The Felony Squad

The Felony Squad
Howard Duff working in front of the camera and behind it, 1967.
Genre	Crime drama
Created by	Richard Murphy
Starring	Howard Duff Dennis Cole Ben Alexander
Theme music composer	Pete Rugolo
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	73
Production
Executive producer	Walter Grauman
Producers	Richard Newton (1966–1967) Philip Saltzman (1967–1969)
Running time	30 mins.
Production company	20th Century-Fox Television
Original release
Network	ABC
Release	September 12, 1966 (1966-09-12) – January 31, 1969 (1969-01-31)

The Felony Squad is a half-hour television crime drama originally broadcast on the ABC network from September 12, 1966, to January 31, 1969. ^[1]

Overview

Sergeant Sam Stone and Detective Jim Briggs are investigators in a major crimes unit in an unidentified West Coast city. ^[2] (Los Angeles City Hall is shown at dusk in the final scene of the opening credits.) Duff's character was the veteran who was teaching his younger partner the nuances of life in this new facet of police work.^{[ citation needed ]} Another main character was desk sergeant Dan Briggs, the father of Cole's character. ^[2]

Originally titled Men Against Evil, ^[3] the show was set to be a soap opera-type program that would have been broadcast two nights per week. By March 1966 Stone's alcoholic wife and other "main female characters" were removed, with the focus of the program changed from personal lives of policemen to the work of the police. ^[4] In addition, following primary sponsor Liggett & Myers' objection about being associated with the word "evil," the show's title was changed.^{[ citation needed ]}

Regular Cast

• Howard Duff as Detective Sgt. Sam Stone ^[1]
• Dennis Cole as Detective Jim Briggs ^[1]
• Ben Alexander as Desk Sgt. Dan Briggs ^[1]
• Frank Maxwell as Captain Frank Nye (1966–1967) ^[1]
• Barney Phillips as Captain Ed Franks (1967–1969) ^[1]
• Robert DoQui as Detective Cliff Sims (1968–1969) ^[2]
• Len Wayland as District Attorney Adam Fisher (recurring)^{[ citation needed ]}

Guest Stars

• Joe Don Baker as Shep in "My Mommy Got Lost" (1967)
• Francis De Sales as Harmon in "The Broken Badge" (1966)
• Rodolfo Hoyos, Jr., as Pepe Enciras in "Epitaph for a Cop" (1968)
• Don Keefer as Harry Jocelyn in "A Most Proper Killing" (1967)
• Ricky Kelman as Donny Clement in "The Fatal Hours" (1968)
• John M. Pickard as Cahill in "A Blueprint for Dying" (1968)
• Eric Shea as Mike Bradley in "A Date with Terror" (1966)
• Brooke Bundy as Betty Joyce in "The Deadly Innocents" (1968)
• Lana Wood as Sherry Martin in "The Last Man in the World" (1967)

Episodes

Season 1: 1966–67

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
1	1	"The Streets Are Paved with Quicksand"	Michael Ritchie	Harold Gast	September 12, 1966 (1966-09-12)
2	2	"A Walk to Oblivion"	Michael Ritchie	Franklin Barton	September 19, 1966 (1966-09-19)
3	3	"The Broken Badge"	Vincent McEveety	George Eckstein	September 26, 1966 (1966-09-26)
4	4	"Strike Out"	Andrew McCullough	Donald S. Sanford	October 3, 1966 (1966-10-03)
5	5	"A Date with Terror"	Richard Donner	Hank Searles	October 10, 1966 (1966-10-10)
6	6	"Flame Out"	Thomas Carr	Donald S. Sanford	October 17, 1966 (1966-10-17)
7	7	"The Immaculate Killer"	Seymour Robbie	Alfred Brenner	October 24, 1966 (1966-10-24)
8	8	"The Death of a Dream"	Richard Donner	Adrian Spies	October 31, 1966 (1966-10-31)
9	9	"Prologue to Murder"	Allen Reisner	John Kneubuhl	November 7, 1966 (1966-11-07)
10	10	"Killer with a Badge"	Jud Taylor	Donald S. Sanford	November 14, 1966 (1966-11-14)
11	11	"Between Two Fires"	László Benedek	Harold Gast	November 21, 1966 (1966-11-21)
12	12	"The Terror Trap"	Tom Gries	Alvin Boretz	November 28, 1966 (1966-11-28)
13	13	"The Killer Instinct"	Robert Butler	Mann Rubin	December 5, 1966 (1966-12-05)
14	14	"Fear Below"	Walter Grauman	S : Franklin Barton; T : Donald S. Sanford	December 12, 1966 (1966-12-12)
15	15	"A Penny Game, a Two-Bit Murder"	Richard Donner	Adrian Spies	December 19, 1966 (1966-12-19)
16	16	"Miss Reilly's Revenge"	Michael Ritchie	T : George Eckstein; S/T : Leonard Kantor	December 26, 1966 (1966-12-26)
17	17	"A Death for a Death"	Herschel Daugherty	S : Harry Kronman; S/T : Donald S. Sanford	January 2, 1967 (1967-01-02)
18	18	"The Deadly Partner"	Lawrence Dobkin	Donald S. Sanford	January 9, 1967 (1967-01-09)
19	19	"The Night of the Shark: Part 1"	Allen Reisner	Harold Gast	January 16, 1967 (1967-01-16)
20	20	"The Night of the Shark: Part 2"	Allen Reisner	Harold Gast	January 23, 1967 (1967-01-23)
21	21	"The Strangler"	Lee H. Katzin	S : Lee Erwin; S/T : Tony Barrett	January 30, 1967 (1967-01-30)
22	22	"Breakout"	Larry Peerce	Barry Oringer	February 6, 1967 (1967-02-06)
23	23	"The Desperate Silence"	Allen Reisner	Gwen Bagni & Paul Dubov	February 13, 1967 (1967-02-13)
24	24	"Target!"	Allen Reisner	Frank L. Moss	February 20, 1967 (1967-02-20)
25	25	"Echo of a Killing"	Gene Nelson	Dan Ullman	February 27, 1967 (1967-02-27)
26	26	"Live Coward, Dead Hero"	Robert Butler	T : Franklin Barton; S/T : Jay Simms	March 13, 1967 (1967-03-13)
27	27	"A Blueprint for Dying"	Lee H. Katzin	Tony Barrett	March 20, 1967 (1967-03-20)
28	28	"The Fear Merchant"	Lawrence Dobkin	S : Quentin Sparr; T : Tony Barrett	March 27, 1967 (1967-03-27)
29	29	"The Savage Streets"	Seymour Robbie	T : Philip Saltzman; S/T : L.T. Bentwood	April 3, 1967 (1967-04-03)
30	30	"Debt of Fear"	Lawrence Dobkin	John Furia Jr. (as "John Joseph")	April 10, 1967 (1967-04-10)

