Overview
The show's title had a double meaning: it was at once the first name of the lead character, Chase Reddick (Mitchell Ryan), the leader of a special team of the Los Angeles Police Department that specialized in solving unusually difficult or violent cases, and indicative of the show's emphasis on the determined pursuit and undercover surveillance of hardened criminals. The unit, headquartered in an old firehouse, relied mainly on alternate/undercover means of transportation such as helicopters, motorcycles, custom vans, taxis, four-wheel-drive vehicles, sports and muscle cars, work trucks (vehicles from the Public Works Department, the telephone company, tow trucks and/or the Postal Service and civilian delivery services) and high-speed driving to apprehend its suspects.
For the first fourteen episodes, Reddick, an LAPD captain, was accompanied by K-9 Sergeant Sam MacCray (Wayne Maunder) and three young officers: Steve Baker (Michael Richardson), Norm Hamilton (Reid Smith), and Fred Sing (Brian Fong). In January 1974, Webb and Universal dropped all the regulars except Ryan and Maunder in favor of a new group of officers: Frank Dawson (Albert Reed), Ed Rice (Gary Crosby, who frequently appeared on the other Mark VII shows), and Tom Wilson (Craig Gardner). Never seen, but "appearing" in every episode was actual LAPD dispatcher Shaaron Claridge, who had worked on Dragnet and Adam-12; according to the pilot script, she was assigned especially to Chase.
NBC first scheduled the show on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. Eastern, opposite CBS' hit series Maude and Hawaii Five-O . At about the same time as the casting change, the network moved Chase to Wednesday nights at 8 p.m. against The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour . Despite the declining appeal and ratings of the latter (and the couple's forthcoming divorce), Chase did no better there and ended after a one-season run. Cannell would re-use the format of a team of specialists in The A-Team , co-created with Frank Lupo a decade later. Robert A. Cinader, who also supervised Mark VII's Adam-12 and Emergency! , was executive producer of Chase.
The A-Team is an American action-adventure television series that ran on NBC from January 23, 1983 to March 8, 1987 about former members of a fictitious United States Army Special Forces unit. The four members of the team were tried by court martial for a crime they had not committed. They were convicted and sentenced to serve terms in a military prison, but later escaped to Los Angeles and began working as soldiers of fortune, while trying to clear their names and avoid capture by law enforcement and military authorities. The series was created by Stephen J. Cannell and Frank Lupo and was a joint production of Universal Television and Stephen J. Cannell Productions for NBC. A feature film based on the series was released by 20th Century Fox in 2010.
Dragnet is an American media franchise created by actor and producer Jack Webb, following Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Detective Joe Friday and his partners as they conduct by-the-book police work and solve crimes in Los Angeles. Originating as a radio drama on NBC in 1949, Dragnet has been adapted into several successful television shows and films, though the franchise's popularity has reduced since Webb's death in 1982. Its name is derived from the police term "dragnet", a system of coordinated measures for apprehending criminals or suspects.
John Randolph Webb was an American actor, television producer, director, and screenwriter, most famous for his role as Joe Friday in the Dragnet franchise, which he created. He was also the founder of his own production company, Mark VII Limited.
The Rockford Files is an American detective drama television series starring James Garner that aired on the NBC network from September 13, 1974, to January 10, 1980. Garner portrays Los Angeles private investigator Jim Rockford, with Noah Beery Jr. in the supporting role of his father, Joseph "Rocky" Rockford, a retired truck driver. The show was created by Roy Huggins and Stephen J. Cannell. Huggins had created the American western TV show Maverick (1957–1962), which Garner also starred, and he wanted to create a similar show in a modern-day detective setting. In 2002, The Rockford Files was ranked No. 39 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.
Stephen Joseph Cannell was an American television producer, writer, novelist, actor, and founder of Cannell Entertainment and The Cannell Studios.
Adam-12 is an American police procedural crime drama television series created by Robert A. Cinader and Jack Webb and produced by Mark VII Limited and Universal Television. The series follows Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers Pete Malloy and Jim Reed as they patrol Los Angeles in their police cruiser, assigned the call sign "1-Adam-12". Adam-12 stars Martin Milner and Kent McCord, with several recurring co-stars, the most frequent being William Boyett and Gary Crosby. The series ran over seven seasons from September 21, 1968, until May 20, 1975.
