To celebrate the birthday of Art Metrano this reviewer is kicking off a week long look at 7 guest starring roles from the 70's & 80's by the man also known as The Great Metrano. So lets get started with day one: Kojak season one: One for the Morgue.
The episode starts off with a bang as our guest star of the week appears in the opening shot, dancing in the street as Michael X. Tomasso, Founder and President of the Lower Manhattan Protective Association. The occasion is a celebration in honor of Tomasso himself. His followers are out to cheer him on (and dance with him) and the police (including homicide detective Kojak) are there to protect him. But still two colored thugs manage to slip through the cracks and take a few shots at Michael X. Tomasso survives thanks to a Kevlar vest but an innocent old lady isn't so lucky. She becomes the titular 'one for the morgue', as uttered by the title character himself.
After that the Great Metrano disappears for most of the episode, which is unfortunate for this review. But at least his role was more substantial than in the Partridge Family season one episode "A Partridge by Any Other Name", in which our man only appears in one shot and has about three lines.
So let's take a moment to talk about Theo Kojak. Keep in mind that this is only the third regular episode so not all of his catchphrases and trademarks are in place yet (most noticeably the lollipops are missing). I recently found this interesting comparison written by Columbo creators Richard Levinson and William Link: "If Columbo was a shabby cop in elegant surroundings, Kojak was just the opposite: an elegant cop in shabby surroundings, with macho Greek bravado in place of Columbo's rumpled humanity."
Indeed, Telly Savalas plays Kojak with so much self confidence and so little respect for any of the other characters that he kind off forces the audience to love him (or else). Kojak treats both friend and foe as little children that he's teaching a lesson. Even his superior at the precinct, Captain McNeil (Dan Frazer), seems to accept being waltzed over by Lt. Kojak all the time.
And although Telly doesn't have the lollipop to fiddle around with yet, not a single prop on set is safe from his hands. Every time he's exits McNeil's office he turns around a little framed trophy just for fun, leaving McNeil to shake his head and chuckle weakly. In another scene he's carrying two bags with enormous fishes sticking out of them while discussing the case with undercover cop Gil. Before leaving, Theo hands Gil one of the fish and tells him "for your mother". Again, Gil accepts this with only a slight raise of the eyebrows. I guess all the guys at the precinct must have seen Savalas' performance in The Dirty Dozen and after-wards accepted that no one is tougher than Telly.
The following paragraph will be especially spoilerific because this review is still meant to focus on guest star Metrano, so be warned.
Tomasso finally reappears around the 30 minute mark as Kojak begins to figure out that Tomasso ordered the hit on his life himself. Which means M.X. is responsible for the poor little old lady's death. And that's something Kojak just can't let slip (also the fact that Tomasso tried to pull a fast one on the entire police department). The Lieutenant sets a trap using young Mitch DuBois, the thug who actually shot the old lady (he is easily recognizable from the earlier scene because of his giant afro and matching sideburns).
Tomasso figures out that Mitch has squealed and tries to shoot the young punk as soon as he's released, clumsily firing a shotgun from a moving vehicle. But Kojak and co are already right behind him and Tomasso's driver ducks into an empty bar, car and all. The Great M. makes a run for it, but he's limping so he doesn't have a chance against Kojak, who shoots him down, but not fatally. When Tomasso is on the ground clutching his leg it's a bit unclear if this is because he was already limping or Kojak just shot him in the leg, or possibly both.
Good episode, albeit rather Metrano lite but Kojak's bravado makes up for it.
7 out of 10. Happy birthday, Art!
The Great Metrano week will continue tomorrow with Starsky and Hutch: Nightlight
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