Chopper One (1974– )

California cops Foley & Burdick fight crime from a helicopter.

Stars:

Jim McMullan, Dirk Benedict, Ted Hartley

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Jim McMullan	...	Officer Don Burdick (13 episodes, 1974)
Dirk Benedict	...	Officer Gil Foley (13 episodes, 1974)

Storyline

Officers Don Burdick and Gil Foley battle crime in a major city in Southern California from the air. They are "chopper" pilots who aid officers in "black-and-white"'s by contributing added surveillance or assisting in chases of suspects. Sometimes they have their own problems to worry about, such as snipers. Mitch was Gil & Don's crusty mechanic, while the two men received their orders from Capt. McKeegan.

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Plot Keywords:

helicopter | police

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 January 1974 (USA)

Also Known As:

Héli-patrouille

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Spelling-Goldberg Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min 30 min (13 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

User Reviews

Fond memories

If memory serves, "Chopper One" played in the half-hour before ABC's "Firehouse." Those were my two favorite shows at the time. I couldn't tell you whether the show was actually good, but it was probably on par with every other cop show (except maybe "The Rookies"). I was a much less critical viewer at age 9.

Although I haven't seen an episode since they first aired, I still have memories of them: At the beginning of one episode, for example, the chopper lands with a kite tangled in the rotor blades; Mitch calls it a "five-cent disaster" or some such colorful term. In (another?) episode, the chopper is hijacked by bad guys. Foley stays on the ground while Burdick flies the chopper; in an attempt to psyche out the bad guys, one of the cops says, "Engine goes out on a chopper, you drop like a rock." At the climax, the chopper flies behind a hill and there's a huge explosion. Foley subdues his bad guy and it turns out that Burdick cleverly dropped an external fuel tank to fake a crash. Classic.