87th Precinct (TV series)
Encyclopedia
87th Precinct is an American crime drama starring Robert Lansing
, Gena Rowlands
, and Ron Harper
, which aired on NBC
on Monday evenings during the 1961–1962 television season.
, patterned on Manhattan
, New York City. Rowlands played Carella's deaf-mute
wife, Teddy. Ron Harper played rookie detective Bert Kling. Other detective roles were portrayed by Gregory Walcott
as seasoned veteran Roger Havilland and Norman Fell
as the eccentric Meyer Meyer.
87th Precinct premiered on September 25, 1961, and concluded its first-run episodes on April 30, 1962. Repeats continued until September 10, 1962. It was a creation of Hubbell Robinson Productions.
The program faced stiff competition on CBS
from The Danny Thomas Show
and its spin-off
, The Andy Griffith Show
. At the time, ABC aired the second and last season of another detective program, Surfside 6
, starring Troy Donahue
and Van Williams
.
In the premiere entitled "The Floater", Carella tails Curt Donaldson (Robert Culp
), a sadistic con man who preys on lonely women.
"Lady in Waiting" on October 2 -- Virginia Colt (played by Constance Ford
) arrives at the precinct house with a gun seeking vengeance on Carella for sending her late husband to prison.
"Lady Killer" on October 9 -- The detectives receive an anonymous note which says only, "I will kill the lady tonight at 8."
"The Very Hard Sale" on December 4 – A used-car salesman named Glenn Cornell takes one of the cars off the lot and drives out to see a prospective buyer named Barrow, played by Leonard Nimoy
. The car is found with Cornell slumped over the wheel. Suicide
or murder?
"Run, Rabbit, Run" on December 25 – A former underworld czar Doug Quinn, who faces execution, announces that the men who helped to convict him will also die. Toots Brendan was the state's key witness against Quinn.
"Give the Boys a Great Big Hand" on January 15—A severed hand found in a dumpster leads the detectives to investigate a murder and to stop the killer from striking again.
"A Bullet for Katie" on February 12—A ten-year-old boy might hold the key to the shooting of the new bride of police officer Bill Miller (played by Ed Nelson
), who suspects that the shooter is an ex-con named Gantry (Harold J. Stone
), who had previously threatened Miller.
"King's Ransom" on February 19 – Two kidnapper
s plot to snatch the son of millionaire Douglas King but they grab the son of King's chauffeur
by mistake. Nancy Reagan
guest stars.
"The Last Stop" on April 23—Mike Power (Victor Jory
) is an embittered, irritating detective demoted to the 87th Precinct shortly before his scheduled retirement. He drives the squad bonkers.
"Girl in a Case", the series finale—Detective Havilland becomes attracted to a stenographer, whose life is being threatened. In the episode Havilland reveals that he was an All-American football
player in college. Joan Staley
, Jerry Paris
, and Janis Paige
guest star.
The San Diego
-born Lansing (1928–1994) starred three years after 87th Precinct as General Frank Savage on ABC
's Twelve 12 O'Clock High
. His costars were Chris Robinson
and future U.S. Representative Robert K. Dornan, a Republican
from California
. Over the years, Lansing appeared in various episodes of some eighty television series. He died in New York City of cancer
.
Robert Lansing (actor)
Robert Lansing was an American stage, film and television actor.Born in San Diego, California as Robert Howell Brown, he reportedly took his acting surname from the state capital of Michigan. As a young actor in New York City, he was hired to join a stock company in Michigan, but was told he would...
, Gena Rowlands
Gena Rowlands
Gena Rowlands is an American actress of film, stage and television. The four-time Emmy and two-time Golden Globe winner is best known for her collaborations with her actor-director husband John Cassavetes in ten films, in two of which, Gloria and A Woman Under the Influence, she gave Academy...
, and Ron Harper
Ron Harper (actor)
Ronald Robert "Ron" Harper is an American television and film actor.- Biography :Harper was born in Turtle Creek in Allegheny County near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the son of Mabel Grace Champion and George Harper...
