''N.Y.P.D.'' is a half-hour American

police crime drama The police show, or police crime drama, is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasizes the investigative procedure of a police officer or department as the protagonist(s), as contrasted with other genres that focus on eithe ...

television series of the 1960s set in the context of the

New York City Police Department The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act i ...

. The program appeared on the ABC network during the 1967–1968 and 1968–1969 United States network television schedules. The program appeared in the evening, 9:30 p.m. time slot. During the second season, ''N.Y.P.D'' was joined by ''

The Mod Squad ''The Mod Squad'' is an American crime drama series, originally broadcast for five seasons on ABC from September 24, 1968, to March 1, 1973. It starred Michael Cole as Peter "Pete" Cochran, Peggy Lipton as Julie Barnes, Clarence Williams III ...

'' and '' It Takes a Thief'' to form a 2½ hour block of crime dramas.

Plot

''N.Y.P.D.'' centers around three New York police detectives – Lt. Mike Haines (

Jack Warden Jack Warden (born John Warden Lebzelter Jr.; September 18, 1920July 19, 2006) was an American character actor of film and television. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for ''Shampoo'' (1975) and '' Heaven Can Wait' ...

), Detective Jeff Ward (

Robert Hooks Robert Hooks (born Bobby Dean Hooks; April 18, 1937) is an American actor, producer, and activist. Along with Douglas Turner Ward and Gerald S. Krone, he founded The Negro Ensemble Company. The Negro Ensemble Company is credited with the laun ...

), and Detective Johnny Corso (

Frank Converse Frank Converse (born May 22, 1938) is an American actor. Early life Converse was born in 1938 in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1962, he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in drama at Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University) in ...

) – who fight a wide range of crimes and criminals. The show features many real New York City locations, as well as episodes based on actual New York City police cases.

Cast

as Lt. Mike Haines *

as Det. Jeff Ward *

as Det. Johnny Corso * Ted Beniades as Det. Richie * Denise Nicholas as Ethel *

Tom Rosqui Thomas Francis Rosqui (June 12, 1928 – April 12, 1991) was an American character actor known for his versatility at portraying a variety of stage and film roles. Born in Oakland, California, the son of a Portuguese mother, Sally (née Fern ...

as Det. Jacobs

Production

Development

The show was a production of

Talent Associates Talent Associates, Ltd. (also known as Talent Associates-Paramount, Ltd. and Talent Associates-Norton Simon, Inc.), was a production company headed by David Susskind, later joined by Daniel Melnick, Leonard Stern and Ron Gilbert. Origins In the ...

, Ltd., a company founded by Alfred Levy and

David Susskind David Howard Susskind (December 19, 1920 – February 22, 1987) was an American producer of TV, movies, and stage plays and also a TV talk show host. His talk shows were innovative in the genre and addressed timely, controversial topics beyond th ...

. Talent Associates had produced 14 years of the anthology program ''

Armstrong Circle Theatre ''Armstrong Circle Theatre'' is an American anthology drama television series which ran from June 6, 1950, to June 25, 1957, on NBC, and from October 2, 1957, to August 28, 1963, on CBS. It alternated weekly with '' The U.S. Steel Hour''. It fi ...

'' and ''

The Kaiser Aluminum Hour ''The Kaiser Aluminum Hour'' is a dramatic anthology television series which was broadcast in prime time in the United States during the 1956-57 season by NBC. ''The Kaiser Aluminum Hour'' was shown on alternate Tuesday nights at 9:30 pm Eastern ...

'', both highly respected shows. Television producer, movie producer, and talk show host Susskind created ''N.Y.P.D.'' with screenwriter Arnold Perl (''

Cotton Comes to Harlem ''Cotton Comes to Harlem'' is a 1970 American neo-noir action comedy thriller film co-written and directed by Ossie Davis and starring Godfrey Cambridge, Raymond St. Jacques, and Redd Foxx. The film, later cited as an early example of the bla ...

''). At the time of his death in 1971, Arnold Perl was working on a screenplay about assassinated black activist

Malcolm X Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, later Malik el-Shabazz; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an American Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figure during the civil rights movement. A spokesman for the Nation of I ...

, which would later become the basis for

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's 1992 film, ''

''.

Daniel Melnick Daniel Melnick (April 21, 1932 – October 13, 2009) was an American film producer and movie studio executive who started working in Hollywood as a teenager in television and then became the producer of such films as '' All That Jazz'', '' Alte ...

, the show's executive producer, was a partner with Susskind in Talent Associates and had brought

Mel Brooks Mel Brooks (born Melvin James Kaminsky; June 28, 1926) is an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. With a career spanning over seven decades, he is known as a writer and director of a variety of successful broad farces and parodies. He began ...

and

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together to create the TV comedy ''

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'' in 1965. Producer Susskind and actor

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would work together again on

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of many major accolades, incl ...

