User reviews

... is this unfairly forgotten TV series that actually lasted longer than either series that chronicles the professional lives of two LA police officers as they patrol the streets.

This was one of several successful TV series that Jack Webb produced. From the start it dealt with modern topics while sticking with that buddy cop formula that Webb did so well. Also like Dragnet, one cop is single and one is married. This time, however, it is the rookie patrolman who is married and starting a family when the series premieres, and it is the older cop who is as close to a confirmed bachelor as you could be in 1968 without raising middle class eyebrows. There is usually one personal issue that the two cops discuss while on patrol as well as the following of a few cases that they encounter while on the job. You'll notice that the format is very similar to that of Emergency!

Jack Webb stays with the formula that served him so well - keep production costs down, use a core group of actors for supporting roles, have some entertaining conversational interplay between teammates, and keep the focus on the situation of the week. If you like Dragnet or Emergency! Give this old series a try.

Before one can even watch this they have to recognize Jack Webb's persona. All of the complexities of human interaction were present in the late '60s and early '70s but, unlike a lot of the relativistic 'gray' portrayals of law enforcement and crime today, they were not given a lot of air time. Adam-12 was simply a show depicting the 'best' of LAPD and 'how' things should have been done versus how they often were. Jack Webb's involvement with LAPD "and" (significantly) his support of the 'average cop' on the beat went way back and perhaps simply because he had a tough childhood and had to 'be responsible' much of his effort is to show accountability. He was never a cop, his military background was limited but he certainly produced a wonderfully entertaining yet simple "police drama" with Reed and Malloy. "1 Adam-12, see the woman..." and so it goes.

These shows were sans profanity, obvious sexuality and even real violence. Significantly they lacked CGI and much in the way of volatility type action (explosions, car crashes and so forth) and really seemed more of 'a training film' process for civilians. Call it nostalgic but I liked that time and manner. Great series! Worth watching today.

This show was a solid entry from the start. The pairing of Kent McCord & Martin Milner provided instant sparks as the two of them played off each other very well. As they were both fairly young actors this helped hit a younger audience.

Jack Webb revived Dragnet at about the same time as this series started, but while the way the stories are laid out is similar, the youth movement gave this one more spark. Along with that, the rolling moving patrol car theme gave this one more hip than the more office grounded Dragnet. This series just plain had more action.

1-Adam-12, see the man at 19 Main Street for possible Liquor Store robbery. The patrol car radio would crackle out something like this at the beginning of every show. There would often be some car chases which would prove as popular on TV series as they were in theaters like Steve McQueens "Bullet" which was on screens when this show started.

This show was very solid & provided NBC solid ratings for quite a few years. I am not sure how well it would do on the DVD market, but think it could get some more fans if folks would check it out. It is a very good police action series from the late 60's era.

This show, for the first time, captured the essence of being a street cop. Not just all shootem-up and car chases.

Though obviously dated today.... a whole generation of kids watched this show and wanted to grow up and be Reed or Malloy, including me. The career that provided me with so much satisfaction was really inspired by this show. Despite what some may think, most cops got into the job with the same values and intents that hallmarked the characters on the Adam 12 show.

During my 25+ years in law enforcement, I was able to meet Kent McCord and Martin Milner at several charity events that they regularly supported. In real life, they truly are the good guys they portrayed on television. A picture of myself with them hangs on my office wall, and is one of my most cherished possessions.

A great TV Police Show of the 1960's, and in fact only one of the very few that I would ever watch. So good in fact, that I joined the Police in 1970, and was a Police Officer until 2003. Yes, this show was very down to earth with its stories, and a great example of the every day to day duties performed by uniform Police (its the same "Job" all over the world!).

This show made an impact on me and still does and I'm 60. I became a Law Enforcement Explorer Scout when I was 15 because of Adam-12. I met Kent McCord at a party in Beverly Hills in 2005 or so and told him how much of a positive influence he was on me in choosing my career as a Nurse helping people in my career. He was happy to hear that and is a helluva nice guy. Martin Milner was an excellent actor portraying an LAPD officer as well and very believable. I wish all LAPD cops were just like the both of them. Integrity. Honest. Respectful. Brave. Honorable. Dedicated and no code of silence. They would never approve of 1980s Rampart Division corruption nor would they stay silent if they witnessed an officer abusing someone in custody. They were raised the right way to do things correct. I salute you both as well as William Boyett as Sgt. MacDonald.

As the viewer quickly finds out about Adam-12's two clean-cut, no-nonsense, police officers, Pete Malloy and Jim Reed - These were, definitely, a couple of very civic-minded, law-enforcing dudes who were rarely, if ever, gonna fire their guns at any suspect (unless, of course, it was absolutely necessary).

