Crime Stoppers: TV's Greatest Cop Themes
Has the Mod Squad theme
Hippies From A to Z: Their Sex, Drugs, Music and
Impact From the Sixties to the Present - Book
External Links
TV Guide's Mod Squad Page, with TV Listings, Photos, Videos,
Exclusive News and More. |
Mod Squad Tidbits The year was 1968 and it was the dawning of
the Age of Aquarius. Penny loafers were out; bell bottoms were in. When what to
our TV sets did we behold but Pete, Linc and Julie - The Mod Squad.
The
premise was based on an actual police officer, Bob Ruskin, who in the late
Fifties ran a squad of young undercover narcs. He wrote a script but it took
nearly a decade for the idea to hold.
The premise was that these three
had brushes with the law and were currently on probation. They were recruited
by Capt. Adam Greer (Tige Andrews) to fight adult crime using their youth and
"hippie" look as cover.
Pete Cochran (Michael Cole) had been thrown out
of his Beverly Hills home by his rich parents and he had stolen a car. Lincoln
Hayes (Clarence Williams III) was the product of a 13 kid ghetto home who had
been arrested at the Watts riots. Julie Barnes (Peggy Lipton) was the homeless
daughter of a prostitute.
They were never straight cops. They questioned
everything they did and worried about the morality of arrests. Oh, and they
never tried to trap other young people. Sympatico, you see. The Mod Squad
arrested people who preyed on young people.
Mostly the show's success
came from how cool these characters were. Opposite them on Tuesdays was Jerry
Lewis and Lancer, a Western. Not hard to predict what young people would choose
to watch.
I remember this show so clearly because I wanted to be as cool
as Julie. Fat chance, but a girl can dream.
Mod Squad Passings Tige Andrews died in 2007 of cardiac
arrest. |
Peggy
Lipton
Michael
Cole
|