Hunter is an American crime drama television series created by Frank Lupo that ran on NBC from September 18, 1984, to April 26, 1991. It stars Fred Dryer as Sergeant Rick Hunter and Stepfanie Kramer as Sergeant Dee Dee McCall. The title character Sgt. Rick Hunter is a wily, physically imposing, often rule-breaking homicide detective with the Los Angeles Police Department.
The Hollywood Palace was an hourlong American television variety show broadcast Saturday nights on ABC from January 4, 1964, to February 7, 1970. Titled The Saturday Night Hollywood Palace for its first few weeks, it began as a midseason replacement for The Jerry Lewis Show, another variety show, which lasted only three months.
Kent Franklin McWhirter, known by his stage name Kent McCord, is a retired American actor, best known for his role as Officer Jim Reed on the television series Adam-12.
Mark VII Limited was the production company of actor and filmmaker Jack Webb, and was active from 1951 until his death in 1982. Many of its series were produced in association with Universal Television; most of them were originally broadcast on the NBC television network in the United States.
Mitchell Ryan was an American actor. His six decades of television credits, he is known for playing Burke Devlin in the 1960s gothic soap opera Dark Shadows, and later for his co-starring role as Thomas Gibson's father Edward Montgomery on Dharma & Greg. He also played the villainous General Peter McAllister in the 1987 buddy cop action film Lethal Weapon.
O'Hara, U.S. Treasury was an American television crime drama starring David Janssen and broadcast by CBS during the 1971–72 television season. Jack Webb's Mark VII Limited packaged the program for Universal Television. Webb and longtime colleague James E. Moser created the show; Leonard B. Kaufman was the producer. The series was produced with the full approval and cooperation of the United States Department of the Treasury.
Sierra is a 1974 television crime drama series focusing on the efforts of National Park Service rangers to enforce federal law and to effect wilderness rescues. The program aired on NBC and was packaged by Jack Webb's Mark VII Limited for Universal Television. The show's theme song was written by Lee Holdridge (music) and John Denver (lyrics). Robert A. Cinader, executive producer of Mark VII's Emergency!, handled this program also.
Robert A. Cinader was an American television producer best known for his work on two NBC series packaged by actor/producer Jack Webb's Mark VII Limited, Adam-12 and Emergency! The latter show in particular was widely credited by observers as one of the most important efforts to promote the widespread adoption of paramedic services by fire departments and hospitals in the U.S.
Dragnet was an American radio series, enacting the cases of a dedicated Los Angeles police detective, Sergeant Joe Friday, and his partners. The show took its name from the police term "dragnet", meaning a system of coordinated measures for apprehending criminals or suspects.
Tyler George Reddick is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 45 Toyota Camry XSE for 23XI Racing, and part-time in the No. 26 Toyota Supra for Sam Hunt Racing. He is a two-time champion in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, winning consecutive titles in 2018 and 2019. In 2018, Reddick set a NASCAR record at Daytona for the closest finish in NASCAR Xfinity Series history by 0.0004 seconds.
S.W.A.T. is an American police procedural action drama television series, based on the 1975 television series and the 2003 film adaptation of the same name. Aaron Rahsaan Thomas and Shawn Ryan developed the new series, which premiered on CBS on November 2, 2017, and is produced by Original Film, CBS Studios and Sony Pictures Television. In April 2022, the series was renewed for a sixth season which premiered on October 7, 2022. In May 2023, the series was canceled after six seasons at CBS, only to be renewed for a seventh and final season at CBS a few days later. The seventh season premiered on February 16, 2024. In April 2024, the final season decision was reversed and the show was renewed for an eighth season. The eighth season premiered on October 18, 2024.
FBI is an American police procedural television series created by Dick Wolf and Craig Turk that premiered on CBS on September 25, 2018. The series is produced by Wolf Entertainment, CBS Studios, and Universal Television, with Dick Wolf, Arthur W. Forney, Peter Jankowski, and Turk serving as executive producers.
Wayne Ernest Maunder was a Canadian-born American actor who starred in three American television series between 1967 and 1974.
