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54. Those 1970's cop shows did not help either!

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I’m not sure “the greatest” is what I would call the new Columbia DVD collection, The Greatest ‘70s Cop Shows. That’s a pretty tall order considering that ‘70s TV was all about the cop shows, giving us Baretta and The Rockford Files, Kojak and Get Christie Love, Hawaii Five-0 and Adam-12, amongst many others. And so, I might call this selection The Pretty Good ‘70s Cop Shows, as it includes the pilot episodes of ‘70s staples Charlie’s Angels, Starsky & Hutch, The Rookies, Police Woman, and S.W.A.T.

The good news is that none of these series has lost cheese appeal. You’ve got the Angels (Kate Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, Jaclyn Smith) looking marvelous in a series of hip retro outfits, and Starsky (Paul Michael Glaser) and Hutch (David Soul) tooling around town in the Torino with Huggy Bear (Antonio Fargas). You’ve got righteous heroes, nasty villains, police being called “pigs” or “the fuzz.” You’ve also got shameless overacting, stilted dialogue, and production values so cheap that some shots are almost totally out of focus. All this to the chucka-chicka fuzzbox backing of urgent, brassy soundtracks that, thanks to this DVD’s digital remastering, now sounds lean and muscular.

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The five pilots presented here show how TV in the 1970s attempted to capitalize on these movements. Each episode showcases the fluid camera work and taut character-driven storytelling that would become the trademark of ‘70s cop shows (along with the requisite bombastic theme song). S.W.A.T., Police Woman, and The Rookies have a tough, almost grim feel, as each explores what it means to be a cop in a violent, post-1968 society. In these pilots, police work is not pretty. It is a harsh, thankless business that takes a toll on the heart and souls of our heroes.

S.W.A.T. (Special Weapons and Tactics), in particular, had the unnerving premise of introducing an elite organization of ex-Vietnam War vets who were called on to handle violent situations too big for street cops. The S.W.A.T. team brought the concept of military-style warfare to big city police work. Based loosely on real life S.W.A.T. squads formed in big cities after the disturbances of the late ‘60s, the S.W.A.T. team, led by Captain Dan “Hondo” Harrelson (stone-faced Steve Forrest), shot first and asked questions later. The pilot, first shown in 1975, follows the team as they relentlessly pursue a group of snipers who are assassinating cops. This episode, which features a number of taut, exciting action sequences, offers a convincing look at this grim and uncompromising type of police work.

link: http://www.popmatters.com/review/greatest-70s-cop-shows/