last being Judy (Aneta Corsaut); Reed is married to Jean (Mikki Jamison, 1969–70; in the last season, she was played by Kristin Nelson). They have two children; one of their births (off-camera) is a major part of the plot of Season 2 episode "Baby."

Cultural impact [edit]

The police vehicles were central characters so that "mobile patrol units [became] associated with the black and white units made famous in such television shows as Adam 12."[5] It was one of the shows that portrayed "the professionalism of the officers and police departments."[6] The theme of Adam 12 also referred to a "military style topic while portraying a sense of contemporary action."[7] "Adam 12 also marked [the] last gasp of the righteous style of cop TV."[8] Their set was not a squad room or an office, but the actors "watched the changes in American culture through the windshield of their squad car.".[8]

In 1999, Mattel toys paid homage to Adam 12 by producing a die cast toy police car based on the series a part of their "Star Car" series.[9]

Other notable actors and actresses [edit]

Episode 2, "Log 141: The Color TV Bandit", stars Cloris Leachman and Melody Patterson.[10]

Episode 10, "Log 132: Producer",[11] stars Karen Black (Easy Rider, Five Easy Pieces Airport 1975, Dogtown) and James McEachin (DJ in Play Misty for Me). McEachin also appeared in five additional episodes, each time in a different role.

Episode 16, "Log 62: Grand Theft Horse?", guest stars Tim Matheson as a horse thief.

Episode 22, "Log 152: A Dead Cop Can't Help Anyone",[12] stars Barry Williams (Greg Brady of The Brady Bunch).

Episode 26, "Log 22: So This Little Guy Goes into This Bar, and..." guest stars Harry Dean Stanton as a welfare hustler.

Episode 43, "Log 24: A Rare Occasion" stars David Cassidy of The Partridge Family.

Episode 58, "Log 55: Missing Child" guests stars Jodie Foster as the playmate of a missing child.

Episode 80, "The Million Dollar Buff",[13] guests stars Lindsay Wagner as a jewelry store attendant.

Episode 150, "Clinic on Eighteenth Street" guest stars Sharon Gless, later of Cagney & Lacey fame and currently co-star of Burn Notice on USA Network.

Episode 171, "Gus Corbin", guest stars Mark Harmon, the star of NCIS since 2003.

Police cars [edit]

The production of the program involved showing all aspects of correct police procedures, and “Webb wanted the vehicle itself to be considered a character.”[14] The show specifically centered on police radio cars and helped reinforce “the sound of radio as an anti-crime technology.”[15] The police vehicles used in the production of show were purchased from local dealerships and outfitted by the prop department to LAPD cruiser specs.[16]

The LAPD had purchased 534 Matadors for its patrol fleet.[17] An event in 2001 that featured a restored LAPD Matador police car, brought together Bernard C. Parks, the former LAPD Police Chief, and Tom Williams, the producer of Adam-12.[18]

Connections to other Mark VII shows [edit]

Officers Pete Malloy and Jim Reed appear on the Dragnet episode "Internal Affairs: DR-20", The D.A. episode "The People vs. Saydo" and the two-part Emergency! episode "The Wedsworth-Townsend Act", which was remade from the original pilot. Sergeant MacDonald appears on the Dragnet episode "Personnel: The Shooting". The episode "Lost And Found" was set at Rampart General Hospital and featured the Emergency! cast.

Episode availability [edit]

DVD releases [edit]

Main article: List of Adam-12 episodes

Universal Studios Home Entertainment released Season 1 of Adam 12 on DVD in Region 1 on August 23, 2005.

In fall 2008, Shout! Factory acquired the distribution rights through an agreement with Universal. They have subsequently released the remaining 6 seasons, with season 7 packaging titled "The Final Season."

In Region 4, Umbrella Entertainment has released the first two seasons on DVD in Australia.

DVD name Ep # Release date
Region 1 Region 4
Season 1 26 August 23, 2005 May 11, 2011
Season 2 26 September 30, 2008 August 3, 2011
Season 3 26 August 11, 2009 TBA
Season 4 24 February 23, 2010 TBA
Season 5 24 August 10, 2010 TBA
Season 6 24 January 17, 2012 TBA
Season 7 24 April 10, 2012 TBA

Syndication [edit]

On May 6, 2013, episodes of Adam-12 returned to broadcast television as part of Me-TV’s Spring 2013 program line-up. [19] Adam-12 previously aired on Me-TV’s competitor Antenna TV until April 2013.

Internet [edit]

Episodes of Adam-12 are available for on-line streaming at Hulu and Netflix.


References [edit]

  1. ^ a b "Adam-12 episode/season list (season 7 of 7)". imdb. Retrieved 2012-02-05. 
  2. ^ "Adam-12 Technical Specs". imdb. Retrieved 2012-09-20. 
  3. ^ "Adam-12 (1968–1975)". imdb. Retrieved 2012-09-20. 
  4. ^ Rathjen, Brian. "Adam-12 plot summary". imdb. Retrieved 2012-09-20. 
  5. ^ Berg, Bruce L. (1999). Policing in Modern Society. Elsevier Science. p. 84. ISBN 978-0-7506-9867-2. Retrieved 2012-02-05. 
  6. ^ Ward, Richard H.; Homant, Robert J.; Fowler, Austin; Kennedy, Daniel B.; Curran, James T. (1985). Police and law enforcement 3. AMS Press. p. 118. ISBN 978-0-404-11207-3. Retrieved 2012-02-05. 
  7. ^ Rodman, Ronald Wayne (2009). Tuning in: American narrative television music. Oxford University Press. p. 252. ISBN 978-0-19-534024-2. Retrieved 2012-02-05. 
  8. ^ a b Rushkoff, Douglas (1996). Media virus!: hidden agendas in popular culture. Random House. ISBN 978-0-345-39774-4. Retrieved 2012-02-05. 
  9. ^ "Top 10 Best". Hollywood-diecast.com. Retrieved 2012-09-21. 
  10. ^ ""Adam-12" The Color TV Bandit (TV episode)". imdb. Retrieved 2012-04-13. 
  11. ^ ""Adam-12" Producer (TV Episode 1968)". imdb. Retrieved 2012-02-05. 
  12. ^ ""Adam-12" Producer (TV Episode 1969)". imdb. Retrieved 2012-02-05. 
  13. ^ ""Adam-12" Million Dollar Buff (TV episode 1971)". imdb. Retrieved 2012-02-05. 
  14. ^ Snauffe, Douglas (2006). Crime television. Greenwood Publishing. p. 52. ISBN 978-0-275-98807-4. Retrieved 2012-02-05. 
  15. ^ Suisman, David; Strasse, Susan (2009). Sound in the age of mechanical reproduction. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 174. ISBN 978-0-8122-4199-0. Retrieved 2012-02-05. 
  16. ^ a b c d e f "Adam-12 (1968) Did You Know?". IMDb com. Retrieved 2012-02-05. 
  17. ^ Wilson, Bob. "ArcticBoy's AMC Police Car Garage Page 1". arcticboy com. Retrieved 2012-02-05. 
  18. ^ Burns, David. "Events and Shows, July & August 2001". The Adam-12 Home Page. Retrieved 2012-02-05. 
  19. ^ "It’s New to Me". Me-TV (Memorable Entertainment Television). unknown. Retrieved 19 Aril 2013. 

External links [edit]

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