Police Story

Police Story is an anthology television crime drama. The show was the brainchild of author and former policeman Joseph Wambaugh and represented a major step forward in the realistic depiction of police work and violence on network TV. Although it was an anthology, there were certain things that all episodes had in common; for instance, the main character in each episode was a police officer. The setting was always Los Angeles and the characters always worked for some branch of the LAPD. Notwithstanding the anthology format, there were recurring characters. Scott Brady appeared in more than a dozen episodes as "Vinnie," a former cop who, upon retirement, had opened a bar catering to police officers, and who acted as a sort of Greek chorus during the run of the series, commenting on the characters and plots.

Creators and Cast

Creators

Rate

Joseph Wambaugh

Creator

Cast

None.

Episodes

Specials

1 episode

S0 E1 · Cop Talk - Interview with Joseph Wambaugh

No summary.

Season 1

23 episodes

S1 E1 · Slow Boy (1)

1973-03-20

A special surveillance detail set up to catch criminals in the act finally nabs Slow Boy while he is robbing a supermarket. Complications arise when the robber takes a hostage before the police can detain him.

S1 E2 · Slow Boy (2)

1973-03-20

A special surveillance detail set up to catch criminals in the act finally nabs Slow Boy while he is robbing a supermarket. Complications arise when the robber takes a hostage before the police can detain him.

S1 E3 · Dangerous Games

1973-10-02

Undercover cop Charlie Czonka tries to catch the big man behind a ring of prostitution, dope and extortion

S1 E4 · Requiem for an Informer

1973-10-09

A down-and-out addict becomes an informer for the bank robbery detail and wins the friendship of a cop.

S1 E5 · The Ten Year Honeymoon

1973-10-23

Two partners on the police force start getting on each other's nerves after ten years together when one begins acting strange.

S1 E6 · Violent Homecoming

1973-10-30

A Mexican-American police sergeant who's been assigned to his original neighborhood leads the Juvenile Division in an attempt to head off a gang war.

S1 E7 · The Ho Chi Minh Trail

1973-11-06

An undercover cop nearly loses his life trying to crack a big-time drug-selling operation.

S1 E8 · Collision Course

1973-11-20

The question of whether or not policewomen should be assigned to ride in patrol cars is brought to the head in a gun battle with two killers.

S1 E9 · Death on Credit

1973-11-27

Sergeant Rick Calvelli works undercover in order to crack a phony credit card ring that plays dangerously.

S1 E10 · The Big Walk

1973-12-04

A beat cop has his newly established authority challenged when a wealthy girl he arrests avoids retribution in court.

S1 E11 · Man on the Rack

1973-12-11

An unauthodox cop accidentally kills a fellow officer and is put under investigation by Internal Affairs.

S1 E12 · Line of Fire

1973-12-18

A young police officer joins a special unit and must learn to cope with killing.

S1 E13 · Chain of Command

1974-01-08

The possibility of a conspiracy to murder cops creates a war between a black community and the police.

S1 E14 · Countdown (1)

1974-01-15

When policeman Joe LaFrieda kills a member of an underworld family during a robbery attempt; a contract is put out on his life.

S1 E15 · Countdown (2)

1974-01-22

The police clash head-on with the Mob when a contract is taken out on Officer Joe LaFrieda's life.

S1 E16 · Cop in the Middle

1974-01-29

A cop on the take devises a plan to save himself from disgrace.

S1 E17 · The Ripper

1974-02-12

Two officers from Robbery-Homicide attempt to track down a killer of homosexuals who mutilates the bodies of his victims.

S1 E18 · Country Boy

1974-02-19

A young recruit from a rural community attempts to defy his background by completing the tough Police Academy training to become a cop.

S1 E19 · Big John Morrison

1974-02-26

Two detectives become emotionally involved in a case when a friend is the victim of a robber/rapist/murderer.

S1 E20 · Wyatt Earp Syndrome

1974-03-05

As an officer tracks down a rapist, his marriage dissolves in favor of his badge.

S1 E21 · Fingerprint

1974-03-12

A police veteran in the Latent Prints Division is discouraged with his job until some unexpected combat gives him a new perspective.

S1 E22 · Chief

1974-03-19

A police chief must overcome an assissination plot and political games in order to speak at a local meeting of police-haters.

S1 E23 · The Gamble

1974-03-26

The transfer of desk officer Lisa Beaumont to the vice squad leads to a series of explosive developments.

Season 2

22 episodes

S2 E1 · A Dangerous Age

1974-09-10

Arch Tatum is close to retirement and is teamed up with a head-strong young trainee who throws a curve for the long time vet.

S2 E2 · Requiem for C.Z. Smith

1974-09-17

No summary.

S2 E3 · Robbery: 48 Hours

1974-09-24

No summary.

S2 E4 · Fathers and Sons

1974-10-01

No summary.

S2 E5 · A World Full of Hurt

1974-10-08

No summary.

S2 E6 · Glamour Boy

1974-10-29

No summary.

S2 E7 · Across the Line

1974-11-12

No summary.

S2 E8 · Wolf

1974-11-19

No summary.

S2 E9 · Love, Mabel

1974-11-26

No summary.

S2 E10 · Explosion

1974-12-03

No summary.

S2 E11 · Capt. Hook

1974-12-17

No summary.

S2 E12 · Incident in the Kill Zone

1975-01-07

No summary.

S2 E13 · Headhunter

1975-01-14

No summary.

S2 E14 · Year of the Dragon (1)

1975-01-21

No summary.

S2 E15 · Year of the Dragon (2)

1975-01-28

No summary.

S2 E16 · To Steal a Million

1975-02-04

No summary.

S2 E17 · Sniper

1975-02-11

No summary.

