''Bert D'Angelo/Superstar'' (shown as ''Bert D'Angelo'' in Britain) is an American police drama that aired 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 Saturday Nights from February 21 to July 10, 1976. The series was produced by

Quinn Martin Quinn Martin (born Irwin Martin Cohn; May 22, 1922 – September 5, 1987) was an American television producer. He had at least one television series running in prime time every year for 21 straight years (from 1959 to 1980). Martin is a mem ...

. The series spun off from ''

The Streets of San Francisco ''The Streets of San Francisco'' is a television crime drama filmed on location in San Francisco and produced by Quinn Martin Productions, with the first season produced in association with Warner Bros. Television (QM produced the show on its ...

'', although the episode which introduced the character ("Superstar") had its first airing on March 4, 1976, after the spinoff premiered. It was screened in Britain on

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

in the summer of 1976 (curiously, ''The Streets of San Francisco'' was an ITV import).

Premise

Bert D'Angelo was a ten-year veteran of the New York City Police Department transferred to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

, "so as to acquaint the San Francisco Police Department with the way things were done back in New York City". He handled a variety of types of cases, including drugs, murders, and robberies.

Cast

Paul Sorvino Paul Anthony Sorvino (, ; April 13, 1939 – July 25, 2022) was an American actor. He often portrayed authority figures on both the criminal and the law enforcement sides of the law. Sorvino was particularly known for his roles as Lucchese cri ...

as Bert D'Angelo *

Robert Pine Robert Pine (born Granville Whitelaw Pine, July 10, 1941) is an American actor who is best known as Sgt. Joseph Getraer on the television series ''CHiPs'' (1977–1983). Including ''CHiPs'', Pine has appeared in over 400 episodes of television. ...

as Inspector Larry Johnson *

Dennis Patrick Dennis Patrick (born Dennis Patrick Harrison; March 14, 1918 – October 13, 2002) was an American character actor, primarily in television. Early years Patrick was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Career Patrick is known for his work in ...

as Captain Jack Breen

Production

The program was "filmed entirely on location in and around San Francisco". Martin was the executive producer. Directors were Harry Falk, Virgil W. Vogel,

Michael Caffey Michael Terrance Caffey (born July 14, 1930 – May 5, 2017) was an American television director. Early life Michael's parents were Benjamin Franklin Caffey (1902–1983) and Verna Marguerite Caffey (1905–1972). Personal life Michael Caf ...

David Friedkin David Friedkin (March 8, 1912 – October 15, 1976) was an American writer and director of radio shows, film, and television shows. Early life and education Friedkin was born on March 8, 1912 in Kansas City, Missouri to Russian Jewish immigrant ...

, and William Hale. Writers were Larry Alexander, D. C. Fontana, and Marion Hargrove.

Critical reception

Critic John Camper of the ''

Chicago Daily News The ''Chicago Daily News'' was an afternoon daily newspaper in the midwestern United States, published between 1875 and 1978 in Chicago, Illinois. History The ''Daily News'' was founded by Melville E. Stone, Percy Meggy, and William Doughert ...

'' found little positive about the program as he wrote, "YOU try to think of something interesting to say about it." He noted about D'Angelo, "With practically no evidence he intuits the entire convoluted murder plot by the end of Act iV". Dwight Newton, writing in the '' San Francisco Examiner'', compared ''Bert D'Angelo'' to the film ''

Dirty Harry ''Dirty Harry'' is a 1971 American neo-noir action thriller film produced and directed by Don Siegel, the first in the ''Dirty Harry'' series. Clint Eastwood plays the title role, in his first outing as San Francisco Police Department (SFP ...

'' (1971), dubbing D'Angelo "Dirty Bert" because the TV character bent rules like the film character did. Newton described the show as "similar slop" to the film and called the program a "garbage-heap clinker". He praised Sorvino for his performance: "Sorvino imbues his cop role with vitality, finesse, humaneness and, when called upon, great roaring fervor".

Episodes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bert D'Angelo Superstar 1976 American television series debuts 1976 American television series endings American Broadcasting Company original programming 1970s American crime television series Television shows set in San Francisco Television series by CBS Studios