The focus is on the Gus Corbin and Dana Hall episodes, but before the writer zeroes in on those episodes s/he does an excellent job analyzing the show's loose format, the chemistry between Malloy and Reed and the acting of Millner and McCord. A must read for any Adam 12 fan. http://hillplace.blogspot.com/2014/01/mark-harmon-jo-ann-pflug-learn-a bout-life-while-patrolling-adam-12.html
shareInteresting article, thanks for sharing it. However, I have to disagree with one thing. The author states that Jean Reed is supportive of Jim and his career, and specifically mentions the episode A Rare Occasion. Yes, at the end Jean does offer to go to the hospital to be with the wife of the officer who died. However, prior to that, she seemed impatient at any mention of the incident, and obviously resented talk of the injured officer during her afternoon barbecue. Yes, yes, I understand--she wanted to have some time during which "shop talk" was not allowed, so everyone could relax. But still, the point is that the officer's shooting was of intense interest to her husband and also to Pete, and she wanted them to "put it out of their minds" and pretend it didn't matter.
Also, for the record, I preferred Gus Corbin to Dana Hall.
Also in the final episode, Jean was rather reluctant to attend the ceremony where Reed was getting his medal.
Don't get me started on the finale episode!! That one ticked me off for a number of reasons, and yes, one of them was "Jean Reed." I think the show's writers were trying to be like other police shows of the day, and getting into the characters' personal lives (which they had really never done at all throughout the seven seasons). They took Reed's sweet, understanding wife and turned her into a shrew, just for the sake of creating some conflict and drama. I cringed all through that episode, and I'm not sure I'll watch it again.
(If the show had been renewed, I wonder if they would have had Reed work with detectives more often, as he did in the finale. Whether yes or no, I'm sure they would have probably incorporated his home life into the story.)
Well, back to the stories being true. The story was probably based on a real officer who truly was awarded the Medal of Valor who really did have a wife who was like that. They once again adapted the main characters to fit that story, hardly different from the way they had Jim Reed as a bachelor in 'Elegy For A Pig' even though he's married in all of the rest of the episodes both before and after.
That was another thing that bothered me about the finale... Reed getting the Medal of Valor. Not that what he did wasn't great, but he's not the ONLY one who did something like that. Another officer saved Pete's life once (altho then was charged with extortion, lol), and Pete himself did just what Reed did--saving a fellow officer's life--at least once, probably more than once... and where was his medal?? So, as a die-hard Malloyer, I resent that. But I do realize that Reed getting the Medal was, in part, a plot device to highlight the discord between him and his wife. A very stupid, out-of-character discord, but still.
Anyway, that's yet another reason I don't like this episode. I'll take some deep breaths now an calm down. Rant over.
Definitely no argument there. Every time I see that rescue I think if Reed gets the medal for that then Malloy should have a wall full of them. Still assuming the medal was part of the true story, the real rescue was probably a lot more involved and either they didn't have time or money to show it as it happened or maybe the real recipient downplayed it when he told the story rather than bragging.
Then again, the description of Charles Durning's actions in WWII that earned him the Silver Star sounds a lot more heroic than any of the Medal of Honor actions I've read about.
I like the series finale, more or less. Having Reed receive the medal of valor as Malloy looks on was a great way of ending the series, as it started with Malloy taking Reed on as a partner to train him to be the best policeman Reed can be. So on that level, the finale really pays off. And the special assignment and its resolution was uncommonly dark and gritty for Adam 12.
I don't mind Jean Reed getting all angry and upset about the toll Reed's special assignment and police work in general are taking on her and the marriage. They 've been married for 7 years and I can see how over the time the stress can take a toll on somebody. I fault the acting of Kristin Harmon Nelson as Jean in the episode. She's not very good, makes Jean very shrill and unlikeable, and she certainly doesn't compare to the first Jean. However, the whole "Will Jean show up or not" cliffhanger was dumb and out of character, even with Nelson in the role of Jean. The writers should have just filled the time with Malloy and Reed doing one more call, then cut to the awards with everyone coming in and Reed getting his award.
bumping the thread.
shareInteresting blog post. Nice analysis of the show.
I'd read that Milner, when asked about co-stars of his two big shows, Route 66 and Adam-12, mentioned that while George Maharis didn't seem too interested in keeping in touch, McCord and him had always stayed friends. Somehow, that's nice to know.
The Dana Hall episode was interesting to watch, but despite affording Pflug's character every dignity as a female cop, she was trivialized a tiny bit as scenes at the beginning and end of the episode - when she's in civilian clothes - are introduced with a sort of vamp-like musical sting. It's not as loud and brassy as say, a Catwoman scene on "Batman" - it's a little more subtle. But it's still kind of funny. She's completely competent as a cop, but she still gets the come-hither music.
As for the finale...I miss the old, perkier Jean. I've read McCord was very close with Ricky Nelson which might explain why Jean was re-cast with Ricky's wife. The final season of Adam-12 seemed to be the Mark VII Nepotism Season for the show, with a daughter each of Milner, McCord, and Bobby Troup all having parts. In the second to last episode, where Reed knocks on the door of a drug dealer / pornographer, the kid who peeked through the door looked a lot like McCord as well, but that seems like a long shot.
As of this writing, you can own your very own original Adam-12 costume. Martin Milner's auctioning a career's worth of memorabilia on eBay, including one of his police uniforms.
Stumbled upon this and found the link no longer works, so here is current link for this article:
http://hillplace.blogspot.com/2014_01_01_archive.html