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''Adam-12'' was a Television Program which ran from 1968 until 1975 on NBC . The program concentrated on the daily activities of a pair of Los Angeles Police Officers , veteran Pete Malloy ( Martin Milner ) and rookie Jim Reed ( Kent McCord ), and to a lesser extent Sergeant William "Mac" MacDonald ( William Boyett ). The show was produced by Jack Webb , who also was behind '' Dragnet '' and '' Emergency! ''. The series was nominally considered a Spin-off of Webb's ''Dragnet 1967'', and the Reed and Malloy characters appeared on episodes of the parent program. STORY SETTINGS In the pilot episode, seven-year veteran Malloy is planning to resign from the police department following the death of his partner, who was killed in the line of duty while trying to foil an , who also narrated the openings to the 1955-59 TV series '' Highway Patrol ''), reminds Malloy that he was once an eager young rookie, much like Reed. Malloy takes it on himself to mold Reed into one of Los Angeles' "finest," which, as evidenced by later episodes, he does. ''Adam-12'' episodes centered on Malloy and Reed's maturing skills and relationship as patrol partners, and their shared experiences. Both would be wounded in the line of duty, kidnapped, and held hostage (separately and together), and face disciplinary measures for their mistakes. Car chases and shoot-outs occurred, but with less frequency than in other TV cop series. A typical episode involved Reed and Malloy encountering people and places on their daily patrol beat, with incidents ranging from humorous to deadly serious. Sometimes a common incident or theme is explored throughout the episode, or incidents therein. Other episodes focused on mistakes of rookie, and sometimes more experienced, officers. > A memorable 1970 episode, "Elegy for a Pig," detailed Pete Malloy's earlier relationship with his best friend from the police academy (Officer Tom Porter, played by Mark Goddard ), starting from the stormy night that Porter was killed in the line of duty, and going back to their shared experiences as LAPD cadets in the early 60's, before ending with Tom Porter's full-LAPD-honors funeral. Among some of the one-time-only features of this episode were that it used relatively lttle background music, especially over the opening credits (which included a voiceover by Jack Webb) and end credits. There was also no on-screen dialogue in the half-hour, episode, except for Pete Malloy's narration. In later years (after the patrol car switches from Plymouth Belvedere to AMC Matador), Reed completed his probationary period, and was granted regular LAPD Officer status, and Malloy was promoted to Field Training Officer ("Officer-3", ranking one step below Sergeant, with two chevrons/star patches on his shirt-sleeves). The duo also became members of their division's SWAT team (a then-relatively new concept pioneered by the LAPD) and were shown in that capacity for a handful of episodes. In the latter part of the seventh and final season it is strongly implied that Malloy will become the Division's new Patrol Sergeant/Watch Commander (after he fills in for an ailing Sgt. Mac on at least two episodes), and Reed will attain Detective status, after a successful plainclothes stint in LAPD's Narcotics Division as detailed in the final two episodes. Pete Malloy's birthdate is March 17 ("Log 111"). PRODUCTION HISTORY The officers worked out of the Central Division of the LAPD, but the show used situations from real LAPD case files and thus was not set in any one area of the city. The title of the show is derived from the radio car unit number of the duo, 1 (for Central Division, though Rampart Division was actually used as the location), A(dam) to designate it as a two man patrol, and 12 to designate their patrol area. However, the moniker was generally thought to refer to the number of their "black and white" patrol car, and in recognition of this, beginning in 1971 the vehicles used were marked with the number 012. In reality, the LAPD patrol cars are marked with a unique five-digit shop number, with the last three on the top of each car (for rapid identification by police helicopters), and a two-digit number on the trunk representing the originating division. The outdoor filming was done primarily in the North Hollywood , Toluca Lake , Studio City , and Hollywood Hills sections of Los Angeles (and close to Universal Studios and the infamous studio backlot itself, which was heavily used during the first two seasons), although the exteriors of the station house were actually of the newly completed Rampart Division station of the Los Angeles Police Department . However, in the pilot episode, shot in late 1967, the station shown is North Hollywood Division. As with ''Dragnet'', ''Adam-12'' episodes were based on incidents in the actual case files from the LAPD. At the end of each episode the "names have been changed..." statement was shown (but not narrated) at the start of the ending credits. ''Adam 12'' was writer Stephen J. Cannell 's first permanent job; he served as head writer and story editor during the fourth season. Ozzie Nelson was a frequent director for the series. Nelson is best known for playing himself on '' The Adventures Of Ozzie And Harriet ''. Harry Morgan , formerly