A House of Prayer, a Den of Thieves

This is not so much a Kojak episode as Theo only gets a few minutes screen time. This is a tryout for a new cop show set in Las Vegas with Vincent Gardenia (who played a similar hard boiled New York cop the previous year in 'Death Wish') . A stronger than usual cast with Eileen Brennan and Jeff Corey - the man who taught Hollywood how to act - but the story never rises above adequate and giving us an insight into Vincent's domestic circumstances - he moved to Vegas to look after his sister's clever I-want-to-be-a-cop-one-day kid after she died - slows down the action and looks like its there to soften the harshness of what otherwise have been a hard hitting wham bam series. Las Vegas photographs beautifully as ever and Gardenia is always excellent. But Kojak fans will be disappointed.

This episode was unique in that "Kojak" wasn't the main cop. No, that role was played by Vincent Gardenia, a well-known actor to those in the '70s. Gardenia played "Det. Vince LaGuardia." an ex-detective who moved to Las Vegas for his grandson's health (asthma).

The story involves Theo and the Mahattan South bureau when LaGuardia calls Kojak about a certain crook that was caught at the gambling tables. It turns out this guy was a big-time counterfeiter and it appears some big "job" is in the works here in Vegas.

There is quite a bit to this story which involves several interesting characters, one played by veteran actress Eileen MGovern. The loving relationship between LaGuardia and his grandson is also nice to see.

Overall, a very interesting episode and worth seeing.

This episode involving Kojak going to Las Vegas with Crocker on an extradition to pick up old counterfeiter Jeff Corey was a pilot for a proposed series involving former Manhattan South detective Vincent Gardenia and his young nephew Billy Darnell. Gardenia now works for Vegas PD. It looked like a good show, too bad it wasn't picked up.

Corey was part of a scheme involving a Las Vegas heist. But if you're thinking Ocean's 11 you're all wrong.

Nice performance by Eileen Brennan as talent agent who was a neighbor of Corey's. Nice episode all around.

"A House of Prayer, a Den of Thieves" is an episode of "Kojak" that was obviously intended as a pilot episode for a new series...one that the network didn't choose to make into a series. And, after watching it, I can't blame CBS for this.

Kojak and company are barely in the show. Most is about a New York cop (Vincent Guardenia) who is now working in Las Vegas. The story begins with a man who is wanted in New York to testify in some case is located in Vegas. Kojak arrives to take the prisoner back but while they are escorting him to the airport, a gunman shoots the witness. Kojak returns to New York and the Vegas police try to put together what happened and who was behind the murder....and it all boils down to a robbery on a traveling evangelism crusade.

The proposed pilot has poor chemistry. I did NOT want to see Guardenia and his 'cute nephew' and the entire show just seemed dull when compared to "Kojak". A miss and one that easily could have been better.

Yes, this is not your typical "Kojak" episode, but is far from the worst. I have always said that whenever a series "veers" from it's main characters or location, the end is in sight. This episode DOES fit in to both of those categories, but there far less appealing broadcasts of the show that have come before this. It is however, listening to the "other cop" in this episode, hard not to envision Dutch Schnell, Manager of the New York Mammoths from "Bang The Drum Slowly". The female Evangelist in the episode also seems to be a portrayal of Kathryn Kuhlman. Around the midpoint of the series' run, they did spit out a few more episodes of the show before it REALLY plunged over the cliff...