Dave Kopel explores how the television of the 1960s and ’70s stacks up in retrospect in the cold light of the 21st century. The shows that Dave reviews are some of television’s most offbeat, unusual moments; however, for the most part, network television is far more formulaic. Witness the structural elements that make up the basic DNA building block of network programming, the television crime drama:
The Untouchables: Cops without color TVs
Dragnet: Cops without complete sentences
Hawaii 5-0: Island cops
The Man From U.N.C.L.E: Global cops
Star Trek: Intergalactic cops
The Rookies: Cops without brains
Kojak: Cops without hair
Adam-12: Cops with a dull car
Starsky & Hutch: Cops with a cool–for the 1970s–car
CHiPs: Cops without cars
Barney Miller: Cops with a Fish
SWAT: Cops with balls
Hill Street Blues: Cops without balls
Miami Vice: Cops without neckties
Law & Order: Cops without social lives
NYPD Blue: Cops without pants
Geez–Newton Minow didn’t know the half of it!
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