Kojak (1973–1978)

A bald police detective with a firey righteous attitude battles crime in his city.

Creator:

Abby Mann

Stars:

Telly Savalas, Dan Frazer, Kevin Dobson

Won 3 Golden Globes. Another 11 wins & 26 nominations.

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Telly Savalas	...	Lt. Theo Kojak (118 episodes, 1973-1978)
Dan Frazer	...	Capt. Frank McNeil (117 episodes, 1973-1978)
Kevin Dobson	...	Det. Bobby Crocker (117 episodes, 1973-1978)
George Savalas	...	Det. Stavros (115 episodes, 1973-1978)
Mark Russell	...	Det. Saperstein (75 episodes, 1974-1978)
Vince Conti	...	Det. Rizzo (67 episodes, 1974-1978)

Storyline

Lt. Theo Kojak is the main character in this popular television police drama. Kojak is a tough cop, but his trademark is a fondness for lollipops. Despite his difficult work, he tirelessly brings criminals to justice while staying upbeat and good-natured.

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Plot Keywords:

kojak | detective | city | police | bald | 

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Taglines:

Who loves ya, baby?

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 October 1973 (USA)

Also Known As:

Einsatz in Manhattan

Filming Locations:

Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal TV

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min 60 min (118 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Aspect Ratio:

4:3

Did You Know?

Trivia

Although it is stated numerous times that Theo Kojak is of Greek heritage, the name "Kojak" is actually of Polish origin. Kojak's heritage was changed to Greek in order to match Telly Savalas's Greek heritage.

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Quotes

Kojak: You can't corrupt it. And you know why? Because to corrupt it, you've got to show how corrupt you really are.

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Connections

Referenced in Saturday Night Live: Madeline Kahn/Taj Mahal (1977)

User Reviews

We Need The Rest Of The Seasons On DVD For The Real Kojak

Overall, this disappointed me because it wasn't the Kojak remembered until the final few episodes of this first season: you know, the "Who loves ya baby?" Kojak played so well by Telly Savalas.

It took half the episodes before Kojak even sucked on his first lollipop. In other words, the "Theo Kojak" as we remember him, took almost a year to develop and that took up most of this disk. I am hopeful that more seasons will come out on DVD because those would all be what I was looking for in the first place. So far, I haven't heard any word of that happening. Maybe this first season DVD did not sell well.

The last month of this season, when the shows got a lot more entertaining, were so not only because Kojak came to life but humor was injected with "Stavros" (George Savalas) and his pet plant "Shirley," as well as a few other neat touches.

One of the episodes in this first set interested me because it starred Lola Albright, the blonde who was a knockout on the old Peter Gunn television series. It was interesting to see her after a long absence. Speaking of women, this was the first look I had of Kojak's girlfriend who was something else - a great looker - but suddenly disappeared and never came back with no explanation!

The most interesting of the earlier shows was the one that featured James Woods as a student in a crime class. If you know Woods, you know he wound up playing an intense, evil guy.

The cast in here is good. Kojak's boss, "Frank" (Dan Frazer) was a good guy as was one of Kojak's assistants "Crocker" (Kevin Dobson) who got more screen time as the series went on. Stavros was always fun to watch, especially Kojak calling him "Curly" or "Fatso" or "Baldy."

Now that everything is on a roll, please, give us the rest of the series!