Felony Squad is a half-hour television
crime drama originally broadcast on the
ABC network from
September 12,
1966 to
January 31,
1969, a span encompassing seventy-three episodes.
Overview
The program starred
Howard Duff (as
Sergeant Sam Stone) and
Dennis Cole (as Detective Jim Briggs) as investigators in a major crimes unit. The setting was an unidentified West Coast city. 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 entitled,
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 a sponsor's objection about being associated with the word "evil," the show's title was changed.
For the first two years of the show's run it was broadcast on Monday nights, with 30 episodes comprising a season's run. In the fall of
1968 it was switched to 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 with the ABC legal drama
Judd, for the Defense, starring
Carl Betz. 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 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 less than six months after
Felony Squad left the air.
Guest stars
- Don Keefer as Harry Jocelyn in "A Most Proper Killing" (1967)
- Lana Wood as Sherry Martin in "The Last Man in the World" (1967)