And so, with that in mind, you can be sure to find that TV's Adam-12 was, by far, a lot less gun-crazy and violent as were most other cop shows on the boob-tube at the time.

With its stories ranging from the tragic to the trivial - Adam-12 conscientiously strove to portray a sense of authentic realism when it involved the day-to-day routines of police officers Malloy and Reed.

Produced by Jack Webb (of Dragnet fame) - Adam-12 proudly boasted that its cases were all actually taken directly from real police files (only the names were changed to protect the innocent - natch).

I was a 13 year old teenager when Adam 12 aired in 1968. This is the year Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. I remember watching every episode because Adam 12 was and still is my favorite police series. I was sadden to hear of the death of Martin Milner a few years ago. Kent McCord is thankfully still in the land of the living. On September 30, 2020, I am still watching Adam 12 on ME T.V..

For those who liked the docudrama style of Jack Webb without some of the overblown moralizing that Dragnet was capable of Adam-12 was your kind of show. Done in the staccato Webb style, Adam-12 focused on the day to day happenings of two uniformed officers as they drove in the squad responding to whatever they saw or were dispatched to.

Like Dragnet which was revived, Adam-12 was created to refurbish the image of the LAPD which was badly damaged after the LA riots in the middle sixties. The difference here was that Jack Webb and Harry Morgan were already veteran cops. In Adam-12 it starts with Martin Milner as the veteran breaking in a rookie Kent McCord. By the end of the series run however, McCord certainly became a veteran.

One thing that they copied exactly from Dragnet was that Officer Reed grew off the job as well. He got married during the show's run and in those alone time scenes in the squad car he would talk about the various problems young marrieds have, especially as they related to the job he was on. But like Joe Friday, Officer Malloy never divulged much if anything about his personal life. Jack Webb and Martin Milner were truly married to the badge.

The episodes were done in nice and compact Jack Webb style. They hold up better than a lot of the Dragnets.

"Adam-12" depicts professional and compassionate police work that's based on actual police cases in the LA area. The main characters, officers Pete Malloy and Jim Reed, are well-developed through the series with screenplays that present a good balance of action, human interest, and humor that engages you with the sincerity of the two men and how they carry out their duties. I love the way Reed and Malloy sometimes tease each other. The fact that Reed is a married man and Malloy a happy bachelor creates plenty of opportunities for humorous jabs. At the same time, the two actors adeptly portray officers that clearly have a great deal of respect for each other, for the public, and for their jobs.

Equally enjoyable are the vintage scenes of LA, with the 70s cars, mild traffic, unimproved lots, uncrowded public areas, grubby beer joints, greasy spoons, and depictions 70s fashions that are sometimes lovably corny, as in the portrayal of long-haired hippy troublemakers with their headbands and mod vests.

In spite of the crime and suffering depicted, the series conveys the comfort of simpler times when criminal behavior didn't seem so deeply engrained in American culture that two hardworking, upright officers couldn't make a difference.

For the most part - I quite enjoyed watching these thrilling episodes from TV's "Adam-12" (1968-1975) which still seemed to be going strong right through to its final season.

I'd say that it was a really good thing that these episodes were each only 25 minutes in length. 'Cause that meant that the script-writing remained tight and to-the-point without being bogged down by trivial filler scenes in order to pad-out the story-lines.

Anyway - As far as characters (L.A. police officers) Jim Reed and Pete Malloy go - They were generally a likable and incorruptible pair of cops who usually managed to maintain law and order in an efficient and (thankfully) less violent manner.

Arguably the finest depiction of the average law enforcement officer's daily routine ever recorded on film. With obsessive accuracy and superb, fact-based scripts, everything about this program resonates with truth. The direction is always crisp, sharp, and exciting. The writing nothing less than excellent. The on location shooting brings astonishing realism to every episode and one can almost smell the exhaust in the air. Martin Milner as Officer Pete Malloy is superb and brings authority, humanity, and depth to the role. Kent McCord is also quite good as the younger officer who learns from the experienced Malloy. Their teamwork and loyalty to one another is inspiring and they are wonderful role models for today's directionless, electronic obsessed youth. No other program in the history of television has served as such a tribute to the men and women who put their very lives on the line everyday to keep us safe. These are the heroes who stand on the parapets of law and order that guard civilization and protect it from anarchy. Adam-12 is a salute to their bravery and sense of duty. No one can view this show without feeling a sense of pride in what these men represent and the great nation they serve so selflessly.

