''Dog and Cat'' is an American television series that aired on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

on Saturday night at 10:00 p.m Eastern time in 1977.

Premise

Lou Antonio Louis Antonio (born January 23, 1934) is an American actor and TV director best known for performing in the films ''Cool Hand Luke'' and ''America America''. He also starred in two short-lived TV series, '' Dog and Cat'', and '' Makin' It''. E ...

played Sgt. Jack Ramsey, an undercover detective with the

Los Angeles Police Department The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), officially known as the City of Los Angeles Police Department, is the municipal police department of Los Angeles, California. With 9,974 police officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the third-large ...

, who found himself teamed with a very green partner named J.Z. Kane (

Kim Basinger Kimila Ann Basinger ( ; born December 8, 1953) is an American actress and former fashion model. She has garnered acclaim for her work in film and television, for which she has received various accolades including an Academy Award, a Golden Glo ...

). Together they formed a relationship based on friendship and trust (completely platonic) that led to them capturing many of L.A.'s criminals. Lieutenant Arthur Kipling ( Matt Clark) was their boss. "Dog and Cat" is a slang term used by police officers to denote a male-female partnership. The show is especially remembered for the car that Kim Basinger used in the series: a souped-up

Volkswagen Beetle The Volkswagen Beetle—officially the Volkswagen Type 1, informally in German (meaning "beetle"), in parts of the English-speaking world the Bug, and known by many other nicknames in other languages—is a two-door, rear-engine economy car, ...

with a Porsche engine.

Production History

Lawrence Gordon pitched the show to ABC who bought it. He took it to Paramount who produced it. The show was one of the first supervised by

Brandon Tartikoff Brandon Tartikoff (January 13, 1949 – August 27, 1997) was an American television executive who was the president of NBC from 1981 to 1991. He was credited with turning around NBC's low prime time reputation with such hit series as ''Hill Stre ...

when he was at ABC. It replaced ''Most Wanted'' which moved to Monday night.

Reception

Critical

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' described one of the earliest episodes, "Live Bait", about a rapist, as "a particularly repulsive tale" and thought the male lead was a rip-off of ''

Baretta ''Baretta'' is an American detective television series which ran on ABC from 1975 to 1978. The show was a revised and milder version of a 1973–1974 ABC series, '' Toma'', starring Tony Musante as chameleon-like, real-life New Jersey pol ...

'' and the female lead too obviously inspired by '' Charlie's Angels''. ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' said Antonio does "a nice, grumpy job" and Basinger was "a little saltier than

Angie Dickinson Angeline Dickinson (née Brown; born September 30, 1931) is an American actress. She began her career on television, appearing in many anthology series during the 1950s, before gaining her breakthrough role in ''Gun the Man Down'' (1956) wit ...

's Pepper" but liked the fact it was not overly violent and "had a sense of humour. It could be around in the fall."

Ratings

The first episode after the pilot was meant to be "Live Bait", about a rapist, but was changed to be about a corrupt cop. It got a 40% rating and was the 23rd most watched show of the week.

Joel Silver Joel Silver (born July 14, 1952) is an American film producer. Life and career Silver was born and raised in South Orange, New Jersey, the son of a writer and a public relations executive. His family is Jewish. He attended Columbia High School i ...

reported that Walter Hill's original pilot script inspired

Shane Black Shane Black (born December 16, 1961) is an American filmmaker and actor who has written such films as ''Lethal Weapon'', ''The Monster Squad'', ''The Last Boy Scout'', ''Last Action Hero'', and ''The Long Kiss Goodnight''. As an actor, Black is ...

to write ''

Lethal Weapon ''Lethal Weapon'' is a 1987 American buddy cop action comedy film directed and co-produced by Richard Donner, written by Shane Black, and co-produced by Joel Silver. It stars Mel Gibson and Danny Glover alongside Gary Busey, Tom Atkins, D ...

''.

Credits

Directed by: *Bob Kelljan Writing credits (in alphabetical order) *Heywood Gould *Tom Greene *Walter Hill *William Keys *Owen Morgan (also story) *Henry Rosenbaum Credited cast *Lou Antonio .... Jack Ramsey *

.... Officer J.Z. Kane * Matt Clark .... Lt. Arthur Kipling *Charles Cioffi .... Ralph Travan *

Richard Lynch Richard Lynch (February 12, 1940 – June 19, 2012) was an American actor best known for portraying villains in films and television. His film credits included ''The Sword and the Sorcerer'', '' Invasion USA'', ''The Seven-Ups'', ''Scarecr ...

.... Shirley *Dale Robinette .... Nicholas Evans *Janit Baldwin .... Roeanne Lee Peters *Geoffrey Scott .... David Storey *Lesley Woods .... Velma *Matt Bennett .... Gonzo *Walt Davis .... Trog * Dick Wesson .... Zink Kauffen rest of cast listed alphabetically: *Lynn Borden .... Mavis *Richard Forbes .... Earl Seagram *James Hall .... Frank *Dianne Kay .... Connie * Frank McRae .... Morgue Attendant *Catherane Skillen *Jim Storm .... Change Maker *Ken Sylk .... Doty *

Betty Thomas Betty Thomas (born Betty Lucille Nienhauser; July 21, 1948) is an American actress, director, and producer. She is known for her Emmy Award-winning role as Sergeant Lucy Bates on the television series '' Hill Street Blues''. As of March 2018, T ...

.... Waitress

Episode Guide

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0075949, Dog and Cat
''Dog and Cat''
at CTVA
Review of pilot
1977 American television series debuts 1977 American television series endings 1970s American crime television series Television series by CBS Studios American Broadcasting Company original programming Fictional portrayals of the Los Angeles Police Department Television shows set in Los Angeles