''Stone'' is an American

police drama The police procedural, police show, or police crime drama is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasises the investigative procedure of police officers, police detectives, or law enforcement agencies as the protagonists, as ...

that aired on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

on Monday nights from January 14 until March 17, 1980. The series was a

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 ...

Productions and Gerry Productions, Inc. in association with

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 ...

(it was Cannell's last series before he went independent) and was created by Cannell,

Richard Levinson Richard Leighton Levinson (August 7, 1934 – March 12, 1987) was an American screenwriter and producer who often worked in collaboration with William Link. Life and career Levinson was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He attended the Univ ...

and

William Link William Theodore Link (December 15, 1933 – December 27, 2020) was an American film and television screenwriter and producer who often worked in collaboration with Richard Levinson. Biography Early life Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ...

Premise

The series focused on Det Sgt. Daniel Stone, a police officer who wrote best-selling novels on police work based on his own experiences (similar to real-life cop-turned-writer

Joseph Wambaugh Joseph Aloysius Wambaugh Jr. (January 22, 1937 – February 28, 2025) was an American writer known for his fictional and nonfictional accounts of police work in the United States. Many of his novels are set in Los Angeles and its surroundings an ...

). His superior Chief Paulton, his one-time mentor, was unhappy with Stone's writing but was unable to stop him. The role of Det. Buck Rogers was played by series star

Dennis Weaver Billy Dennis Weaver (June 4, 1924 – February 24, 2006) was an American actor and president of the Screen Actors Guild, best known for his work in television and films from the early 1950s until just before his death in 2006. Weaver's two most ...

's son Robby Weaver.

Cast

as Det. Sgt. Daniel Stone *

Pat Hingle Martin Patterson Hingle (July 19, 1924 – January 3, 2009) was an American character actor who appeared in stage productions and in hundreds of television shows and feature films. His first film was ''On the Waterfront'' in 1954. He often play ...

as Chief Gene Paulton * Robby Weaver as Det. Buck Rogers

Episodes

References

External links

* 1980 American television series debuts 1980 American television series endings American Broadcasting Company television dramas Television series by Universal Television Television series by Stephen J. Cannell Productions American English-language television shows American detective television series {{US-drama-tv-prog-stub