Adam-12

This has got to be the best TV series I've ever seen. It has clean drama, humor, and action, and best of all, everything *really happened.* It's a superb look at a policeman's life, and after every episode I have even more respect for those who risk their lives to keep us safe.

Around 1975, I heard a police officer call Adam-12 the most realistic police show ever. In 1999, I heard a recently retired police officer say the same thing. It's hard to top those reviews.

All I'll add is that it had the best casting of any TV show I've seen.

... is this unfairly forgotten TV series that actually lasted longer than either series that chronicles the professional lives of two LA police officers as they patrol the streets.

This was one of several successful TV series that Jack Webb produced. From the start it dealt with modern topics while sticking with that buddy cop formula that Webb did so well. Also like Dragnet, one cop is single and one is married. This time, however, it is the rookie patrolman who is married and starting a family when the series premieres, and it is the older cop who is as close to a confirmed bachelor as you could be in 1968 without raising middle class eyebrows. There is usually one personal issue that the two cops discuss while on patrol as well as the following of a few cases that they encounter while on the job. You'll notice that the format is very similar to that of Emergency!

Jack Webb stays with the formula that served him so well - keep production costs down, use a core group of actors for supporting roles, have some entertaining conversational interplay between teammates, and keep the focus on the situation of the week. If you like Dragnet or Emergency! Give this old series a try.

This is one show that still holds up over thirty years after it premiered. Not only do you get a true life look at the day to day operations of a typical patrolman, but you also see the evolution of the relationship between two officers. When Reed is first teamed with Malloy he is the subordinate young officer who keeps calling Malloy sir and makes a few mistakes along the way, but by the end of the series, Malloy treats Reed as an equal and the two even call each other by their first names. In fact, in either the first or second season, Reed names Malloy the Godfather to his son. This show definitely proves that Jack Webb was a genius.

The title is my attempt to honor the classic Johnny Carson "Claude Cooper copper clappers" bit with Jack Webb. As a kid I tried to never miss an episode of any Jack Webb series. Adam 12 being one of them. I really enjoyed how the relationship between Reed and Malloy developed throughout out the seasons. From the beginning when Malloy was a bit distant from his partner but still very mother hen-like to the later years when the two were comfortable with each other and taking little jabs at each other between calls.

One of my favorites was the episode when Reed's wife was pregnant, and the Reeds, Malloy, and his girl friend were trapped in a ghost town by a motorcycle gang. That episode still stands out in my mind. I enjoyed how the series dealt with more day to day stuff than the impossible situations shown in many other cop shows. It was amazing how a day's work could be squeezed into a 30 min show (22 w/o commercials).