The Great Taxicab Stampede (16 Jan. 1977)

Framed for killing a taxicab driver -- actually, the driver's boss, who is being investigated by the police for drug trafficking, did it-- McCloud must deal with the victim's Israeli Army sister, who's coming after him with a gun.

Director:

Ivan Dixon

Writers:

Herman Miller (creator), Gregory S. Dinallo (story),

Stars:

Dennis Weaver, J.D. Cannon, Terry Carter

Cast

Episode credited cast:
Dennis Weaver	...	Sam McCloud
J.D. Cannon	...	Peter B. Clifford
Terry Carter	...	Sergeant Joe Broadhurst
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Don Brodie	...	Funeral Director (as Don L. Brodie)
Patti Chandler	...	Police Woman (as Patricia Chandler)
Sidney Clute	...	Det. Simms
Lois De Banzie	...	Gillian
Ben Frommer	...	Winegar
Bob Golden	...	Jerry
George Hamilton	...	Keith Hampton
James Ingersoll	...	David Kessler
Ernie Lively	...	Bartender (as Ernie Brown)
Alan Manson	...	Murray Gutman
Tom Moses	...	Ted Richards
Patricia Quinn	...	Eileen Mitchell

Storyline

Framed for killing a taxicab driver -- actually, the driver's boss, who is being investigated by the police for drug trafficking, did it-- McCloud must deal with the victim's Israeli Army sister, who's coming after him with a gun.

---

Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

---

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 January 1977 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Glen A. Larson Productions, Universal TV

Technical Specs

Runtime:

74 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This episode aired against (and got clobbered in the ratings by) the ABC Sunday movie-of-the-week "Little Ladies of the Night," which in turn was attributed (by Variety) to have taken its inspiration from a "McCloud" episode "The Barefoot Girls of Bleecker Street" (episode 5.1).

---

Goofs

McCloud's gun makes four different sounds when he fires it during the episode, including two different sounds on consecutive gunshots. (Keith Hampton's gun also makes two different sounds on consecutive shots; he and McCloud are firing at each other.)

---

Quotes

Sam McCloud: [after he and a whole army of Yellow Cabs have completely boxed in villain Keith Hampton in Times Square] Who says you can't get a cab in New York these days?

---

Crazy Credits

For American television, the opening of this show is a cut-down version of the classic main title (stopping after the fourth guest star; the remaining credits are shown over establishing shots in the show itself). But for German television (Ein Sheriff in New York: Die Racherin"), a title sequence from the 1974-75 season is used with the names freshly reprinted. But they left out producers Ronald Satlof and Michael Sloan and co-writer Sloan!

User Reviews

Sheer audaciousness

Michael Sloan follows up on his "Bonnie and McCloud" misfire with a show that by all rights should get a zero rating, but scores some points for sheer audaciousness. As with the previous show, Sloan (who co-produced this one with Ronald Satlof) spends money like water and created plot devices to leave the viewer slack-jawed with astonishment at how bad they are. Rookie director Ivan Dixon (a former "Hogan's Heroes" co-star) stages action scenes well, but character development is sorely lacking. And you gotta love how an illegal Israeli immigrant has a perfect American accent, while his Israeli-army sister speaks very UK English (Jane Seymour was new to America at the time ... she used the accent to her advantage in her later shows). In the chopped-down version I have on tape, third-billed Patricia Quinn has almost nothing to do. And why is Simms, the least interesting of the supporting-cast detectives, given the big part as the hireling to the villain? For that matter, does Simms survive the shootout at The Arches (apparently in the Battery district and serving as a garage for the cabs) ... he rolls over when McCloud comes to him and later McCloud gets on the horn and tells dispatch that "there's a wounded man back at The Arches ... all the other villains except the fleeing Keith Hampton are stone dead). Although having an apparently friendly character be a bad guy is common now, it was way out of place in 1976-77. Logic takes a huge powder in many sequences -- the odds had to be a million to one that the bullet that killed David Kessler would wind up lodged in a park bench (which is not in the long shot when McCloud hears the shot and returns fire) ... and if McCloud's description of events is correct, David Kessler was running straight toward him! (The bullet is also face-high to McCloud -- he describes it whistling by his ear -- so how did it dip to hit the bench?) But Michael Sloan -- who evidently had naked contempt for his audience -- gets some points for being this brazen.