The Rookies 

The trials and adventures of three young police officers.

Creators:

William Blinn, Rita Lakin

Stars:

Georg Stanford Brown, Sam Melville, Gerald S. O'Loughlin

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Georg Stanford Brown	...	Officer Terry Webster / ... 93 episodes, 1972-1976
Sam Melville	...	Officer Mike Danko / ... 93 episodes, 1972-1976
Gerald S. O'Loughlin	...	Lt. Ed Ryker / ... 92 episodes, 1972-1976
Kate Jackson	...	Jill Danko 92 episodes, 1972-1976
Michael Ontkean	...	Officer Willie Gillis / ... 47 episodes, 1972-1974
Bruce Fairbairn	...	Officer Chris Owens / ... 46 episodes, 1974-1976

Storyline

The exploits of three rookie police officers in a large unnamed Southern California city are followed in this weekly series. Mike Danko is a married former marine, Willie Gillis is a recent college graduate and Terry Webster joined the police as part of a special minority recruitment plan. Their supervisor is Lt. Eddie Riker and Jill is Mike's worried wife who works as a nurse at the local hospital.

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Plot Keywords:

police | nurse | rookie policeman | rookie cop | married to a police officer | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 March 1972 (USA)

Also Known As:

Neu im Einsatz

Filming Locations:

10535 Rose Ave, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Spelling-Goldberg Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min (92 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

4:3

Did You Know?

Trivia

Sam Melville, who played police officer and husband Mike Danko, to Kate Jackson's wife and nurse Jill Danko on this show, later played ex-husband Joe King to Jackson's title character Mrs. Amanda King on Scarecrow and Mrs. King (1983).

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Quotes

Lt. Ryker: [Repeated line at rollcall] Check your pidmaps!... Hit the streets!

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Connections

Followed by The Rookies: Pilot (1972)

User Reviews

High quality production, good acting, but preachy.

The Rookies was one of my favorite "cop shows" from what I think was one of the best periods of time for television. Production quality was very high for a weekly series, each episode had the quality of an hour long feature film - only with commercial breaks. Of course, the clothes, vehicles, music, and a lot of the language is dated today, but I don't have a problem with that since I was in my early 20's during that time. The drama centers around three rookie police officers in a large metropolitan police force, who daily struggle with the social issues of the day -- drugs, crime, racism, homosexuality, prostitution, you-name-it. I agree with what one other commentor said about "reverse racism" in the manner that the Michael Ontkean character, Officer Willie Gillis, is used as an example of the social cluelessness of white, middle-class males. In fact, it was my observation of how the Gillis character was portrayed that woke me up to Hollywood's liberal agenda, and caused me to start thinking a lot more critically when shown something on the silver screen or TV labeled as "entertainment" but really meant as liberal political propaganda.

The politics aside, this series gives one a look at very high quality TV production, and some great acting. The Kate Jackson character (Jill Danko) shows us a real woman -- caring, loving, concerned -- but without yet having grown the liberal, male-bashing chip on her shoulder that would later become sine qua non in future female characters. The men, however, seem to have been considerably "softened up" -- the Officer Gillis character in particular. This series probably draws the line between TV's golden era and the mandatory liberal indoctrination of the present day. This is where the Marxist social brainwashing started, but it is still enjoyable to watch.