I was less surpised to hear that NYPD Blue had ended its 12-year run yesterday evening was than I was to discover it had been on the air all this time to begin with. I caught a few episodes in the Caruso era, but I got my fill of Dennis Frantz's shtick in Hill Street Blues. And frankly, I'm not sure how anybody kept watching after Zach from Saved By The Bell signed on.
But never mind that, the San Jose Mercury News has an article commemorating the occasion and - as an added bonus - listing its top 10 cop (America, law enforcement only) shows of all time. Listed chronologically:
Dragnet (1951-59, 1967-70)
Naked City (1958-63)
The Mod Squad (1968-73)
Columbo (1971-93)
Barney Miller (1975-82)
Hill Street Blues (1981-87)
Cagney & Lacey (1982-88)
Miami Vice (1984-89)
Law and Order (1990 - present)
Homicide: Life on the Street (1993-99)
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000 - present)
The Shield (2002 - present)
Please. Dragnet made Adam-12 seem cutting edge. Cop shows pre-1968 should be disqualified solely because the studio execs behind them were still producing crap like The Brady Bunch and Laugh-In.
Of course, I never caught Naked City.
The Mod Squad was crap. Stylish and struggling to be hip, but crap nonetheless. I was a kid when I watched it, and even I knew this. The opening sequence was pretty cool, however.
Columbo had its moments, and I have to admit to not seeing many of the episodes upon their original airing. My mom was probably watching Centennial, which is the reason I never got to see the second season of Battlestar Galactica, but that's a traumatic childhood story for another time.
I would absolutely put Barney Miller on my "best of" list. And not just for the theme song. Great stories, great characters, and Abe Vigoda.
Hill Street Blues also gets a spot. I probably got my first meaning of the word "gritty" from watching this.
I never watched Cagney & Lacey, but my mother did. I'm sure she could give you some insight that a Y-chromosoner like myself probably missed. Miami Vice was also one of those shows I caught when I could, but never paid a lot of attention to. Even in 1984, I knew cops didn't live on boats with a freaking alligator. And to kids who already watched MTV, the show's "MTV-style editing" was hardly that impressive.
I've already commented on Law and Order here. I have no further comments, except that "ripped from the headlines" eventually works against you, as you automatically start looking to the most improbable suspect as the perpetrator.
Homicide, on the other hand, is awesome. Realistic characters, season-long story arcs, and compelling plots. This show was better than network TV deserved. I'm surprised it lasted as long as it did.
The same doesn't apply to CSI, which - though I hate to admit it - features one of my all-time favorite actors (Petersen, natch). The freak of the week angle, however, is getting old.
And so is Marg Helgenberger. I liked her in China Beach (overshadowed as she was by the glory of Dana Delaney), but it might be time to stop dressing like your daughter.
The Shield makes my list as well, if only for the end of season 2, where the Strike Team faces the ramifications of their take from the money train.
But enough of my bitching. Here are APCB's Top 10 Cop Shows:
10. TJ Hooker - My sister, who was all of 7 years old at the time, was the first to say how stupid it was that something had to blow up in every episode. I calmly shot her with my TJ Hooker-brand Riot Gun(TM).
9 Kojak - Accept no substitutes
8. Hawaii Five-O - Much as I love Thomas Magnum, Steve McGarrett would've kicked his ass.
7. The Blue Knight - A 1973 TV-movie ased on Joseph Waumbuagh's novel and starring William Holden, it's one of the most realistic depictions of a cop's life ever.
6. Hill Street Blues
5. The Shield
4. COPS - A Saturday night college ritual, and an inspiration. I'd get off work at 6, grab something to eat, watch COPS, then head out on the town to commit similar heinous acts of mild perversion.
3. Barney Miller
2. Homicide: Life on the Street
1. The Wire - I don't apologize for being a slave to the Best Show on TV. It makes every other show on this list look like Car 54, Where Are You? I've already articulated my threat to drop HBO if they cancel the show, even though I'm sure some other deluded goofball made similar threats over Mind of the Married Man.
Honorable mentions to Police Woman, and SWAT.
UPDATE: List edited to correct my recollection (in my own defense, I was 6 years old) of Kolchak: The Night Stalker being a cop show.
I note that Police Squad! doesn't make the list.
I went looking for animated Police shows. While Fish Police only aired a handful of episodes, I think that Hong Kong Phooey is the real winner in the animated category.
I've always found CSI, in all its incarnations, just about unwatchable. Though I do occasionally giggle at the idea of a former stripper who now brings criminals to justice by picking stray threads out of the trunks of cars.
I loved Hawaii Five-O when I was a kid but always wondered at the need to rename Kam Fong to Chin Ho. I mean, to my young mind this was like having "Bill Jones as Dave Smith". BTW i loved Night Stalker.
I completely agree with you about The Wire.
But, um, Kolchak was a reporter.