Season 2: 1967–68

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
31	1	"Let Him Die!"	George McCowan	Tony Barrett	September 11, 1967 (1967-09-11)
32	2	"The Counterfeit Cop"	Walter Grauman	Art Wallace	September 18, 1967 (1967-09-18)
33	3	"A Most Proper Killing"	Walter Grauman	Franklin Barton	September 25, 1967 (1967-09-25)
34	4	"The 30-Gram Kill"	George McCowan	S : Don Tait & Willian Koenig; T : Tony Bennett	October 2, 1967 (1967-10-02)
35	5	"The Death Bag"	Charles Rondeau	Tony Barrett	October 9, 1967 (1967-10-09)
36	6	"The Deadly Junkman"	William Hale	Don Brinkley	October 16, 1967 (1967-10-16)
37	7	"The Pat Hand of Death"	Sutton Roley	Tony Barrett	October 30, 1967 (1967-10-30)
38	8	"Hit and Run, Run, Run"	Seymour Robbie	Dan Ullman	November 6, 1967 (1967-11-06)
39	9	"Time of Trial"	Gerd Oswald	Robert E. Thompson	November 13, 1967 (1967-11-13)
40	10	"Who'll Take Care of Joey"	Herbert Hirschman	Tony Barrett	November 20, 1967 (1967-11-20)
41	11	"My Mommy Got Lost"	George McCowan	Robert Heverly	November 27, 1967 (1967-11-27)
42	12	"Ordeal by Terror"	Lawrence Dobkin	S : William Kayden; T : Philip Saltzman	December 4, 1967 (1967-12-04)
43	13	"An Arrangement with Death: Part 1"	George McCowan	Franklin Barton	December 11, 1967 (1967-12-11)
44	14	"An Arrangement with Death: Part 2"	George McCowan	Franklin Barton	December 18, 1967 (1967-12-18)
45	15	"No Sad Songs for Charlie"	Gerd Oswald	Earl Felton	December 25, 1967 (1967-12-25)
46	16	"Bed of Strangers"	James Sheldon	Jack Turley	January 1, 1968 (1968-01-01)
47	17	"Killing, Country Style"	George McCowan	S : Judith & Robert Guy Barrows; T : Robert Heverly	January 8, 1968 (1968-01-08)
48	18	"The Flip Side of Fear: Part 1"	George McCowan	Don Brinkley	January 15, 1968 (1968-01-15)
49	19	"The Flip Side of Fear: Part 2"	George McCowan	Don Brinkley	January 22, 1968 (1968-01-22)
50	20	"The Love Victim"	Nicholas Colasanto	T : Robert Heverly; S/T : Anthony Lawrence	February 5, 1968 (1968-02-05)
51	21	"The Deadly Abductors"	Howard Duff	Jerry Devine	February 12, 1968 (1968-02-12)
52	22	"Nightmare on a Dead-End Street"	Ron Kelly	Richard Landau	February 19, 1968 (1968-02-19)
53	23	"Epitaph for a Cop"	George McCowan	S : Jack Morton; T : Jack Morton & Norman Klenman	February 26, 1968 (1968-02-26)
54	24	"Man on Fire"	George McCowan	Jerome Ross	March 4, 1968 (1968-03-04)
55	25	"Image of Evil"	Lawrence Dobkin	Bob Barbash	March 11, 1968 (1968-03-11)
56	26	"The Human Target"	Herbert Hirschman	S : Ellis Kadison & Joel Kane; T : Norman Klenman	March 18, 1968 (1968-03-18)

