''Chase'' is an American

crime drama Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), dr ...

television series that aired on the NBC network from September 11, 1973, to April 10, 1974. The show was a production of

Jack Webb John Randolph Webb (April 2, 1920 – December 23, 1982) was an American actor, television producer, Television director, director, and screenwriter, most famous for his role as Joe Friday in the Dragnet (franchise), ''Dragnet'' franchise ...

's Mark VII Limited for

Universal Television Universal Television LLC (abbreviated as UTV) is an American television production company that is a division of NBCUniversal Television and Streaming#Universal Studio Group, Universal Studio Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which, in turn, is ...

and marked the first show created by

Stephen J. Cannell Stephen Joseph Cannell (; February 5, 1941 – September 30, 2010) was an American television producer, writer, novelist, actor, and founder of Cannell Entertainment (formerly Stephen J. Cannell Productions) and The Cannell Studios. After start ...

, who later became known for creating and/or producing his own programs, including NBC's ''

The A-Team ''The A-Team'' is an American Action television, action television series that ran on NBC from January 23, 1983, to March 8, 1987, about a fictional team of former United States Army Special Forces who work as mercenaries while on the run from ...

.'' Jack Webb directed the pilot, which aired March 24, 1973.

Overview

The show's title had a double meaning: it was at once the first name of the lead character, Chase Reddick (

Mitchell Ryan Mitchell Ryan (January 11, 1934 – March 4, 2022) was an American actor. His six decades of television credits, he is best known for playing Burke Devlin in the 1960s gothic subculture, gothic soap opera ''Dark Shadows'', and later for his co- ...

), the leader of a special team of the

Los Angeles Police Department The City of Los Angeles Police Department, commonly referred to as Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), is the primary law enforcement agency of Los Angeles, California, United States. With 8,832 officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the th ...

that specialized in solving unusually difficult or violent cases, and indicative of the show's emphasis on the determined pursuit and undercover surveillance of hardened criminals. The unit, headquartered in an old firehouse, relied mainly on alternate/undercover means of transportation such as helicopters, motorcycles, custom vans, taxis, four-wheel-drive vehicles, sports and muscle cars, work trucks (vehicles from the Public Works Department, the telephone company, tow trucks and/or the Postal Service and civilian delivery services) and high-speed driving to apprehend its suspects. For the first fourteen episodes, Reddick, an LAPD captain, was accompanied by K-9 Sergeant Sam MacCray ( Wayne Maunder) and three young officers: Steve Baker (Michael Richardson), Norm Hamilton ( Reid Smith), and Fred Sing ( Brian Fong). In January 1974, Webb and Universal dropped all the regulars except Ryan and Maunder in favor of a new group of officers: Frank Dawson (Albert Reed), Ed Rice ( Gary Crosby, who frequently appeared on the other Mark VII shows), and Tom Wilson (Craig Gardner). Never seen, but "appearing" in every episode was actual LAPD dispatcher Shaaron Claridge, who had worked on ''Dragnet'' and ''Adam-12''; according to the pilot script, she was assigned especially to Chase. NBC first scheduled the show on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. Eastern, opposite CBS' hit series '' Maude'' and '' Hawaii Five-O''. At about the same time as the casting change, the network moved ''Chase'' to Wednesday nights at 8 p.m. against ''

The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour ''The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour'' is an American variety show starring American pop singers Sonny Bono and Cher, who were married to each other at the time. The show ran on CBS in the United States, and premiered in August 1971. The show was ca ...

''. Despite the declining appeal and ratings of the latter (and the couple's forthcoming

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganising of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the M ...

), ''Chase'' did no better there and ended after a one-season run. Cannell would re-use the format of a team of specialists in ''

'', co-created with Frank Lupo a decade later. Robert A. Cinader, who also supervised Mark VII's '' Adam-12'' and '' Emergency!'', was executive producer of ''Chase''.

Cast

– Capt. Chase Reddick * Wayne Maunder – Sgt. Sam MacCray * Michael Richardson – Off. Steve Baker (episodes 1–14) * Brian Fong – Off. Fred Sing (episodes 1–14) * Reid Smith – Off. Norm Hamilton (episodes 1–14) * Craig Gardner – Tom Wilson * Albert Reed – Frank Dawson * Gary Crosby – Ed Rice * Shaaron Claridge

Episodes

Sources

* ''Total Television: A Comprehensive Guide to Programming from 1948 to the Present,'' Alex McNeil, New York: Penguin, revised ed., 1984.

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chase (1973 Tv Series) 1970s American drama television series 1973 American television series debuts 1974 American television series endings Television series about the Los Angeles Police Department Television series by Mark VII Limited Television series by Universal Television American English-language television shows American detective television series Television series created by Stephen J. Cannell NBC crime dramas