, which aired on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
on Monday evenings during the 1961–1962 television season.
Synopsis
The program was based on a number of detective novels by Evan Hunter (under the pen name Ed McBain) that featured Lansing as Detective Steve Carella, who worked in the fictional city of IsolaIsola (fictional city)
Isola is a section of a fictional city that is the setting for the 87th Precinct series of police procedural novels written by Ed McBain ....
, patterned on Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, New York City. Rowlands played Carella's deaf-mute
Deaf-mute
For "deafness", see hearing impairment. For "Deaf" as a cultural term, see Deaf culture. For "inability to speak", see muteness.Deaf-mute is a term which was used historically to identify a person who was both deaf and could not speak...
wife, Teddy. Ron Harper played rookie detective Bert Kling. Other detective roles were portrayed by Gregory Walcott
Gregory Walcott
Gregory Walcott is an American television and film actor. He is perhaps best known for having appeared in the 1959 Ed Wood film, the cult classic Plan 9 from Outer Space.-Early life and career:...
as seasoned veteran Roger Havilland and Norman Fell
Norman Fell
Norman Fell , born Norman Noah Feld, was an American actor of film and television, most famous for his role as landlord Mr. Roper on the sitcom Three's Company and its spin-off, The Ropers.-Early life:...
as the eccentric Meyer Meyer.
87th Precinct premiered on September 25, 1961, and concluded its first-run episodes on April 30, 1962. Repeats continued until September 10, 1962. It was a creation of Hubbell Robinson Productions.
The program faced stiff competition on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
from The Danny Thomas Show
The Danny Thomas Show
The Danny Thomas Show is an American sitcom which ran from 1953-1957 on ABC and from 1957-1964 on CBS...
and its spin-off
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
, The Andy Griffith Show
The Andy Griffith Show
The Andy Griffith Show is an American sitcom first televised by CBS between October 3, 1960, and April 1, 1968. Andy Griffith portrays a widowed sheriff in the fictional small community of Mayberry, North Carolina...
. At the time, ABC aired the second and last season of another detective program, Surfside 6
Surfside 6
Surfside 6 was an ABC television series which aired from 1960 to 1962. The show centered around a Miami Beach detective agency set on a houseboat and featured Troy Donahue as Sandy Winfield, II; Van Williams as Kenny Madison ; and Lee Patterson as Dave Thorne...
, starring Troy Donahue
Troy Donahue
Troy Donahue was an American actor, who was active between the late 1950s and late 1990s.-Life and career:...
and Van Williams
Van Williams
Van Zandt Williams is a former actor best known for his television role as Britt Reid/the Green Hornet. He teamed for one season with the late Bruce Lee as his partner Kato, in the television series The Green Hornet, broadcast on ABC during the 1966-67 season.Williams was also known for his...
.
Selected episodes
In the premiere entitled "The Floater", Carella tails Curt Donaldson (Robert Culp
Robert Culp
Robert Martin Culp was an American actor, scriptwriter, voice actor and director, widely known for his work in television. Culp first earned an international reputation for his role as Kelly Robinson on I Spy , the espionage series in which he and co-star Bill Cosby played a pair of secret agents...
), a sadistic con man who preys on lonely women.
"Lady in Waiting" on October 2 -- Virginia Colt (played by Constance Ford
Constance Ford
Constance Ford was an American actress and model. She is best known for her long-running role as Ada Hobson on the daytime soap opera Another World.-Career:...
) arrives at the precinct house with a gun seeking vengeance on Carella for sending her late husband to prison.
"Lady Killer" on October 9 -- The detectives receive an anonymous note which says only, "I will kill the lady tonight at 8."
"The Very Hard Sale" on December 4 – A used-car salesman named Glenn Cornell takes one of the cars off the lot and drives out to see a prospective buyer named Barrow, played by Leonard Nimoy
Leonard Nimoy
Leonard Simon Nimoy is an American actor, film director, poet, musician and photographer. Nimoy's most famous role is that of Spock in the original Star Trek series , multiple films, television and video game sequels....
