''Police Woman'' is an American

police procedural The police show, or police crime drama, is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasizes the investigative procedure of a police officer or department as the protagonist(s), as contrasted with other genres that focus on eith ...

television series created by Robert L. Collins, starring

Angie Dickinson Angeline Dickinson (née Brown; born September 30, 1931) is an American actress. She began her career on television, appearing in many anthology series during the 1950s, before gaining her breakthrough role in ''Gun the Man Down'' (1956) wit ...

that ran on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

for four seasons, from September 13, 1974, to March 29, 1978.

Synopsis

Based on an original screenplay by Lincoln C. Hilburn, the series revolves around

Sgt. Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...

"Pepper" Anderson (Dickinson), an undercover police officer working for the Criminal Conspiracy Unit of the

Los Angeles Police Department The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), officially known as the City of Los Angeles Police Department, is the municipal police department of Los Angeles, California. With 9,974 police officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the third-large ...

. Sergeant William "Bill" Crowley (

Earl Holliman Henry Earl Holliman (born September 11, 1928) is an American actor, animal-rights activist, and singer known for his many character roles in films, mostly Westerns and dramas, in the 1950s and 1960s. He won a Golden Globe Award for the film ' ...

) was her immediate superior, and Pete Royster (

Charles Dierkop Charles Richard Dierkop (born September 11, 1936) is an American character actor. He is most recognized for his supporting roles in the films '' Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid'' (1969) and ''The Sting'' (1973) and the television series ''Po ...

) and Joe Styles (

Ed Bernard Ed Bernard (born July 4, 1939) is an American actor best known for his roles as Detective Joe Styles on '' Police Woman'', Principal Jim Willis on '' The White Shadow'', and as Lieutenant Bill Giles on ''Hardcastle and McCormick''. Career Be ...

) were the other half of the undercover team that investigated everything from murders to rape and drug crimes. In many episodes, Pepper went undercover (as a prostitute, nurse, teacher, flight attendant, prison inmate, dancer, waitress, etc.) to get close enough to the suspects to gain valuable information that would lead to their arrest.

Character's name

Although Dickinson's character was called Pepper, sources differ as to the legal given name of the character. Most sources give the character's legal name as Suzanne. Others give it as LeanneTerrace, Vincent (2011). ''Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 844. or Lee Ann (the latter name is mentioned by Crowley in the second-season episode "The Chasers" and by Pepper herself in the first-season episodes "Fish" and "The Stalking of Joey Marr"). The '' Police Story'' episode entitled "The Gamble", which serves as a pilot for ''Police Woman'', gives Dickinson's character's name as "Lisa Beaumont", although her character in "The Gamble" is a new officer, whereas on "Police Woman" she is a seasoned detective sergent. On the Season 1 DVD release of ''Police Woman'', Dickinson states that the producers and she decided not to go with the name Lisa Beaumont when the series first went into production, and came up with the name Pepper.

Episodes

Guest stars

Among the guest stars in the series' 91 episodes were:

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, Ruby Dee,

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, Erica Hagen,

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, Mark Harmon,

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, Amy Irving,

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, Cheryl Ladd,

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, James Olson, Annette O'Toole,

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, E. J. Peaker,

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, Adam West, Barry Williams, and

Debra Winger Debra Lynn Wingerhttps://www.pressreader.com/usa/closer-weekly/20200511/282084868951188https://www.discountmags.com/magazine/closer-weekly-may-11-2020-digital/in-this-issue/99961 (born May 16, 1955)https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Inter ...

Release

Ratings and timeslots

Home media

On March 7, 2006, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released season one of ''Police Woman'' on DVD in Region 1. Shout! Factory acquired the rights to the series in Region 1 in October 2011 and planned to release additional seasons on DVD. They subsequently released season two on February 7, 2012. Season three was released on December 19, 2017. Season four was released on May 8, 2018.

Syndication

The streaming service Tubi has all episodes of the show to watch with commercials starting in January 2022. Several episodes from the first season are available to view for free in Minisode format on

Crackle Crackle or crackling may refer to: Foods * Cracklings, the tissue remaining after lard and tallow have been extracted from animal fats ** Pork rinds in American English, pork scratchings in British English when served in small pieces as a snac ...

. Decades Television Network is airing episodes on April 3 and 4, 2021, as part of the "Decades Binge". The series can be seen on

MeTV+ MeTV, an acronym for Memorable Entertainment Television, is an American broadcast television network owned by Weigel Broadcasting. Marketed as "The Definitive Destination for Classic TV", the network airs a variety of classic television progra ...

Reception

''Police Woman'' was the first hour-long television drama starring a woman as a police officer. Dickinson received three

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

nominations and a Golden Globe award on the show. Although the syndicated 1957 series ''

Decoy A decoy (derived from the Dutch ''de'' ''kooi'', literally "the cage" or possibly ''ende kooi'', " duck cage") is usually a person, device, or event which resembles what an individual or a group might be looking for, but it is only meant to lu ...

'' (starring

Beverly Garland Beverly Lucy Garland (née Fessenden; October 17, 1926 – December 5, 2008) was an American actress. Her work in feature films primarily consisted of small parts in a few major productions or leads in low-budget action or science-fiction movie ...

) was the first American television show to focus on a female police officer, the 30-minute drama series was shortlived, lasting only a single season. While the show made her a star, by the last season Dickinson tired of appearing in scenes "where the phone rings while I'm taking a bath. I always want to look as sexy, beautiful and luscious as I can. But I'd prefer scripts where the sensuality is pouring out naturally for the whole 60 minutes". She nonetheless did not expect the show's cancellation. Dickinson said in 2019 that she regrets having done the series, since the remuneration was inadequate and it left her with little time for other projects. While the series never ranked above number 15 in the ratings for a given season, ''Police Woman'' hit number 1 for the week on two occasions during its first year, also hitting number 1 in several countries in which the program aired. ''Police Woman'' influenced later shows such as '' Charlie's Angels'', which ''

People A person (plural, : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of pr ...

'' in 1978 described as a " three-shaker imitation". It caused an avalanche of applications for employment from women to police departments around the United States. Sociologists who have in recent years examined the inspiration for long-term female law enforcement officials to adopt this vocation have been surprised by how often ''Police Woman'' has been referenced. President

Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. ( ; born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. He was the only president never to have been elected ...

rescheduled a press conference so as not to delay an episode of ''Police Woman'', reportedly his favorite show.

"Flowers of Evil" controversy

"Flowers of Evil" was the eighth episode of season one; it aired on November 8, 1974. In it, Pepper investigates a trio of lesbians who run a retirement home while robbing and murdering the elderly residents. Gay and lesbian groups protested the episode, calling its portrayal of lesbianism stereotypical and negative. A group of lesbian activists zapped NBC's corporate offices a week after the episode aired, occupying the offices overnight. Following negotiations with activists, NBC agreed in 1975 not to rebroadcast the episode.Capsuto, Steven (2000). ''Alternate Channels: The Uncensored Story of Gay and Lesbian Images on Radio and Television''. Ballantine Books. , p. 113 "Flowers of Evil" is available on the season 1 DVD box set.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=0071034, title=Police Woman 1970s American crime drama television series 1970s American police procedural television series 1974 American television series debuts 1978 American television series endings American television spin-offs Fictional portrayals of the Los Angeles Police Department English-language television shows NBC original programming Television series by Sony Pictures Television Television shows set in Los Angeles Television shows filmed in Los Angeles