's ''

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'' (1974). Scripted by writers like Lonne Elder, who would later be the first African-American nominated for a Best Screenplay Oscar (for 1972's '' Sounder''), the stories came with such titles as "Cruise to Oblivion," "Which Side Are You On?," "The Screaming Woman," and "Deadly Circle of Violence." In ''N.Y.P.D.'' scripts, there were white cops and black cops, white suspects and black suspects, white witnesses and black witnesses, an unselfconscious racial blend that would not otherwise be seen for several years on U.S. network television (''

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'' and ''

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'' were among the next series to feature casts situated similarly.)

Casting

Among the actors who appeared in the series were Rutanya Alda,

Jane Alexander Jane Alexander (née Quigley; born October 28, 1939) is an American actress and author. She is the recipient of two Primetime Emmy Awards, a Tony Award, and nominations for four Academy Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards. From 1993 to 19 ...

Conrad Bain Conrad Stafford Bain (February 4, 1923 – January 14, 2013) was a Canadian-American comedian and actor. His television credits include a leading role as Phillip Drummond in the sitcom ''Diff'rent Strokes'', as Dr. Arthur Harmon on '' Maude'', ...

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, Miriam Colon,

Franklin Cover Franklin Edward Cover (November 20, 1928 – February 5, 2006) was an American actor best known for starring in the sitcom '' The Jeffersons''. His character, Tom Willis, was half of one of the first interracial marriages to be seen on prime-tim ...

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Ossie Davis Raiford Chatman "Ossie" Davis (December 18, 1917 – February 4, 2005) was an American actor, director, writer, and activist. He was married to Ruby Dee, with whom he frequently performed, until his death. He and his wife were named to the NAACP ...

Howard Da Silva Howard Da Silva (born Howard Silverblatt, May 4, 1909 – February 16, 1986) was an American actor, director and musical performer on stage, film, television and radio. He was cast in dozens of productions on the New York stage, appeared in mo ...

Mary Fickett Mary Fickett (May 23, 1928 – September 8, 2011) was an American actress, best known for her roles in the American television dramas, ''The Nurses'', ''The Edge of Night'' — as Sally Smith (1961), and as Dr. Katherine Lovell (1967–68) — a ...

Scott Glenn Theodore Scott Glenn (born January 26) is an American actor. His roles have included Pfc Glenn Kelly in ''Nashville'' (1975), Wes Hightower in '' Urban Cowboy'' (1980), astronaut Alan Shepard in '' The Right Stuff'' (1983), Emmett in '' Silverado ...

Charles Grodin Charles Sidney Grodin (April 21, 1935 – May 18, 2021) was an American actor, comedian, author, and television talk show host. Grodin began his acting career in the 1960s appearing in TV serials including '' The Virginian''. After a small part ...

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Graham Jarvis Graham Powley Jarvis (August 25, 1930 – April 16, 2003) was a Canadian character actor in American films and television from the 1960s to the early 2000s. Early years Jarvis was born in Toronto, Ontario, the son of Margaret Biddulph (Scratche ...

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, Raul Julia, Marcia Jean Kurtz,

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Bill Macy Wolf Martin Garber (May 18, 1922 – October 17, 2019), known professionally as Bill Macy, was an American television, film and stage actor, best known for his role in the CBS television series '' Maude'' (1972–1978). Early life Bill ...

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, Meg Myles,

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, Richard Ward,

Louis Zorich Louis Zorich (February 12, 1924 – January 30, 2018) was an American actor. He played sporting good salesman Burt Buchman, Paul Buchman's father, on the NBC series ''Mad About You'' from 1993 to 1999. Early years Zorich was born in Chicago, ...

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, Jane Elliot,

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, and

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Writing

In 1967, ''N.Y.P.D.'' was the first television series in America to air an episode with a

Homosexual Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to pe ...

theme ("Shakedown"). The police track down a man

blackmail Blackmail is an act of coercion using the threat of revealing or publicizing either substantially true or false information about a person or people unless certain demands are met. It is often damaging information, and it may be revealed to fa ...

ing Homosexual men, prompting several

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and ...

Opening credits

The series' opening credit sequence, prominently featuring a closeup of a police car emergency light as the vehicle drives through the streets of New York, would later be spoofed in the 1980s comedy series '' Police Squad!'' and subsequent movies.

Episodes

Season 1 (1967–68)

Season 2 (1968–69)

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=0061282, title=N.Y.P.D. * Th
Robert J. Markell papers, 1967–1968
are located in the Northeastern University Libraries, Archives and Special Collections Department, Boston, MA. 1967 American television series debuts 1969 American television series endings American Broadcasting Company original programming 1960s American crime drama television series English-language television shows Fictional portrayals of the New York City Police Department Television series by CBS Studios Television series by Talent Associates American detective television series