''Code R'' is an American

action-adventure The action-adventure genre is a video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres. Typically, pure adventure games have situational problems for the player to solve to complete a story ...

television series that aired on CBS from January 21 to June 10, 1977. ''Code R'' focuses on the emergency services (police, fire, and ocean rescue) of the California Channel Islands. The series starred James Houghton,

Martin Kove Martin Kove () (born ) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as John Kreese, the main antagonist of ''The Karate Kid'' (1984). He reprised the role in ''The Karate Kid Part II'' (1986), '' The Karate Kid Part III'' (1989), and th ...

and Tom Simcox and ran for a single season of thirteen episodes.

Synopsis

Simcox was cast as Walt Robinson, the island police chief. Joan Freeman played his wife, Barbara, and Robbie Rundle appeared as their young son, Bobby. Former professional footballer Ben Davidson played Walt's police deputy, Ted Milbank. Houghton was cast as Rick Wilson, chief of the island's fire services, and Kove was George Baker, the chief of beaches and ocean rescue. As all of the Island's Emergency Services were based in the same building, Susanne Reed played Suzy, their dispatch operator. WT Zacha played Harry, the owner and bartender of the Lighthouse Bar where the rescue teams often went while off-duty.

Episodes

Production notes

The program was

produced Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

by Edwin Self for

Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American Film studio, film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, Califo ...

. Despite being short-lived, ''Code R'' was screened in various countries around the world and was shown by ITV in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s in a late afternoon slot. ''Code R'' was a

midseason replacement In American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ...

for another, equally short-lived action-adventure series, ''

Spencer's Pilots ''Spencer's Pilots'' is an American Adventure (genre), adventure series that aired on CBS from September 17 to November 19, 1976. Created by Larry Rosen and developed by Alvin Sapinsley, the series stars Gene Evans.''The Tuscaloosa News'' (via Ass ...

''. In his book ''Total Television'', television historian Alex McNeil wrote that ''Code R'' was "an unimaginative imitation of

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters ...

's ''

Emergency! ''Emergency!'' is an American action-adventure medical drama A medical drama is a television show or film in which events center upon a hospital, an ambulance staff, or any medical environment. Most recent medical drama (film and television) ...

''", another midseason offering that began in January 1972. McNeil also noted that the "8 p.m. Eastern Time slot" was the weakest on the entire schedule in the 1976-1977 season for CBS.

Reception

''Code Rs competition was '' The Donny and Marie Show'' 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 ...

and two

situation comedies A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use new ...

on NBC, ''

Sanford and Son ''Sanford and Son'' is an American sitcom television series that ran on the NBC television network from January 14, 1972, to March 25, 1977. It was based on the British sitcom ''Steptoe and Son'', which initially aired on BBC One in the Unite ...

'' and ''

Chico and the Man ''Chico and the Man'' is an American sitcom television series that aired on NBC for four seasons from September 13, 1974, to July 21, 1978. It stars Jack Albertson as Ed Brown (the Man), the cantankerous owner of a run-down garage in an East Los ...

''.1976-1977 American network television schedule; appendix of ''Total Television'' Due to low ratings, the show was cancelled after only thirteen episodes.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Code R (Tv Series) 1977 American television series debuts 1977 American television series endings American action television series CBS original programming English-language television shows Television series by Warner Bros. Television Studios Television shows set in California Television series about firefighting American action adventure television series