There are quite a few depictions of the New York City Police Department and some of the individual members of that organization on this list of The 400 Most Notable TV Shows Set in New York City. Let's face it, cop shows are ideal for television... it's often life or death, it's action, it's adventure, it's good versus bad and it takes place in an area you might have visited on your way around this here town.
"N. Y. P. D." was kind of the heir apparent to another program on this list: 346's "East Side West Side." David Susskind was one of the producers of both series and they each featured the gritty realism, the tensions and the issues that actual New Yorkers were facing at the times of their broadcasts.
Granted, "East Side West Side" aired in 1963 and dealt mostly with social work, so the criminal element was not as frequent, but that program put Black Americans out front where the whole nation could see them as part of our society, and this show, likewise, displayed the full range of the population of 1967 New York, making it another groundbreaking series for TV.
Interestingly, where "East Side West Side" was an hour long program, this was a thirty minute affair, packing twice the action into half the time. Jack Warden played Lieutenant Mike Haines, and his two prime detectives were Jeff Ward, played by Robert Hooks and Johnny Corso, played by Frank Converse.
New York played a part because Susskind and his fellow producers worked with the department depicted, as they did in that previous series, and used actual cases as the starting point for their drama. And because the characters were detectives, they covered crime throughout the city, so you got to see a lot of realistic portrayals of circumstances NYC citizens were facing, all over town.
Because of the show's time constraints, there wasn't a lot of time for pleasantries, off the cuff humor or even a run to the local Chock Full o' Nuts for a powdered donut and a coffee. This was a show about the facts, about the crime and about serving justice and there were fistfights, shootouts, and arrests galore.
To its credit, "N. Y. P. D."'s Lt. Haines didn't treat Detective Ward any differently than Detective Corso, which was another element that was important for audiences of the day to see. Both the Black officer and the White officer were handled exactly the same, with the same respect, same acknowledgement and the same care. Remember, this is 1967.
This program was also one of the first network shows to feature African American writers, including Lonnie Elder, who would eventually receive an Academy Award nomination for his adaptation of the book "Sounder" for the screen, the first ever Black nominee in that category.
Just like "East Side West Side," this program attracted some powerhouse actors to perform, and a brief listing of performers who appeared included Al Pacino, James Earl Jones, Blythe Danner, Donna McKechnie, Harvey Keitel, Ossie Davis, and a laundry list of others, many of whom were unknown during their appearance here, who have gone on to incredible fame and success.
I think the reason why this series isn't seen anymore is also why most police procedurals don't have a very long shelf life. The style of the show was meant for the time that it originally aired. Now, these stories seem overwrought and the action just wouldn't be believed by a viewer, today. At the time, there was a much bigger sense that police vigilantism was something to be appreciated for the sake of protecting the streets, but, in 2024, those are things that might get a cop brought up on charges themselves, in our world of bodycams and officer responsibility.
The series also included one of the most iconic images of any from that era: The rooftop shot of a police car, red siren light twirling, as it raced down Broadway towards Times Square, during the show's opening titles.
Classic.
"N. Y. P. D." was kind of the heir apparent to another program on this list: 346's "East Side West Side." David Susskind was one of the producers of both series and they each featured the gritty realism, the tensions and the issues that actual New Yorkers were facing at the times of their broadcasts.
Granted, "East Side West Side" aired in 1963 and dealt mostly with social work, so the criminal element was not as frequent, but that program put Black Americans out front where the whole nation could see them as part of our society, and this show, likewise, displayed the full range of the population of 1967 New York, making it another groundbreaking series for TV.
Interestingly, where "East Side West Side" was an hour long program, this was a thirty minute affair, packing twice the action into half the time. Jack Warden played Lieutenant Mike Haines, and his two prime detectives were Jeff Ward, played by Robert Hooks and Johnny Corso, played by Frank Converse.
New York played a part because Susskind and his fellow producers worked with the department depicted, as they did in that previous series, and used actual cases as the starting point for their drama. And because the characters were detectives, they covered crime throughout the city, so you got to see a lot of realistic portrayals of circumstances NYC citizens were facing, all over town.
Because of the show's time constraints, there wasn't a lot of time for pleasantries, off the cuff humor or even a run to the local Chock Full o' Nuts for a powdered donut and a coffee. This was a show about the facts, about the crime and about serving justice and there were fistfights, shootouts, and arrests galore.
To its credit, "N. Y. P. D."'s Lt. Haines didn't treat Detective Ward any differently than Detective Corso, which was another element that was important for audiences of the day to see. Both the Black officer and the White officer were handled exactly the same, with the same respect, same acknowledgement and the same care. Remember, this is 1967.
This program was also one of the first network shows to feature African American writers, including Lonnie Elder, who would eventually receive an Academy Award nomination for his adaptation of the book "Sounder" for the screen, the first ever Black nominee in that category.
Just like "East Side West Side," this program attracted some powerhouse actors to perform, and a brief listing of performers who appeared included Al Pacino, James Earl Jones, Blythe Danner, Donna McKechnie, Harvey Keitel, Ossie Davis, and a laundry list of others, many of whom were unknown during their appearance here, who have gone on to incredible fame and success.
I think the reason why this series isn't seen anymore is also why most police procedurals don't have a very long shelf life. The style of the show was meant for the time that it originally aired. Now, these stories seem overwrought and the action just wouldn't be believed by a viewer, today. At the time, there was a much bigger sense that police vigilantism was something to be appreciated for the sake of protecting the streets, but, in 2024, those are things that might get a cop brought up on charges themselves, in our world of bodycams and officer responsibility.
The series also included one of the most iconic images of any from that era: The rooftop shot of a police car, red siren light twirling, as it raced down Broadway towards Times Square, during the show's opening titles.
Classic.