Greatest cop shows

Well, as Batman also noted, most long-lived shows (I would say 7 seasons or more) usually take 2-3 years to really hit their stride, then they have 2-3 seasons in their primes, then go into decline.

"Hawaii Five-O," IMO, was an exception -- they pretty much hit the ground running and their first 2-3 seasons were the best, after which they more or less slid into routine.

Occasionally, a major cast change or other shakeup can bring a second wind, with (non-cop show) MASH the leading example, although after a couple years' revitalization following the arrival of Col. Potter and B. J., things got stale again in its final couple of seasons.

Although MASH was really a different animal entirely because it began life as a yuk-it-up sitcom with a laugh track, and eventually morphed into a serious drama with occasional chuckles.

 

That, and the show lasted about five or six times longer than the war it was set in.

 

Well, if you figured each episode was a single day, you were OK.

What bugged me much more was Loretta Swit wearing a Farrah Fawcett shag and Hawkeye a collar-long Beatles haircut. Nobody in the Western world looked like that in 1951-52.

 

No viewers give a shit about the appearance anachronisms, no matter how much people here want to believe they do.

Back to cop shows (MASH was not, BTW, unless you count the sporadic appearances of the MPs): TJ Hooker was a huge pile of shit. I forget what channel showed reruns of those, but I gave that show many chances, and it was always horrible.

 

The only reason to watch T. J. Hooker was a 21-25 year-old Heather Locklear.

 

The opening credits of that show were great because you always got to see that shot of Locklear going undercover as the TV version of a stripper.

 

Probably No. 2 on my list of all-time favorite blondes. Linda Evans is No. 1.

 

Not a cop show -- wasn't Cannon a PI?

 

Whatever happened to PI shows?

 

I love 70s PI shows. The local channel used to run them in a block when I was in University.

The awesome thing about Cannon was at some point the per would insult him about being fat. Inevitably the comuppenance would come later when Cannon would use his patented karate chop to incapacitate the bad guy.

Also once saw him chase down a bad guy on the beach (followed by karate chop).

Great opening credits as well.

Also sure I can explain the plot line of every episode of Mannix.

Agree that Magnum PI has not aged well but loved that show when it came out.

 

Rockford was always my favorite.