Earlier in this season of Adam-12, a drunk driver, nude, was played for laughs. In this episode, a drunk driver is played seriously as a pedestrian is struck and killed. The actor portraying the drunk, Foster Brooks, would be well known for playing a drunk for laughs on numerous editions of the Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts in the mid to late 1970s. His performances were always quite funny. Yet, he would always reveal his actual sobriety after the conclusion of his act. So with this episode, it would seem that the production/producers were now going to be honest in presenting the possible horrors of drunk driving. Well, no. Just a couple of episodes later, another drunk driver and his drunk passenger wife, are again played for laughs. A shame, from this 53 years later point of view.
The previous episode and the next episode feature witnesses to crimes who give really lousy, differing descriptions of the bad guys. In this episode, a description of a bad guy (who stole from a Bell-ringing, city street-corner Santa Claus - the Cad!) is so good down to the smallest detail, that Malloy and Reed are able to spot the criminal in next-to-no-time, a bit of a ways down the street. An oddity arises from this as M & R had gotten back in the squad car and had driven away from where Santa was collecting donations. Yet, when the partners confront the beret-wearing bad guy, Santa is there in a split second, attempting with great anger, to split the bad guy's head open. Santa's witness is right there too. Had they been running, chasing Adam-12 down the street in the happenstance that the Officers would by share luck, very soon nab the criminal?
A moment of joy occurs as Reed slaps a pair of handcuffs on the attacking Santa. A little girl strolls up and berates Reed for arresting Santa Claus. And on Christmas Eve! Reed nonchalantly, and with a big, happy smile, informs the kid that "this isn't the real Santa Claus." The girl responds all sad and confused. A growing mob murmurs with disdain at Reed's lack of care in his explanation to the girl. Reed nervously looks to the girl's Mother for aid in calming the child's worries. Mom responds with a facial expression of, "Thanks for ruining Santa Claus for my kid, you jerk."
Reed also pulls duty to present Sergeant MacDonald with a very run-of-the-mill Christmas gift on behalf of the Precinct Officers. (Mac is just thrilled. Yawn.) The partners also deal with a severely depressed young shoplifter Mom. She wanted to get arrested so that Child Services would take her children away and hopefully provide them with some Christmas joy. Which she herself is not able to do, thanks to the childrens father who abandoned them all. A sad situation from the 1970s which unfortunately continues for many even as of this writing in 2023.
Somewhat changed in 2023 is the treatment of Native Americans as presented in this 1970 Adam-12 episode. Well, they're not referred to as "indians" anymore as they are in this episode. Changes other than that... ? Here, the "indians", a young couple with a toddler, say they're from the state of New Mexico, yet they don't know how lit Street-Crossing signals work. (However, the show's concluding credits always claim that the stories presented are all true.) Malloy and Reed teach them how to cross a busy city street. Malloy and Reed do not teach them how to locate a place to spend the night. The Officers later discover the couple sleeping in an open area of land. A lit fire warms them in the frosty Los Angeles night. Panic sets in when it is discovered that the couples' child has wandered away from camp. Malloy and Reed call in the troops and organize a search party. Thankfully, the large, lit, white Cross of a nearby church shines in the distance over the open wilderness. The small child, finding it a beacon of beauty, has been drawn toward it. To get to it though, her path leads her to the edge of a horrifying cliff! Reed saves her and returns to hero status (after the ordeal with Santa, the handcuffs and the other little girl.) The Adam-12 Season of the Child continues on. Then too, how could it not, in this fine Christmas themed episode?
And as Tiny Officer Ed Wells was known to say... "God Bless us, Everyone!"
The previous episode and the next episode feature witnesses to crimes who give really lousy, differing descriptions of the bad guys. In this episode, a description of a bad guy (who stole from a Bell-ringing, city street-corner Santa Claus - the Cad!) is so good down to the smallest detail, that Malloy and Reed are able to spot the criminal in next-to-no-time, a bit of a ways down the street. An oddity arises from this as M & R had gotten back in the squad car and had driven away from where Santa was collecting donations. Yet, when the partners confront the beret-wearing bad guy, Santa is there in a split second, attempting with great anger, to split the bad guy's head open. Santa's witness is right there too. Had they been running, chasing Adam-12 down the street in the happenstance that the Officers would by share luck, very soon nab the criminal?
A moment of joy occurs as Reed slaps a pair of handcuffs on the attacking Santa. A little girl strolls up and berates Reed for arresting Santa Claus. And on Christmas Eve! Reed nonchalantly, and with a big, happy smile, informs the kid that "this isn't the real Santa Claus." The girl responds all sad and confused. A growing mob murmurs with disdain at Reed's lack of care in his explanation to the girl. Reed nervously looks to the girl's Mother for aid in calming the child's worries. Mom responds with a facial expression of, "Thanks for ruining Santa Claus for my kid, you jerk."
Reed also pulls duty to present Sergeant MacDonald with a very run-of-the-mill Christmas gift on behalf of the Precinct Officers. (Mac is just thrilled. Yawn.) The partners also deal with a severely depressed young shoplifter Mom. She wanted to get arrested so that Child Services would take her children away and hopefully provide them with some Christmas joy. Which she herself is not able to do, thanks to the childrens father who abandoned them all. A sad situation from the 1970s which unfortunately continues for many even as of this writing in 2023.
Somewhat changed in 2023 is the treatment of Native Americans as presented in this 1970 Adam-12 episode. Well, they're not referred to as "indians" anymore as they are in this episode. Changes other than that... ? Here, the "indians", a young couple with a toddler, say they're from the state of New Mexico, yet they don't know how lit Street-Crossing signals work. (However, the show's concluding credits always claim that the stories presented are all true.) Malloy and Reed teach them how to cross a busy city street. Malloy and Reed do not teach them how to locate a place to spend the night. The Officers later discover the couple sleeping in an open area of land. A lit fire warms them in the frosty Los Angeles night. Panic sets in when it is discovered that the couples' child has wandered away from camp. Malloy and Reed call in the troops and organize a search party. Thankfully, the large, lit, white Cross of a nearby church shines in the distance over the open wilderness. The small child, finding it a beacon of beauty, has been drawn toward it. To get to it though, her path leads her to the edge of a horrifying cliff! Reed saves her and returns to hero status (after the ordeal with Santa, the handcuffs and the other little girl.) The Adam-12 Season of the Child continues on. Then too, how could it not, in this fine Christmas themed episode?
And as Tiny Officer Ed Wells was known to say... "God Bless us, Everyone!"