. The car is found with Cornell slumped over the wheel. Suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
or murder?
"Run, Rabbit, Run" on December 25 – A former underworld czar Doug Quinn, who faces execution, announces that the men who helped to convict him will also die. Toots Brendan was the state's key witness against Quinn.
"Give the Boys a Great Big Hand" on January 15—A severed hand found in a dumpster leads the detectives to investigate a murder and to stop the killer from striking again.
"A Bullet for Katie" on February 12—A ten-year-old boy might hold the key to the shooting of the new bride of police officer Bill Miller (played by Ed Nelson
Ed Nelson
Edwin Stafford Nelson is an American actor.Nelson has appeared in numerous television shows, more than fifty motion pictures, and hundreds of stage productions. Until 2005, he was teaching acting and screenwriting in his native New Orleans at two local universities there...
), who suspects that the shooter is an ex-con named Gantry (Harold J. Stone
Harold J. Stone
Harold J. Stone was an American film and television character actor.Born Harold Hochstein to a Jewish acting family, he began his career on Broadway in 1939 and appeared in five plays in the next six years, including One Touch of Venus and Stalag 17, following which he made his motion picture...
), who had previously threatened Miller.
"King's Ransom" on February 19 – Two kidnapper
Kidnapper
Kidnapper may refer to:* Kidnapper , a film by Kelvin Tong* "Kidnapper" , by American band Blondie on the Plastic Letters album* A person who performs a kidnapping-See also:* Kidnapped * Kidnapping...
s plot to snatch the son of millionaire Douglas King but they grab the son of King's chauffeur
Chauffeur
A chauffeur is a person employed to drive a passenger motor vehicle, especially a luxury vehicle such as a large sedan or limousine.Originally such drivers were always personal servants of the vehicle owner, but now in many cases specialist chauffeur service companies, or individual drivers provide...
by mistake. Nancy Reagan
Nancy Reagan
Nancy Davis Reagan is the widow of former United States President Ronald Reagan and was First Lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989....
guest stars.
"The Last Stop" on April 23—Mike Power (Victor Jory
Victor Jory
Victor Jory was a Canadian actor.-Biography:Born in Dawson City, Yukon, Jory was the boxing and wrestling champion of the Coast Guard during his military service, and he kept his burly physique. He toured with theater troupes and appeared on Broadway, before making his Hollywood debut in 1930...
) is an embittered, irritating detective demoted to the 87th Precinct shortly before his scheduled retirement. He drives the squad bonkers.
"Girl in a Case", the series finale—Detective Havilland becomes attracted to a stenographer, whose life is being threatened. In the episode Havilland reveals that he was an All-American football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
player in college. Joan Staley
Joan Staley
Joan Staley is an American actress and model. She is perhaps best known for being Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Month for its November 1958 issue. Her centerfold was photographed by Lawrence Schiller and Ron Vogel...
, Jerry Paris
Jerry Paris
Jerry Paris was an American actor and director best known for playing Jerry Helper, the dentist and next door neighbor of Rob and Laura Petrie, on The Dick Van Dyke Show.-Life and career:...
, and Janis Paige
Janis Paige
Janis Paige is an American film, musical theatre and television actress. Born Donna Mae Tjaden in Tacoma, Washington, she began singing in public from the age of five in local amateur shows...
guest star.
Lansing later
The San Diego
San Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
-born Lansing (1928–1994) starred three years after 87th Precinct as General Frank Savage on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's Twelve 12 O'Clock High
Twelve O'Clock High (TV series)
Twelve O'Clock High or 12 O'Clock High is an American drama series set in World War II. This TV series originally broadcasted on ABC-TV for two-and-one-half TV seasons from September 18, 1964, through January 13, 1967; was based on the motion picture Twelve O'Clock High...
. His costars were Chris Robinson
Chris Robinson (actor)
Chris Robinson is an actor who played Rick Webber #2 on General Hospital...
and future U.S. Representative Robert K. Dornan, a Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
from California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. Over the years, Lansing appeared in various episodes of some eighty television series. He died in New York City of cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
.