I'm only reviewing this because it's way overrated and I, too, am overrating it at a 5/10 when it's only about a 4. Here's why it's terrible: Malloy, a seasoned cop, making grievous police errors that would endanger any cop's life. I'm not blaming the actor, he's not bad, but what where the writers/prods thinking letting this cop allow suspects to go fetch a rifle in a closet ("Post Time") or run at a young blonde discharging her weapon at a phone booth!? ("Once a Cop") Ridiculous! Then there's Reed whining during an entire episode about his bad credit due to his stolen identity. Hello! You're a cop! That should have been number one out of your mouth, to the credit company and firmly tell him to fix it or else! That's number one.

it's not exactly boring but it's bland and dull. Here's the difference: boring is that show that follows in syndication "Emergency!" without redeeming values whatsoever. At least this show is sometimes fast-paced and there's trumpet music and what not to enhance the drama/cop action. But it's dull as stale bread. Nothing exciting ever happens. It grabs you (hence not boring) but it lets you down every time!

Next, the actor who plays the police chief is such bad casting. He is weak like the Trudeau guy in Canada. His face and soft-spoken demeanor make him better suited for playing a hair-dresser or a ballet teacher than the big cheese cop.

Kent McCord: this actor was extremely handsome. Did he know it? He's not playing his role badly but what a waste this man was here! I understand he's playing a married guy but dude! Bring the sexy up! He's never acting threatening or tough or dangerous or bad cop. He is just a one-note actor, giving a flat performance every time. I admit, I tune in to see his pretty face but just now there's a lady flirting with him out of her car window in Reason to Run and this actor gives nothing in return. I'm not asking for him to turn the character into a major sleazeball or be off-character but could you not have given us "I'm hot and I know it, and she wants me" attitude, while maintaining your police decorum?! Not that complicated. Believe it, and I will see it. That is an actor's job. Instead, McCord is a dull pretty face. You can't dislike him, I don't, I quite like this actor but his character is dull.

For that reason, I also lament that the Malloy actor gets the most screen time and does the most but he's bland to look at (sorry. He's not a bad actor). In other words, the sex appeal is seriously lacking. Again, you can bring you sexy quota up without emitting sleaze. An actor ought to know how to do this.

For all these reasons, I ought to rate this a 2/10 (not a 4 or 5) because watching this show is like an intimate encounter without climax. You always expect these half hours to rock your world but you end up frustrated and wondering why you even bother to watch. (There's nothing else on, I keep hoping to find the one episode that blows me away, and my computer is out of commission for me to do my work.) There you have it folks. It's a boring TV show, but there's a lot worse and you have eye-candy, albeit stale eye-candy. Watch if you're 72, in the hospital, and there's nothing else on.

This is a wonderful show that I really enjoyed as a child! The very first episode, originally airing on 9/21/68, was a classic. Pete Malloy is disgruntled and about to quit the force after his patrol partner's death in a warehouse shooting, and is assigned rookie cop Jim Reed, age 23 and fresh out of the LA police academy. That first day, the officers break up a fight between two men over a lady on the street, then they chase two robbers in a big 1959 Buick four-door that crashes and burns in a canal confluence - this is a breathtaking sequence - that Buick is HUGE with the big canted fins! Malloy finishes his day by giving mouth to mouth to an infant who had stopped breathing. All in a day's work! A portent of good things to come over the next seven years. Watch it, get videos - you won't regret it!

Adam-12 was one of the most influential series on TV, and still, all these years later, holds up well. It's lack of over sensationalized fight scenes makes it quite realistic and is something that you really don't see on TV today.

It used to be on COZI but it's on MeTV now because they have the rights to air it. COZI has Emergency now, another Jack Webb series.

I watched Adam-12 as a young kid growing up in the 70's . This TV show was the reason I began a Law Enforcement Officer for over 20 years. The live of a patrol officer is exciting at times and extremely boring some times. But its a daily day that never changes. Some calls take your breath away and most Police Officers become adrenaline junkies. Best job I ever had. I saved many life's in my career thanks to Adam-12 I became a Law Enforcement officer.

Without Police Officer's there would be no peace in the world.

Having grown up watching Adam-12 with my Father (an LAPD officer at the time the show aired) and also having known Martin Millner (one hell of a stand up guy and very normal person) my view may be a bit biased. I do believe I would feel much the same not having any ties to the show however. They managed to pack 30 minutes with the most real police action (stories based on actual cases, names changed to protect the innocent:), everything from hysterical house wives to shoot outs. This is what Police Officers encounter on a daily basis. It is a roller coaster ride to be sure! It is so nice to be able to watch this show again on DVD, I have them all :) Todays shows are a real drag, so similar, like they used a cookie cutter. Adam-12 is a look back at a somewhat simpler time. Things were more black and white then. Today there is a lot of gray area and we are faced with the ever growing problem of feral youth. I think the late 60's is when we started our slide into what we face today. I find myself watching a lot of Adam-12 and Bob Newhart lately. Too bad we can not turn back the hands of time. Maybe shows like Adam-12 allow us to feel like we have if for only 30 minutes at a time...

