"Highway Patrol" (1955) TV series 1955-1959

User Rating:

8.2/10   

Directors:

Lee Berg
Don Brinkley

Writers:

Richard L. Adams (writer)
Marnie Curtis (writer)

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Release Date:

September 1955 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama

Plot:

Powerful patrol cars, fast motorcycles, and superheterodyne two-way radios combine to fight crime on the rural highways of America's wide open spaces.

Plot Keywords:

Radio | Rural | Man Hunt | Police

Cast

Broderick Crawford	...	Chief Dan Mathews / ... (156 episodes, 1955-1959)
Art Gilmore	...	Narrator (156 episodes, 1955-1959)
William Boyett	...	Sergeant Ken Williams / ... (64 episodes, 1955-1959)

Runtime:

30 min (156 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

Lancaster, California, USA

Company:

ZIV Television Programs

Trivia:

The 1955 Buick Century two-door sedan models used by the Highway Patrol were not made available for sale to the general public.

Quotes:

Chief Dan Mathews: 21-50 to headquarters!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: Bob Newhart/The Amazing Rhthym Aces/Bruce Cockburn (#5.18)" (1980)

"10-4"

This series did for the California Highway Patrol what "Dragnet" did for the LAPD; i.e. established a mythology and a standard of professional conduct. I knew two retired CHP officers (both retired in the late 1960s) who loved this series. It is no small joke that in the Dan Aykroyd movie comedy Dragnet, Harry Morgan is watching "Highway Patrol" on TV when Aykroyd's character calls him on the phone. I, too, wish the old tapes had been saved for posterity.