The Missing Daddy Caper

This episode concerns the birth of a godson for Kookie. But what brings the Bailey&Spencer firm into things professionally is the disappearance of Robert Hogan the baby's father. Hogan got caught taking a snooze in the hospital waiting room and now a real crime Godfather recognizes him as someone he's looked to settle a score with for years. Bernard Fein sends a couple of his guys making inquiries.

Hogan has been on the run for years, in fact the name he was married under and who Edd Byrnes knows him by is gone. It's up to Roger Smith to find him.

A lot of what drives this episode is Fein's performance. Just the sight and thought of Hogan drives him into a rage. One scary dude.

Complementing Fein is that of future Star Trek Yeoman Janice Rand Grace Lee Whitney's performance as Fein's moll. Whitney in her best Veda Ann Borg imitation gives the comic relief for this story.

Whitney and Fein are worth watching here.

I agree with the last reviewer, keep your eye on Bernard Fein and Grace Lee Whitney. They play two characters you love to hate.

A solid adventure by Laszlo Gorog, long time writer at Warner Brothers/ABC TV. Gorog turns Fein into one revengeful and creepy villain. Armed and totally dangerous. Fein plays Sam Treynor, who spots new daddy Robert Hogan in a hospital and wants to even the score for past misdeeds...

Hogan, best at playing guys on the run, goes into hiding, carefully watched by Jeff -- but there's still a problem with Sam, who seems to get angrier by the minute and more gun happy. Enter Grace Lee Whitney, playing April, in league with Sam, also a tricky character. Whitney, famous for STAR TREK, is all gussied up, playing your typical gun moll. At first I thought it was Sue Ann Langdon, who played similar roles, and fun to watch.

Director Michael O'Herlihy crafts some tense scenes here; Sam hiding out in a hospital bed with a loaded gun is a gem.

Notes; a tribute to Robert Hogan, who passed in 2021. If you don't recognize Bernard Fein, you certainly know his name, the creator of HOGANS HEROES.

Only debit, the ending is good, but too quick. Should have had a bit more fancy gunplay with Sam. We kids love that stuff.

Thanks much to METV Plus for running this dynamic cop show, and twice each Sunday. Always on remastered dvd, although some box sets were produced in Europe. Always check with the seller concerning Region 2 playback.