I have been watching this through our library. I have found two episodes that dealt with police abuse of power. The first one was in season 3. Malloy is saved by an officer's quick thinking when he (Tony is his name) jumps on a moving forklift and gets the forks raised in time that he prevents Malloy from getting injured. Later on Tony is accused of blackmailing a man. Malloy and Reed get involved in trying to prove his innocence. Malloy (and later you find out Reed had been suspicious too) realizes that Tony has been using them - that he actually did blackmail the guy. Malloy tells him off and the officer does get in trouble. In another episode, I think it was season 5, Reed talks to a reserve officer who tells him that he witnessed an active duty officer use excessive force on a perpetrator. He doesn't want to say anything because he's just reserve and as everyone else thinks there's nothing wrong with the officer. Then Reed catches the same active duty officer choking a perpetrator whom has blacked out as a result. Reed talks to the Watch Commander because it really bothers him. The active duty officer ends up turning in his resignation and criminal charges are filed against the guy. This was one great television show and they don't make them like this any more. I really miss fantastic shows like this.

Jack Webb had a real gem when he created Dragnet in the 50's. His goal was to show the common man a realistic creation of police work, and back then, Dragnet was how most people got to know police procedures and at the same time, got to see the serious, Jokes not included Sgt. Joe Friday.

Then in the late 60's Webb created a show that was Cops before that show was even a concept. The idea was to show people the daily routines of police officers working on the beat. In practice, it was a great idea, and still is. Adam-12 was that show. A simple, straightforward show about police work. The show was aimed at a universal audience, which by today's standards would be unacceptable because no one over the age of 12 would take it seriously. Because today we've been treated to shows like Cops & Live PD which gives us no filters, no drama, just straight police work. And considering how we all know how real confrontations between police & people go thanks to these shows it makes Adam-12 humorous when you see how the drama plays out and you know as a viewer that the people in the show don't have their bad words bleeped out. It's also from a time when the police had a black & white view of drug use and to watch episodes where people get busted on marijuana possession is hilarious to how serious Malloy is when he tells the suspects about how dangerous marijuana is.

Officer Pete Malloy is an LAPD officer who has witnessed his partner get killed in the line of duty. Considering retiring, He is given a new partner, a fresh out of the academy 23 year old by the name of Jim Reed. Over 7 seasons, Malloy takes Reed under his wing and the 2 men maintain law & order in Los Angeles, and confront a variety of people who range from psychotic killers to troubled teens. Over time, Reed goes from a young father to an experienced beat cop who takes other police under his wing while Malloy takes more responsible roles within the department.

This one's truly a gem of it's time, but you cannot take it as seriously as you could have back when it initially aired. It's the kind of show where viewers will be hung up on Anachronisms and the fact the show is over half a century old. Regardless, I still enjoy it for what it is.

This is one show that still holds up over thirty years after it premiered. Not only do you get a true life look at the day to day operations of a typical patrolman, but you also see the evolution of the relationship between two officers. When Reed is first teamed with Malloy he is the subordinate young officer who keeps calling Malloy sir and makes a few mistakes along the way, but by the end of the series, Malloy treats Reed as an equal and the two even call each other by their first names. In fact, in either the first or second season, Reed names Malloy the Godfather to his son. This show definitely proves that Jack Webb was a genius.

Joe Friday, Jack Webb-two names which are virtually indistinguishable, one from another. The first name is Fictional, made-up. He is the product of human imagination, more of a symbol of Law & Order than a character in a story.

Even though the young Mr. Webb had the desire to become a Comedian and having his own Radio Show, much like his boyhood idol, Jack Benny, things don't always work out the way we envision them. (And the World can and may well be better off for it!) For it was his success with DRAGNET"Radio Show, which soon morphed into "DRAGNET" TV Series (1951-1959), that gave a great share of immortality to Jack in our American Pop Culture.

As time moved along, Mr. Webb became a creative force to several other Law Enforcement themed series. We saw his Production Company's Trademark of a strong, sinewy, sweaty, grimy hands pounding a flat lettering chisel-stamp, with the Hammer Striking and leaving the words: "A Mark VII, Ltd. Production", on quite a few series. Following the trail blazing accomplishments of "DRAGNET", we received several of these for our approval, as Rod Serling used to say.

