"The Rookies" (1972) TV series 1972-1976

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Creator:

Rita Lakin
(more)

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Release Date:

11 September 1972 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

The exploits of three rookie police officers in a large unnamed Southern California city are followed in this weekly series...

Plot Keywords:

Police | Nurse | Married To A Police Officer

Cast

Sam Melville	...	Off. Mike Danko (92 episodes, 1972-1976)
Kate Jackson	...	Jill Danko (92 episodes, 1972-1976)

(more)

Series Directed by
Phil Bondelli		(15 episodes, 1974-1976)
E.W. Swackhamer		(11 episodes, 1972-1975)
Leonard Horn		(9 episodes, 1972-1973)
Harry Falk		(7 episodes, 1973-1974)
Gene Nelson		(5 episodes, 1973-1974)
Fernando Lamas		(5 episodes, 1975)
Michael Caffey		(4 episodes, 1972-1973)
Georg Stanford Brown		(4 episodes, 1975-1976)
Bruce Bilson		(3 episodes, 1974-1975)
William Crain		(3 episodes, 1974-1975)
William F. Claxton		(2 episodes, 1972-1973)
Ralph Senensky		(2 episodes, 1972-1973)
Earl Bellamy		(2 episodes, 1972)
Jerry Jameson		(2 episodes, 1972)
Richard Newton		(2 episodes, 1973-1974)
Philip Leacock		(2 episodes, 1974)
Richard Benedict		(2 episodes, 1976)
Randal Kleiser		(1 episode, 1976)

Series Writing credits
William Blinn		(13 episodes, 1972-1975)
Skip Webster		(12 episodes, 1972-1976)
Robert I. Holt		(11 episodes, 1972-1975)
Hal Sitowitz		(8 episodes, 1972-1974)
Don Balluck		(6 episodes, 1973-1975)
Sean Baine		(4 episodes, 1974-1976)
Rita Lakin		(3 episodes, 1972-1975)
Hoke Howell		(3 episodes, 1972-1973)
James Basler		(3 episodes, 1973-1974)
Rick Husky		(3 episodes, 1974-1976)
Irv Pearlberg		(3 episodes, 1974-1975)
Daniel B. Ullman		(3 episodes, 1974-1975)
Richard H. Landau		(2 episodes, 1972-1973)
Mark Weingart		(2 episodes, 1972-1973)
Robert Harland		(2 episodes, 1973)
William Douglas Lansford		(2 episodes, 1973)
David Ketchum		(2 episodes, 1974-1975)
Mann Rubin		(2 episodes, 1974-1975)
Bruce Shelly		(2 episodes, 1974-1975)
Frank Telford		(2 episodes, 1974)
Jack V. Fogarty		(2 episodes, 1976)
Paul F. Edwards		(unknown episodes)
David P. Harmon		(unknown episodes)
Mathius Reitz		(unknown episodes)
Dirk Wayne Summers		(unknown episodes)

Series Produced by
Leonard Goldberg	....	executive producer (5 episodes, 1972-1975)
Shelley Hull	....	associate producer (5 episodes, 1972-1975)
Aaron Spelling	....	executive producer (5 episodes, 1972-1975)
Hal Sitowitz	....	producer (2 episodes, 1975)
Paul Junger Witt	....	producer (unknown episodes)

Series Original Music by
Jack Elliott		(6 episodes, 1973-1975)
Allyn Ferguson		(6 episodes, 1973-1975)
Mark Snow		(5 episodes, 1975-1976)
Robert Drasnin		(4 episodes, 1973-1975)
Elmer Bernstein		(2 episodes, 1972-1974)
Laurence Rosenthal		(2 episodes, 1973)
Shorty Rogers		(2 episodes, 1975-1976)
George Romanis		(2 episodes, 1975)
Paul Glass		(unknown episodes)

Series Cinematography by
Dennis Dalzell		(46 episodes, 1974-1976)
Archie R. Dalzell		(45 episodes, 1972-1974)

Series Film Editing by
Richard Malek		(2 episodes, 1975)
James Baiotto		(unknown episodes)
Leon Carrere		(unknown episodes)

Series Casting by
Claire Newell		(2 episodes, 1975)

Series Art Direction by
Paul Sylos		(4 episodes, 1972-1975)

Series Set Decoration by
Dorcy Howard		(2 episodes, 1975)

Series Costume Design by
Robert Harris Jr.		(5 episodes, 1972-1975)
Thelma Strahm		(5 episodes, 1972-1975)