Season 3: 1968–69

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
57	1	"A Fashion for Dying"	Nicholas Colasanto	Don Brinkley	September 27, 1968 (1968-09-27)
58	2	"Jury of One"	Gene Nelson	Jack Turley	October 4, 1968 (1968-10-04)
59	3	"Underground Nightmare"	Nicholas Colasanto	Don Brinkley	October 11, 1968 (1968-10-11)
60	4	"The Deadly Innocents"	George McCowan	Jack Turley	October 18, 1968 (1968-10-18)
61	5	"Kiss Me, Kill You"	George McCowan	Franklin Barton	November 1, 1968 (1968-11-01)
62	6	"The Nowhere Man: Part 1"	George McCowan	Philip Saltzman	November 8, 1968 (1968-11-08)
63	7	"The Nowhere Man: Part 2"	George McCowan	Philip Saltzman	November 15, 1968 (1968-11-15)
64	8	"Matched for Murder"	Robert Butler	Robert Heverly	November 22, 1968 (1968-11-22)
65	9	"The Fatal Hours"	Otto Lang	Franklin Barton	November 29, 1968 (1968-11-29)
66	10	"Hostage"	Gerd Oswald	Mark Rodgers	December 13, 1968 (1968-12-13)
67	11	"The Distant Shore"	George McCowan	Mark Rodgers	December 20, 1968 (1968-12-20)
68	12	"Dark Memory"	George McCowan	Mark Rodgers	December 27, 1968 (1968-12-27)
69	13	"The Last Man in the World"	Harvey Hart	Robert Heverly	January 3, 1969 (1969-01-03)
70	14	"Conspiracy of Power: Part 1"	George McCowan	Unknown	January 10, 1969 (1969-01-10)
71	15	"Conspiracy of Power: Part 2"	George McCowan	Unknown	January 17, 1969 (1969-01-17)
72	16	"Blind Terror"	George McCowan	S : Hank Searls; T : Robert Heverly	January 24, 1969 (1969-01-24)
73	17	"The Law and Order Blues"	George McCowan	Harold Gast	January 31, 1969 (1969-01-31)
This episode was a crossover with Judd, for the Defense .

Production

The show was filmed in Los Angeles locations. ^[2]

From the show's debut until September 1968, it was broadcast on Monday nights from 9 to 9:30 Eastern Time. In the Fall of 1968 it was switched to Fridays from 8:30 to 9 E.T. ^[2] The program was cancelled at midseason after just thirteen aired episodes. The final episode of the series was part of a crossover with the ABC legal drama Judd, for the Defense , starring Carl Betz, which was cancelled at the end of its season after a two-year run.

Alexander's role in the series was not only onscreen but also offscreen as a technical adviser. His earlier work with Jack Webb in Dragnet was the basis for this added position,^{[ citation needed ]} but resulted in his inability to reprise his role of Officer Frank Smith when Webb revived Dragnet in late 1966. ^[4] He died of a heart attack less than six months after The Felony Squad left the air.^{[ citation needed ]}

The Felony Squad was sponsored by L&M cigarettes, as seen on the 1967 episode "The Day of the Shark Part 1".

20th-Century Fox supplied the series. ^[1] Pete Rugolo composed Felony Squad Theme. ^[2]

Critical response

Jack Gould wrote in The New York Times that the debut episode was "a very old-fashioned and conventional yarn about tight-lipped detectives doing a day's work." ^[5]

References

1. McNeil, Alex (1996). Total Television: the Comprehensive Guide to Programming from 1948 to the Present (4th ed.). New York, New York: Penguin Books USA, Inc. p. 283. ISBN   0-14-02-4916-8.
2. Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle (1999). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946-Present (7th ed.). New York: The Ballentine Publishing Group. p. 341. ISBN   0-345-42923-0.
3. Adams, Val (July 17, 1966). "Friday's Friend On the Felony Squad" . The New York Times. p. 85. Retrieved May 11, 2023.
4. Shubilla, Thom "Beefstew" (April 21, 2022). Primetime 1966–1967: The Full Spectrum of Television's First All-Color Season. McFarland. pp. 68–69. ISBN   978-1-4766-8344-7 . Retrieved May 11, 2023.
5. Gould, Jack (September 20, 1966). "TV: 'Rat Patrol' Takes On Rommel: 4 Commandos Display Jeep-Driving Skill 'Felony Squad' and 'Iron Horse' Bow" . The New York Times. p. 93. Retrieved May 11, 2023.

External links

• The Felony Squad at IMDb
• YouTube compilation of Batman window cameos