So Mr. Webb brought us "O'HARE, U.S. TREASURY"(1971) with David Jansen, the longevity prone "EMERGENCY!(1972-79), and the equally long running, second most recognized as "a Jack Webb production "ADAM 12"(1968-75).

In "ADAM 12", Jack pushed the Envelope forward as far as the celluloid portrayal of Big City Cops goes. Using all the experience from his for incarnations of "DRAGNET", he let loose a sure winner with the TV Audience, as well as a continuing favourite with the Criticsizers (o.k., okay! It's 'Critics', I knew it all along!) In looking back to those years of the Late 1960's to the Early 1970's, we as a Nation (the U.S. A., that is, Schultz!)were all caught up in what was probably the High Water Mark of the 'Counter-Culture' Hippy/Yippie/Flippy Anti-Authority,Anti-Establishment, Anti-Cop media tirades of that period. This was the Era of Assassination, with John F. Kennedy (1963), Martin Luther King (1968) and Robert Kennedy (also '68), all dying at the hands of murderers with Political motivations. And there were other incidents such as the attempted Murder of Former Alabama Governor George Wallace in May of 1972.

In addition, we had subversive groups infiltrating Movements of War Protest, the Greatest example being the Rioting in the Streets of Chicago ("…My kind of Town!") during that Week-Long Democratic National Convention in August 1968. Next would likely be their highly return in the following year of 1969 for their Self-Proclaimed "Days of Rage", October 5-11.

The same Left Wing Organizations also used their influence to turn Urban Rioting following events like the Assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., to a sort of Urban Sedition. Aided by certain sensational headlines driven manipulators in the News Media, all blame seemed to be put on the Uniformed Police charged with doing something about it.

And always being a guy sympathetic to the thankless plight of the Cops, Mr.Webb set out to give us a dramatized version of just what it was like to be on the other end of that on- going struggle.

Essentially, Jack Webb rendered a series which could to be said is a "Dragnet of, by and for the Uniformed Police. In spite of some criticisms, such as being a little preachy in its story lines and stilted in the language employed, it certainly deserves to be rated as a top series of its time. And it certainly was a step up in the Cop Show Evolutionary Chain leading to some of the finest of Present Day Police Dramas. Next stage is represented by Joe Wambaugh's "POLICE STORY"( 1973-77).

I grew up watching Adam-12.Some of the episodes were filmed in or near my neighborhood in the south east San Fernando Valley area In LA where we lived.1 scene from the very first episode was filmed right down the street from our house.Martin Milner went to the same high school I did.North Hollywood HS in Valley Village California.My sister and me went to the same nursery school as his kids and my parents got to know him and his wife and my sister went to his kids birthday party.It was a very good and popular show.We watched ever single episode of it.🇺🇸😃🚔

"Adam-12" is an unusual police show. Normally, most cop shows feature detectives and they thoroughly investigate a single case in the episode. However, here the stars are two policemen who are partners, Reed and Malloy, and in each episode you see quite a few typical (and a few atypical) cases. Often, they seem to be responding to armed robberies but other times they respond to domestic cases, purse snatchings and much more. The emphasis on all this is realism...as well as showing the police in the best possible light (though occasionally the shows are about a few 'bad apples').

So is the show perfect? No. Occasionally they have dud episodes (such as when the officers are coaches for child sports leagues) or they feature the annoying Officer Wells (Gary Crosby) a few times too many. But apart from these minor complaints, the show works well because of the excellent acting and writing. One thing that doesn't bother me, but might bother some, is that you occasionally don't know how a particular case works out...such as a perp not being caught or not knowing if there was a conviction. BUT, being from the line police officer's point of view, this actually makes a lot of sense. Well worth seeing and currently available to see for free from IMDB on their app.

Reed and Malloy are the epitome of straight laced street cops. This is the single best police procedural show in the history of television and no one will ever take the title from them.

This show, like its predecessor Dragnet, was produced at a time when the LAPD was facing a lot of criticism for racism and police brutality. It seems one of the goals of these shows was to "correct" these impressions of the LAPD and American law enforcement in general. Well the show does it well. Episodes tackle issues such as protest against the Vietnam war, black people who mistrust the police, cops who object to having to Mirandize suspects, etc. And what's more, though this portrayal of the LAPD does seem a little whitewashed, the LAPD officers (except the main cast of course) aren't even always portrayed as being completely in the right. Dirty cops are an issue that the series doesn't completely dodge, for example.

Unlike Dragnet and many other cop shows, most episodes feature several different incidents that the police have to respond to. and even though a lot of them are quite mundane with no action or gun fights, the show still manages to make the mundane life of two LAPD officers seem interesting.