The Mod Squad

Its premise was exactly this: Three teenagers who get into trouble with the law and help out others out of trouble by solving crimes with the help out the Lieutenant(played by Tige Andrews) who keeps one step ahead of everything they do. Out of all the Aaron Spelling shows that he ever produced this was one of the best ever(which is second to "Starsky and Hutch" and his earlier works too including the long forgotten detective show "Burke's Law"). Three teenagers from different backgrounds were basically detectives in their own way in getting the bad guys. The concept of this show was just that: kids ratting on kids,and going undercover to break up drug busts or sometimes save a girl from great danger. Pete, Linc,and Julie were the kids of their generation and it will never be a show like it ever. The show itself had some of the grooviest fashions ever from that period along with the stylings of the Afro and its standard of unity for all. The show was a top ten hit when it ran on ABC from 1968-1973. The executive producers were Danny Thomas(of Make Room for Daddy fame),and Sheldon Leonard(who was also producing I Spy and Andy Griffith at the time)and they kept the story lines with great action and one of the best crime drama shows ever to come out of that era. The guest stars who appear on the show were making their mark during its run with stars like Richard Dreyfuss, Richard Pryor, Michael Douglas,and Karen Black. Was one of the hippest ever....catch the episodes on videocassette if you can..

When this show first premiered in 1968, little did anyone know that over the next three decades that there would be several youth oriented shows. Shows like "21 Jumpstreet", "Starsky and Hutch" and "David Cassidy-Man Undercover" were all cop shows aimed at the youth market, but this was the granddaddy of them all. Michael Cole, Peggy Lipton and Clarence Williams III were perfectly cast and this show will always come to represent the era that it was produced in.

As a teenager I thought that Mod Squad was one of the coolest shows around. The three friends with their youth, enthusiasm, and beauty fighting crime. They were young people who got in trouble with the law, who got themselves out of trouble and now helped others in the same situation. Michael Cole (General Hospital) "Pete Cochran" stole a car; Clarence Williams III (Twin Peaks) "Linc Hayes"was arrested during riots and gorgeous "Julie Barnes" Peggy Lipton (Twin Peaks) ran away from her San Francisco home. I was fascinated by their fashionable counterculture outfits and the entire idea of the show. It was the sixties and that a cool way to be. There have been movies made for the big screen based on the series. I never cease to be amazed to see how many series Aaron Spelling has produced that had such an impact on my teenagers and young adult years. I enjoyed that type of series as an adolescent.

Watching this show as a teenager, Julie was my idol; hip, intelligent, beautiful, with a cool job, great clothes, and hot guy friends.

Seriously, Mod Squad was a well-done show with interesting characters. When Aaron Spelling, with Danny Thomas and Sheldon Leonard, ran the show, it was very good. Later, when Harve Bennett replaced Spelling, it went down a bit, but was still worth watching just for the stars: Michael Cole, Clarence Williams III, and Peggy Lipton. No insult intended for the stars of the movie, but these three will always be the Mod Squad, with Tige Andrews as Captain Greer. I would still rather watch episodes of the show than the movie.

For a young girl living in a small town, Mod Squad was a window into another world, giving me a glimpse of life outside my boundaries. What I learned about being cool back then, I learned from Julie Barnes.

The Mod Squad centered around three youthful cops, that were recruited to the LA police force in the late 60s. This show was truly cutting-edge as a concept back then. Three cool, under thirty hipsters as cops?? Yep! And it worked, because this was one of the most popular crime dramas of all-time.

The Mod Squad included Pete Cochran, a rich kid looking for kicks, who runs afoul of the law. Then there's Linc Hayes, a black ghetto youth who's struggling to survive, and gets himself busted. Lastly, there's Julie, a gorgeous young woman who suffers from a sad home life, and flees it. She too gets wrapped-up in law-breaking. Instead of throwing these three offenders in the clink, Capt. Greer has the idea of making them undercover cops, as long as they all agree to obey the law from then on.

Linc, Pete, and Julie were the coolest cops on TV in the late 60s. They all dressed in the latest 60s youth fashions, used hip lingo, and had the street-smarts necessary to do their jobs, as cops in the urban jungle of LA. The three were almost like a family, with Capt. Greer looking out for them like a kindly father would.

By working together in harmony, the Mod Squad showed that the societal chasms of race, class, gender, and even generational strife, could be overcome. It may have been an idealistic vision, but then the 60s were an idealistic period. It was so positive to see the three very different Mod Squad members, have a cooperative working relationship, despite their differences. They set an example, that folks could strive to follow in real life.

I highly recommend the Mod Squad, and not only for those who are nostalgic for the 60s. It's simply a quality show, enjoyable for all ages. Like Linc Hayes would say, it's 'solid man'.