After bombing with Dan August in 1971, Quinn Martin sold another crime drama to ABC the next season, and this time, gave the network another tentpole.
The Streets of San Francisco, based on a novel by Carolyn Weston, lasted 5 seasons, and introduced second generation star Michael Douglas to viewers. Douglas played Inspector Steve Keller, a junior partner to fellow Inspector Mike Stone (Karl Malden). The format was the usual Martin cookie cutter of the period, but the hook was that kickin' theme music, composed by Patrick Williams. At the time of its launch, Streets wasn't the only crime drama set in San Francisco. NBC had Ironside, and, if memory serves me correctly, Rock Hudson's McMillian & Wife, also on NBC, was set in San Francisco, as well.
Today, Me-TV holds the rights, and airs the series as part of a crime drama block on Sundays.
Here's the intro:
Douglas left the show after the season 5 opener, which was a transitional episode in which Douglas was given "special guest star" status, clearing space for Richard Hatch (ex-All My Children), whom network suits were pretty high on. After Streets ended, Hatch moved on to the original Battlestar Galactica, which we'll discuss another time.
Rating: B.
2 comments:
This show was by the numbers, but Malden and Douglas were a great team!
I chose not to watch any of the post Douglas episodes.
This show was also one of the early introductions of a future star - Don Johnson. He played a roguish motorcycle cop who scores a date with Malden's character's daughter in the episode, "Hot Dog" .
That's not all. Streets marked the TV debut of another cinematic icon. Some fella named Schwarzenegger.
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