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.
Seasons
1. Slow Boy (1)
Air Date: 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.
2. Slow Boy (2)
Air Date: 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.
3. Dangerous Games
Air Date: 1973-10-02
Undercover cop Charlie Czonka tries to catch the big man behind a ring of prostitution, dope and extortion
4. Requiem for an Informer
Air Date: 1973-10-09
A down-and-out addict becomes an informer for the bank robbery detail and wins the friendship of a cop.
5. The Ten Year Honeymoon
Air Date: 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.
6. The Violent Homecoming
Air Date: 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.
7. The Ho Chi Minh Trail
Air Date: 1973-11-06
An undercover cop nearly loses his life trying to crack a big-time drug-selling operation.
8. Collision Course
Air Date: 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.
9. Death on Credit
Air Date: 1973-11-27
Sergeant Rick Calvelli works undercover in order to crack a phony credit card ring that plays dangerously.
10. The Big Walk
Air Date: 1973-12-04
A beat cop has his newly established authority challenged when a wealthy girl he arrests avoids retribution in court.
11. Man on the Rack
Air Date: 1973-12-11
An unauthodox cop accidentally kills a fellow officer and is put under investigation by Internal Affairs.
12. Line of Fire
Air Date: 1973-12-18
A young police officer joins a special unit and must learn to cope with killing.
13. Chain of Command
Air Date: 1974-01-08
The possibility of a conspiracy to murder cops creates a war between a black community and the police.
14. Countdown (1)
Air Date: 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.
15. Countdown (2)
Air Date: 1974-01-22
The police clash head-on with the Mob when a contract is taken out on Officer Joe LaFrieda's life.
16. Cop in the Middle
Air Date: 1974-01-29
A cop on the take devises a plan to save himself from disgrace.
17. The Ripper
Air Date: 1974-02-12
Two officers from Robbery-Homicide attempt to track down a killer of homosexuals who mutilates the bodies of his victims.
18. Country Boy
Air Date: 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.
19. Big John Morrison
Air Date: 1974-02-26
Two detectives become emotionally involved in a case when a friend is the victim of a robber/rapist/murderer.
20. Wyatt Earp Syndrome
Air Date: 1974-03-05
As an officer tracks down a rapist, his marriage dissolves in favor of his badge.
21. Fingerprint
Air Date: 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.
22. Chief
Air Date: 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.
23. The Gamble
Air Date: 1974-03-26
The transfer of desk officer Lisa Beaumont to the vice squad leads to a series of explosive developments.
1. A Dangerous Age
Air Date: 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.
2. Requiem for C.Z. Smith
Air Date: 1974-09-17
3. Robbery: 48 Hours
Air Date: 1974-09-24
4. Fathers and Sons
Air Date: 1974-10-01
5. A World Full of Hurt
Air Date: 1974-10-08
6. Glamour Boy
Air Date: 1974-10-29
7. Across the Line
Air Date: 1974-11-12
8. Wolf
Air Date: 1974-11-19
9. Love, Mabel
Air Date: 1974-11-26
10. Explosion
Air Date: 1974-12-03
11. Capt. Hook
Air Date: 1974-12-17
12. Incident in the Kill Zone
Air Date: 1975-01-07
13. Headhunter
Air Date: 1975-01-14
14. Year of the Dragon (1)
Air Date: 1975-01-21
15. Year of the Dragon (2)
Air Date: 1975-01-28
16. To Steal a Million
Air Date: 1975-02-04
17. Sniper
Air Date: 1975-02-11
18. The Execution
Air Date: 1975-02-18
19. The Man in the Shadows
Air Date: 1975-02-25
20. War Games
Air Date: 1975-03-04
21. The Witness
Air Date: 1975-03-11
22. The Return of Joe Forrester
Air Date: 1975-05-06
1. Officer Needs Help
Air Date: 1975-09-09
2. The Cutting Edge
Air Date: 1975-09-16
3. A Community of Victims
Air Date: 1975-09-23
4. The Losing Game
Air Date: 1975-09-30
5. The Cut Man Caper
Air Date: 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.