of the 60's incarnation of Dragnet , also directed an episode. Two of Martin Milner's children appeared in episodes of ''Adam-12.'' Andrew Milner was a Minibike stunt rider for Johnny Whitaker in the episode "Northeast Division" (1973). Amy Milner appeared in the episode "Victim of the Crime" (1975). Kent McCord's teenage daughter also appeared as a kidnapping witness in the seventh season episode "Operation Action" (1975). The Firefighter / Paramedic s John Gage and Roy DeSoto , Dr. Kelly Brackett and Dr. Joe Early , and Nursing Supervisor Dixie McCall from '' Emergency! ,'' another Jack Webb creation that first aired on NBC-TV in early 1972, crossed over onto ''Adam-12'' in an episode, "Lost And Found," in which Malloy and Reed assist on a hospital's telephone hotline (they try to locate and stop a distressed caller from committing suicide). This Crossover conflicts with an episode of ''Emergency!'' in which the paramedics and firefighters watch an ''Adam-12'' episode on television. Confusingly, Reed and Malloy also appear in two scenes at Rampart General Hospital's emergency room/trauma center (as it was in 1972) in the pilot/TV movie of ''Emergency!'' The police radio used (the Motorola Motrac/Motran series) is an actual radio used by the LAPD in the 1960s and 1970s, with the call sign KMA-367. ''Dragnet 1967''/''1970'' also used this same radio. The dispatcher was also a real-life LAPD dispatcher, Shaaron Claridge . Claridge's typical page to Reed and Malloy of ''"One-Adam-12, One-Adam-12, see the at [address about a [crime/incident],"'' along with the response of ''"One-Adam-12, Roger,"'' became a catch phrase ingrained in American culture, and these same radio procedures are still in use at the LAPD today. Badges used on the show were actual LAPD shields -- LAPD Badge numbers 744 for Malloy and 2430 for Reed -- which were lent (with technical assistance supported by the Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners) by the Office of the Chief of Police, a practice that began when ''Dragnet'' was on television in the 1950s and 1960s. Cars To ensure authenticity, executive producer Jack Webb acquired the cars as part of LAPD fleet purchases.
The Mercury Montego, the sedan actually purchased in 1970 by the LAPD, was not used except as a background vehicle during the fourth and fifth seasons. The 1974 AMC Matador was used as a background vehicle (notably when Malloy was substituting as watch commander) during the latter part of the final season. BROADCAST HISTORY After a long syndication run, ''Adam-12'' found a new audience in the 1980s and 1990s on Nick At Nite and later TV Land ; however, the show has since been pulled from wide television distribution by NBC-Universal. It did air in Canada on DejaView in 2005-2006. The original series distributor NBC-Universal , under license from Jack Webb's estate, has released the first season (aired on NBC-TV on Saturday nights in 1968-69) of ''Adam-12'' on DVD and ITunes . A remake/update was attempted in 1989 , starring Ethan Wayne , Peter Parros , and Miguel Fernandes , but this version entitled ''The New Adam-12'' ran for only one season in first-run syndication. It aired in tandem with '' The New Dragnet ''. CULTURAL IMPACT Episodes from ''Adam-12'' and ''Dragnet'' have been used for training purposes by Police Academies in the United States, especially when teaching recruits correct Handcuffing procedures, as the camera often zoomed in closely when the officers were in the act of handcuffing suspects. As was Jack Webb 's practice, other minor facets of day-to-day police practices were also accurately portrayed, from hand signals used by officers to the methods used in field interviews, and even such minor details as routinely locking the doors of the patrol car before leaving it unattended to interview victims or witnesses. A 1976 doctoral study by Joseph S. Coppolino at New York University concluded that police officers, peace officers and civilians all perceived the portrayals on ''Adam-12'' as realistically reflecting police work. However, the trend between TV and reality sometimes went in reverse. For example, Coppolino noted in his thesis that while it was not customary for police officers to remove their hats while in the patrol car at the time the series began, after ''Adam-12'' aired for a while, this became the habit of most officers. This could be seen as evidence of Marshall McLuhan's media theory that "we create it, then it creates us." RELATED APPEARANCES Kent McCord made several appearances on '' Dragnet '' as various Los Angeles police officers; in one appearance his character was named Reed, but it's not certain whether it was the same Reed as the Adam-12 character. Similarly, Martin Milner performed numerous times in ''Dragnet'', both on television and radio. McCord and Milner both appeared in a 1968 episode of '' Dragnet '' entitled "Internal Affairs-DR-20", in the roles of Pete Malloy, and Jim Reed. Milner and McCord have also portrayed police officers on several other programs:
DVD RELEASE Universal Studios Home Entertainment released Season 1 of ''Adam 12'' on DVD in Region 1 for the very first time on August 23, 2005. It is unknown if the remaining 6 seasons will be released at any time. EXTERNAL LINKS
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