Police Story

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This article is about the American TV series 'Police Story', for the Jackie Chan film see Police Story (film), for the Roddenberry pilot, see Police Story (1967)

Police Story was an anthology television drama on the NBC broadcast network from the years 1973 through 1977. The show was the brainchild of author and former policeman Joseph Wambaugh and represented a major step forward in the realistic depiction of police work and violence on network TV.

Although it was an anthology there were certain things every episode had in common. The main character in each episode was, obviously, some kind of police officer. The setting was always Los Angeles. The cops always worked for some branch of the LAPD. Also, notwithstanding the anthology format, there were recurring characters. Scott Brady appeared in more than a dozen episodes as "Vinnie," a former cop who, upon retirement, had opened a bar catering especially to police officers, and who acted as a sort of Greek chorus during the run of the series, commenting on the characters and plots. Tony Lo Bianco and Don Meredith made several appearances as Robbery-Homicide partners Tony Calabrese and Bert Jameson. Other recurring characters included surveillance specialist Joe LaFrieda, played by Vic Morrow, and vice cop turned homicide detective Charlie Czonka, played by James Farentino.

The anthology format made the show an excellent venue to try out characters and settings for series development, and, during its broadcast run, Police Story generated three different spin-offs. The first season episode, "The Gamble," starring Angie Dickinson, became the pilot for Police Woman. "The Return of Joe Forrester," a second season episode starring Lloyd Bridges, was developed into the weekly series Joe Forrester. "A Chance to Live," an episode from the fifth season with David Cassidy, became Man Undercover

In later seasons, perhaps because of the expense of maintaining the anthology format on a weekly basis, Police Story became a series of irregularly scheduled TV-movies.

At its best the show represented some of television's finest moments, and paved the way for the groundbreaking Hill Street Blues and its successors including NYPD Blue and Homicide: Life on the Street.

Two episodes received an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for Best Episode in a Television Series : "Requiem for an Informer", written by Sy Salkowitz (from the first season), and "Requiem for C.Z. Smith", by Robert E. Collins (second season). In 1976, the show won the Emmy award for Best Drama Series.