Adam-12
1 9 6 8 - 1 9 7 5 (USA)
174 x 30 minute episodes
Adam-12 was developed and produced by Jack Webb of Dragnet
fame for NBC.
It told the story of two uniformed LAPD officers roaming the
city in their squad car. Officer Pete Malloy (Martin Milner) was a
senior officer who, at the start of the series, was partnered with
rookie cop, Jim Reed (Kent McCord).
The pair encountered a wide range of cases in every episode -
some serious, some trivial, some amusing, and some tragic - but
the series always focused on everyday police calls rather than the
barrage of explosions and shoot-outs found in so many other TV
shows.
The producer of Adam-12, Jack Webb, insisted on absolute
realism and authenticity in the series, to the point where the
voice of the dispatcher behind the "One Adam Twelve"
calls heard each week was an actual police officer.
 Police radio operator Shaaron Claridge showed up at Universal
Studios once a week before working her 4-to-midnight shift in the
Van Nuys police station, and was paid $112 a week to record all
the radio calls in each script and make sure all her scripting was
true-to-life (changing a line from "grand auto theft
report" to "stolen-vehicle report," for example).
A syndicated version of the show was produced in 1989 - 1990,
called The New Adam-12, with a new pair of LAPD cops,
Officer Gus Grant (Peter Paros) and Officer Matt Doyle (Ethan
Wayne).
The series did not prove as popular as the original, and left
the airwaves after 52 episodes.
|