S2 E18 · The Execution

1975-02-18

No summary.

S2 E19 · The Man in the Shadows

1975-02-25

No summary.

S2 E20 · War Games

1975-03-04

No summary.

S2 E21 · The Witness

1975-03-11

No summary.

S2 E22 · The Return of Joe Forrester

1975-05-06

No summary.

Season 3

22 episodes

S3 E1 · Officer Needs Help

1975-09-09

No summary.

S3 E2 · The Cutting Edge

1975-09-16

No summary.

S3 E3 · A Community of Victims

1975-09-23

No summary.

S3 E4 · The Losing Game

1975-09-30

No summary.

S3 E5 · The Cut Man Caper

1975-10-28

On the trail of loan-company robbers, Tillis is forced to rely upon shifty informer Freddy. But the ""snitch"" is playing both ends down the middle and he's also stolen the expensive miniature voice transmitter entrusted to his care.

S3 E6 · Face for a Shadow

1975-11-07

No summary.

S3 E7 · The Test of Brotherhood

1975-11-14

No summary.

S3 E8 · Empty Weapon

1975-11-21

No summary.

S3 E9 · Little Boy Lost

1975-11-28

No summary.

S3 E10 · Vice: Twenty-Four Hours

1975-12-05

No summary.

S3 E11 · Breaking Point

1975-12-12

No summary.

S3 E12 · Company Man

1975-12-19

No summary.

S3 E13 · Spanish Class

1976-01-02

No summary.

S3 E14 · Odyssey of Death (1)

1976-01-09

No summary.

S3 E15 · Odyssey of Death (2)

1976-01-16

No summary.

S3 E16 · The Other Side of the Fence

1976-01-23

No summary.

S3 E17 · Fifty Cents, First Half Hour -- One Dollar and Seventy-Five Cents All Day

1976-01-30

No summary.

S3 E18 · Firebird

1976-02-06

No summary.

S3 E19 · The Long Ball

1976-02-13

No summary.

S3 E20 · Eamon Kinsella Royce

1976-02-20

No summary.

S3 E21 · Officer Dooly

1976-03-05

No summary.

S3 E22 · Open City

1976-03-12

No summary.

Season 4

22 episodes

S4 E1 · Payment Deferred

1976-09-21

No summary.

S4 E2 · Bought and Paid For

1976-10-05

No summary.

S4 E3 · Two Frogs on a Mongoose

1976-10-12

No summary.

S4 E4 · The Other Side of the Badge

1976-10-26

No summary.

S4 E5 · Three Days to Thirty

1976-11-09

No summary.

S4 E6 · Trash Detail, Front and Center

1976-11-16

No summary.

S4 E7 · Thanksgiving

1976-11-23

No summary.

S4 E8 · Monster Manor

1976-11-30

No summary.

S4 E9 · Oxford Gray

1976-12-07

No summary.

S4 E10 · The Jar (1)

1976-12-14

No summary.

S4 E11 · The Jar (2)

1976-12-21

No summary.

S4 E12 · Trial Board

1977-01-04

No summary.

S4 E13 · Spitfire

1977-01-11

No summary.

S4 E14 · Nightmare on a Sunday Morning

1977-01-18

Holly Green, a 19-year-old waitress is brutally beaten and raped by a pair of creeps, she then reluctantly helps bring her assailants to trial.

S4 E15 · The Malflores

1977-01-25

No summary.

S4 E16 · The Blue Fog

1977-02-01

No summary.

S4 E17 · Hard Rock Brown

1977-02-15

No summary.

S4 E18 · End of the Line

1977-02-22

No summary.

S4 E19 · One of Our Cops Is Crazy

1977-03-01

No summary.

S4 E20 · Ice Time

1977-03-08

No summary.

S4 E21 · The Six Foot Stretch

1977-03-22

No summary.

S4 E22 · Prime Rib

1977-04-05

No summary.

Season 5

10 episodes

S5 E1 · Pressure Point

1977-09-27

No summary.

S5 E2 · Stigma

1977-11-09

No summary.

S5 E3 · River of Promises

1978-01-14

No summary.

S5 E4 · Day of Terror, Night of Fear

1978-03-04

No summary.

S5 E5 · The Broken Badge

1978-03-19

No summary.

S5 E6 · No Margin for Error

1978-04-30

A cop is consumed by guilt after innocent bystanders are killed in police shoot-outs.

S5 E7 · A Chance to Live

1978-05-28

The head of an undercover narcotics division assigns a young policeman to infiltrate a high-school drug ring.

S5 E8 · A Cry for Justice

1979-05-23

No summary.

S5 E9 · Confessions of a Lady Cop

1980-04-02

Career and personal pressures bring a vice investigator to the brink of a nervous breakdown.

S5 E10 · The Freeway Killings

1987-05-03

Police officers deal with personal and professional dilemmas as they search Los Angeles for a highway killer.

Season 6

5 episodes

S6 E1 · The Cop Killers

1988-10-29

A patrolman's guilt over the death of his partner leads him into a relationship with the dead man's widow.

S6 E2 · Gladiator School

1988-11-05

A cop becomes the object of inmate vengeance after a trumped-up murder charge puts him behind prison walls.

S6 E3 · The Watch Commander

1988-11-12

The wife of a veteran cop becomes increasingly concerned over her husband's intense devotion to his men and duty.

S6 E4 · Burnout

1988-11-26

Self-doubts about a failed romance and a friend's suicide begin to take their toll on an emotionally distraught vice cop.

S6 E5 · Monster Manor (remake)

1988-12-03

A scheme to turn an old mansion into a haven for party animals snares misfit cops in a prostitution and drug sting.