Series Makeup Department
Ted Coodley	....	makeup artist (5 episodes, 1972-1975)
Joyce Morrison	....	hair stylist (4 episodes, 1975)

Series Production Management
William A. Calihan Jr.	....	production manager (5 episodes, 1972-1975)
Norman Henry	....	executive production manager (5 episodes, 1972-1975)
Russel Wiles	....	post-production supervisor (5 episodes, 1972-1975)

Series Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
John Ashley Hamilton	....	trainee director (2 episodes, 1975-1976)

Series Art Department
Jesse Stone	....	construction coordinator (5 episodes, 1972-1975)
Jerry McFarland	....	property master (3 episodes, 1972-1975)
Jerry Swift	....	property master (2 episodes, 1975)

Series Sound Department
Tommy Thompson	....	sound engineer (5 episodes, 1972-1975)
Stan Gordon	....	sound mixer (unknown episodes)

Series Special Effects by
Bill Ferrier	....	special effects (4 episodes, 1975)

Series Stunts
Alan Oliney	....	stunt coordinator (4 episodes, 1975)
Denny Arnold	....	stunts (unknown episodes)
Ronnie Rondell Jr.	....	stunt coordinator (unknown episodes)

Series Camera and Electrical Department
Paul Jacobsen	....	electrician (unknown episodes, 1975)
Owen Marsh	....	camera operator (unknown episodes)
John Stadler	....	electrician (unknown episodes)

Series Casting Department
Joel Thurm	....	casting supervisor (2 episodes, 1975)

Series Editorial Department
Jim Allen	....	post-production coordinator (1 episode, 1972)
Ron Meredith	....	assistant film editor (unknown episodes)

Series Music Department
Elmer Bernstein	....	composer: theme music (92 episodes, 1972-1976)
Rocky Moriana	....	music supervisor (5 episodes, 1972-1975)

Series Transportation Department
Chris Haynes	....	driver (10 episodes, 1972-1975)
Jim Martell	....	transportation coordinator (unknown episodes)

Series Other crew
Helen Parker	....	script supervisor (5 episodes, 1972-1975)

Production Companies

• Spelling-Goldberg Productions

Distributors

• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1972-1976) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Columbia TriStar Domestic Television (2001)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Columbia TriStar Television
• Sony Pictures Television (2002-)
• Viacom
• Worldvision Enterprises

Other Companies

• 20th Century Fox Studios  filming location
• Chrysler Corporation  automobiles furnished by

Runtime:

60 min (92 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Spelling-Goldberg Productions

Movie Connections:

Spin off "S.W.A.T." (1975)

Santa Clara's Finest

One of the more successful TV police dramas which seemed to be exploding all over the place during the Seventies as westerns declined and because they were getting expensive to make was The Rookies. The show was about three eager young police officers straight from the Academy on their first assignment. The three, Georg Stanford, Brown, Michael Ontkean, and Sam Melville served as cops in the mythical community of Santa Clara in California.

I liked the show because it showed three idealistic young cops and a time when idealism was at a premium. The Rookies debuted while Richard Nixon was running for re-election and we got treated nationally to all the stories about Watergate and the aftermath during the run of this show.

In that vein it was also nice to see a moral authority like Lieutenant Eddie Ryker who took The Rookies under his wing and taught them to be good cops. As a police officer Ryker was one of the best ever shown on television and it gave Gerald S. O'Loughlin his career role. He was and remains one of my favorite television police officers.

The women and the gay men certainly had a lot of nice beefcake to look at with the three Rookies. Michael Ontkean left the series midway to pursue a movie career and he's best remembered for Making Love to Harry Hamlin and Kate Jackson in Making Love and for that never to be forgotten strip tease on ice in Slap Shot. He was replace by Bruce Fairbairn for the rest of the show's run.

Speaking of Kate Jackson, she was the only regular female in the series and she played Sam Melville's wife. She was also a nurse in the emergency ward at the Santa Clara Hospital. Kate's got incredible skill or luck if you prefer in picking television series. The Rookies was her second series, she was in Dark Shadows, after The Rookies came Charlie's Angels and The Scarecrow and Mrs. King. That's one pretty substantial record and most would envy her for just one successful TV series. Kate as a nurse allowed her to get into the action in a few shows, she was not just home waiting dinner for Sam Melville. They were like a lot of young marrieds then and now, struggling to maintain a two income household and both with stressful occupations.

The Rookies were not supercops, they were young and inexperienced and made mistakes out there. Those mistakes became the basis of many a story line. But under Gerald S. O'Loughlin's wise tutelage they weren't Rookies when the series ended its run.