6. Face for a Shadow
Air Date: 1975-11-07
7. The Test of Brotherhood
Air Date: 1975-11-14
8. Empty Weapon
Air Date: 1975-11-21
9. Little Boy Lost
Air Date: 1975-11-28
10. Vice: Twenty-Four Hours
Air Date: 1975-12-05
11. Breaking Point
Air Date: 1975-12-12
12. Company Man
Air Date: 1975-12-19
13. Spanish Class
Air Date: 1976-01-02
14. Odyssey of Death (1)
Air Date: 1976-01-09
15. Odyssey of Death (2)
Air Date: 1976-01-16
16. The Other Side of the Fence
Air Date: 1976-01-23
17. Fifty Cents, First Half Hour -- One Dollar and Seventy-Five Cents All Day
Air Date: 1976-01-30
18. Firebird
Air Date: 1976-02-06
19. The Long Ball
Air Date: 1976-02-13
20. Eamon Kinsella Royce
Air Date: 1976-02-20
21. Officer Dooly
Air Date: 1976-03-05
22. Open City
Air Date: 1976-03-12
1. Payment Deferred
Air Date: 1976-09-21
2. Bought and Paid For
Air Date: 1976-10-05
3. Two Frogs on a Mongoose
Air Date: 1976-10-12
4. The Other Side of the Badge
Air Date: 1976-10-26
5. Three Days to Thirty
Air Date: 1976-11-09
6. Trash Detail, Front and Center
Air Date: 1976-11-16
7. Thanksgiving
Air Date: 1976-11-23
8. Monster Manor
Air Date: 1976-11-30
9. Oxford Gray
Air Date: 1976-12-07
10. The Jar (1)
Air Date: 1976-12-14
11. The Jar (2)
Air Date: 1976-12-21
12. Trial Board
Air Date: 1977-01-04
13. Spitfire
Air Date: 1977-01-11
14. Nightmare on a Sunday Morning
Air Date: 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.
15. The Malflores
Air Date: 1977-01-25
16. The Blue Fog
Air Date: 1977-02-01
17. Hard Rock Brown
Air Date: 1977-02-15
18. End of the Line
Air Date: 1977-02-22
19. One of Our Cops Is Crazy
Air Date: 1977-03-01
20. Ice Time
Air Date: 1977-03-08
21. The Six Foot Stretch
Air Date: 1977-03-22
22. Prime Rib
Air Date: 1977-04-05
1. Pressure Point
Air Date: 1977-09-27
2. Stigma
Air Date: 1977-11-09
3. River of Promises
Air Date: 1978-01-14
4. Day of Terror, Night of Fear
Air Date: 1978-03-04
5. The Broken Badge
Air Date: 1978-03-19
6. No Margin for Error
Air Date: 1978-04-30
A cop is consumed by guilt after innocent bystanders are killed in police shoot-outs.
7. A Chance to Live
Air Date: 1978-05-28
The head of an undercover narcotics division assigns a young policeman to infiltrate a high-school drug ring.
8. A Cry for Justice
Air Date: 1979-05-23
9. Confessions of a Lady Cop
Air Date: 1980-04-02
Career and personal pressures bring a vice investigator to the brink of a nervous breakdown.
10. The Freeway Killings
Air Date: 1987-05-03
Police officers deal with personal and professional dilemmas as they search Los Angeles for a highway killer.
1. The Cop Killers
Air Date: 1988-10-29
A patrolman's guilt over the death of his partner leads him into a relationship with the dead man's widow.
2. Gladiator School
Air Date: 1988-11-05
A cop becomes the object of inmate vengeance after a trumped-up murder charge puts him behind prison walls.
3. The Watch Commander
Air Date: 1988-11-12
The wife of a veteran cop becomes increasingly concerned over her husband's intense devotion to his men and duty.
4. Burnout
Air Date: 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.
5. Monster Manor (remake)
Air Date: 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.
Select an episode to start watching
Rating
7.1/10
Release Date
1973-03-20
Episodes
104 (6 seasons)
Status
Ended