''The Silent Force'' is a 1970–1971

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

police drama 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 eithe ...

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

about three

United States Government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a fede ...

undercover agents who fight

organized crime Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...

starring

Ed Nelson Edwin Stafford Nelson (December 21, 1928 – August 9, 2014) was an American actor, best known for his role as Dr. Michael Rossi in the television series '' Peyton Place''. Nelson appeared in episodes of many TV programs, more than 50 mov ...

Percy Rodriguez Percy Rodriguez (born Percy Rodrigues; June 13, 1918 – September 6, 2007) was a Canadian actor who appeared in many television shows and films from the 1950s to the 1980s. He was of Afro-Portuguese heritage and was born in the Saint-Henri neigh ...

, and

Lynda Day Lynda Louise Day George (born December 11, 1944) is an American television and film actress whose career spanned three decades from the 1960s to the 1980s. She was a cast member on '' Mission: Impossible'' (1971–1973). She was also the wife ...

. It aired from September 21, 1970, to January 11, 1971.McNeil, Alex, ''Total Television: The Comprehensive Guide to Programming From 1948 to the Present'', New York: Penguin Books, 1996, p. 754.Brooks, Tim, and Earle Marsh, ''The Complete Directory to Prime-Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946–Present, Sixth Edition'', New York: Ballantine Books, 1995, , p. 932.

Cast

...Ward Fuller *

...Jason Hart *

...Amelia Cole

Synopsis

Ward Fuller, Jason Hart, and Amelia Cole make up the Silent Force, a team of U.S. government agents assigned to work undercover to infiltrate

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

. Their various operations involve them with companies and individuals victimized by or taking part in organized crime.Classic Television Archive The Silent Force
/ref> Each episode of ''The Silent Force'' opens with this narrative: "'If you do not, on a national scale, attack organized criminals with weapons and techniques as effective as their own, they will destroy us'...

Robert F. Kennedy Robert Francis Kennedy (November 20, 1925June 6, 1968), also known by his initials RFK and by the nickname Bobby, was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 64th United States Attorney General from January 1961 to September 1964, ...

. An attack has been mounted from

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

; an undercover team of federal agents is the spearhead of that attack: The Silent Force."

Production

Luther Davis Luther Berryhill Davis (August 29, 1916 – July 29, 2008) was an American playwright and screenwriter. Early life an education Davis was born in Brooklyn, New York. He graduated from Culver Military Academy in 1934 and received a bachelor of a ...

created ''The Silent Force'', and

Walter Grauman Walter E. Grauman (March 17, 1922 – March 20, 2015) was an American director of Theatre director, stage shows, Film director, films and television shows. Early life Grauman was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Jacob and Irene Grauman, both chi ...

was its

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights o ...

. Grauman and Philip Barry, Jr. produced the show.IMDb The Silent Force Cast and Crew
/ref> Episode directors included

Arnold Laven Arnold Laven (February 3, 1922 – September 13, 2009) was an American film and television director and producer. He was one of the founders and principals of the American film and television production company Levy-Gardner-Laven. Laven was a ...

George McCowan George McCowan (June 27, 1927 – November 1, 1995) was a Canadian film and television director in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. McCowan began his career working for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. He worked as an actor and director fo ...

, and

Gene Nelson Gene Nelson (born Leander Eugene Berg; March 24, 1920 – September 16, 1996) was an American actor, dancer, screenwriter, and director. Biography Born Leander Eugene Berg in Astoria, Oregon, he and his family moved to Seattle when he wa ...

. Writers included Davis,

John Meredyth Lucas John Meredyth Lucas (May 1, 1919 – October 19, 2002) was an American Television writer, writer, Television director, director and Television producer, producer, primarily for television. Career Son of screenwriter Bess Meredyth and writer/dir ...

, Mark Rodgers, Donald S. Sanford, Jack Turley and the team of James D. Buchanan and Ronald Austin. Aaron Spelling Productions produced the show and

Dominic Frontiere Dominic Carmen Frontiere (June 17, 1931 – December 21, 2017) was an American composer, arranger, and jazz accordionist. He composed the theme and much of the music for the first season of the television series '' The Outer Limits'', as wel ...

composed its music. ''The Silent Force'' bore similarities to the hit

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

series '' Mission: Impossible''. Coincidentally, Lynda Day (billed as Lynda Day George after her 1970 marriage to actor

Christopher George Christopher John George (Greek: Χριστόφορος Γεωργίου; February 25, 1931 – November 28, 1983) was an American television and film actor who starred in the 1960s television series ''The Rat Patrol''. He was nominated for a Gol ...

) joined the cast of ''Mission: Impossible'' in 1971 after the cancellation of ''The Silent Force'', and both Percy Rodriguez and Ed Nelson made guest appearances on the series (Rodriguez in season four's "Chico" and Nelson in season seven's "The Western"). A "novelization" of the series, also entitled ''The Silent Force'' and written by Harry Goddard, was published in 1971.

Broadcast history

''The Silent Force'' premiered on

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 ...

on September 21, 1970. It was cancelled after the broadcast of its fifteenth episode on January 11, 1971. It aired on Monday at 8:30 p.m. throughout its run.

Episodes

Sourcesepiguides.com The Silent Force
/ref>

Notes

References

External links

*
1970 ABC promo for ''The Silent Force'' on YouTube
{{DEFAULTSORT:Silent Force (TV series), The American Broadcasting Company original programming 1970 American television series debuts 1971 American television series endings 1970s American crime drama television series English-language television shows Television shows set in California Television series by CBS Studios