''The Felony Squad'' is a half-hour television

crime drama Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

originally broadcast on the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

network from September 12, 1966, to January 31, 1969, a span encompassing seventy-three episodes.

Overview

The program starred

Howard Duff Howard is an English-language given name originating from Old French Huard (or Houard) from a Germanic source similar to Old High German ''*Hugihard'' "heart-brave", or ''*Hoh-ward'', literally "high defender; chief guardian". It is also probabl ...

(as

Sergeant 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 ...

Sam Stone) and

Dennis Cole Dennis Cole (July 19, 1940 – November 15, 2009) was an American actor in film and television. A familiar face on the screen during the 1960s and 1970s, Cole made guest appearances in numerous television series. After the 1991 murder of Jo ...

(as Detective Jim Briggs) as investigators in a major crimes unit. The setting was an unidentified

West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

city (background scenes obviously show Los Angeles, and L.A. City Hall is shown at dusk in the final scene of the opening credits). Duff's character was the veteran who was teaching his younger partner the nuances of life in this new facet of police work. Another main character was desk sergeant Dan Briggs (portrayed by Ben Alexander), the father of Cole's character. Originally titled ''Men Against Evil'', the show was set to be a soap opera-type program about a police captain. However, when the concept proved to be unworkable, the project was changed to a standard police drama with three main characters. In addition, following primary sponsor Liggett & Myers' objection about being associated with the word "evil," the show's title was changed. For the first two years of the series aired, it was broadcast on Monday nights, with 30 episodes comprising a season's run. In the Fall of 1968 it was switched to a Friday evening time slot, a move that proved disastrous. The program was cancelled at midseason after just thirteen aired episodes. The final episode of the series was part of a

crossover Crossover may refer to: Entertainment Albums and songs * ''Cross Over'' (Dan Peek album) * ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987 * ''Crossover'' (Intrigue album) * ''Crossover'' (Hitomi Shimatani album) * ''Crossover'' (Yoshino ...

with the ABC legal drama ''

Judd, for the Defense ''Judd, for the Defense'' is an American legal drama originally broadcast on the ABC network on Friday nights from September 8, 1967, to March 21, 1969. Synopsis The show stars Carl Betz, who had previously spent eight years in the role of Dr. Al ...

'', starring

Carl Betz Carl Lawrence Betz (March 9, 1921 – January 18, 1978) was an American stage, film, and television actor. He appeared in a variety of television series, including the CBS soap opera ''Love of Life''; he is best remembered for playing Donna ...

. The stunt also proved to be no more effective for ''Judd'', which was cancelled at the end of its season after a two-year run. Alexander's role in the series was not only onscreen but also offscreen as a technical adviser. His earlier work with

Jack Webb John Randolph Webb (April 2, 1920 – December 23, 1982) was an American actor, television producer, Television director, director, and screenwriter, who is most famous for his role as Joe Friday, Sgt. Joe Friday in the Dragnet (franchise) ...

in '' Dragnet'' was the basis for this added position, but ironically resulted in his inability to reprise his role of Officer Frank Smith when Webb revived ''Dragnet'' in late 1966. He died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

less than six months after ''The Felony Squad'' left the air. ''The Felony Squad'' was sponsored by L&M cigarettes, as seen on the 1967 episode "The Day Of The Shark Part 1".

Regular Cast

as Detective Sgt. Sam Stone (73 episodes, 1966-1969) *

as Detective Jim Briggs (73 episodes, 1966-1969) * Ben Alexander as Desk Sgt. Dan Briggs (73 episodes, 1966-1969) *

Frank Maxwell Charles Francis Maxwell (November 17, 1916 – August 4, 2004) was an American actor who served as president of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists from 1984 to 1989. Life and career A native of The Bronx borough of New Yo ...

as Captain Frank Nye (13 episodes, 1966-1968) *

Len Wayland Len or LEN may refer to: People and fictional characters * Len (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Lén, a character from Irish mythology * Alex Len (born 1993), Ukrainian basketball player * Mr. Len, American hip hop DJ *Le ...

District Attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...

Adam Fisher (recurring)

Guest Stars

Joe Don Baker Joe Don Baker (born February 12, 1936) is an American character actor and a life member of the Actors Studio. He established himself as an action star with supporting roles as a mysterious cowboy drifter in ''Guns of the Magnificent Seven'' (196 ...

as Shep in "My Mommy Got Lost" (1967) *

Francis De Sales Francis de Sales (french: François de Sales; it, Francesco di Sales; 21 August 156728 December 1622) was a Bishop of Geneva and is revered as a saint in the Catholic Church. He became noted for his deep faith and his gentle approach to ...

as Harmon in "The Broken Badge" (1966) *

Rodolfo Hoyos, Jr. Rodolfo Hoyos Jr. (March 14, 1916 – April 15, 1983) was a Mexican-American film and television actor. He was known for playing the role of "Rafael Rosillo" in the 1956 film '' The Brave One''. Hoyos died in April 1983 from a stroke in Los Ang ...

, as Pepe Enciras in "Epitaph for a Cop" (1968) *

Don Keefer Donald Hood Keefer (August 18, 1916 – September 7, 2014) was an American actor known for his versatility in performing comedic, as well as highly dramatic, roles. In an acting career that spanned more than 50 years, he appeared in hundreds of ...

as Harry Jocelyn in "A Most Proper Killing" (1967) *

Ricky Kelman Rickey William Kelman (born July 6, 1950) is a former child and young adult actor who appeared in film and on television from 1954 to 1974. He had supporting roles in two single-season situation comedies, ''The Dennis O'Keefe Show'' (1959-1960) ...

as Donny Clement in "The Fatal Hours" (1968) * John M. Pickard as Cahill in "A Blueprint for Dying" (1968) *

Eric Shea Eric Shea (born February 14, 1960) is an American actor. A professional child actor, active from age six through seventeen, he is best known for his roles in the blockbuster feature films '' Yours, Mine and Ours'' (1968) and '' The Poseidon Adven ...

as Mike Bradley in "A Date with Terror" (1966) *

Brooke Bundy Brooke Bundy is an American film and television actress. Early years As a teenager, Bundy was a model in New York before she went to Hollywood on vacation and remained there to become an actress. While in New York, she attended the Professiona ...

as Betty Joyce in "The Deadly Innocents" (1968) *

Lana Wood Lana Wood (born Svetlana Lisa Gurdin; March 1, 1946) is an American actress and producer. She made her film debut in ''The Searchers'' as a child actress and later achieved notability for playing Sandy Webber on the TV series '' Peyton Place'' a ...

as Sherry Martin in "The Last Man in the World" (1967)

Episodes

Season 1: 1966–67

Season 2: 1967–68

Season 3: 1968–69

References

External links

*
YouTube compilation of Batman window cameos
{{DEFAULTSORT:Felony Squad, The American Broadcasting Company original programming 1960s American crime drama television series Television series by 20th Century Fox Television 1966 American television series debuts 1969 American television series endings English-language television shows American detective television series