Kojak: Season 01 (1973)

Having scored big with the public when he was introduced in the 1973 TV movie The Marcus-Nelson Murders, crafty, cynical, lollipop-sucking New York city police detective Theo Kojak is given his own weekly, one-hour series as Kojak launches its first season. As before, Telly Savalas essays the title role, though none of the Marcus-Nelson Murders supporting actors appear in the series proper. Reporting for duty, Kojak is pleased that his new boss is his former partner Frank McNeil (Dan Frazer), now chief of detectives. Friendship notwithstanding, McNeil intends to run a tight ship, and to see to it that Kojak plays by the rules -- just as Kojak is fully prepared to do things his way no matter what McNeil says! Also introduced in season one are Kojak's subordinates, plainclothes detective Lt. Bobby Crocker (Kevin Dobson) and Detective Stavros (played by Telly Savalas' brother George Savalas, here billed under his middle name "Demosthenes") In the opener, Kojak must defuse a tense hostage situation after a botched armored-car robbery (the chief heavy is played by none other than Harvey Keitel). Subsequently, Kojak reluctantly builds a case against a fellow cop who has murdered his wife's lover; tracks down a serial killer who seems to have returned to New York after a lengthy absence; races against time to clear the name of a deceased comrade-in-arms; holds up an urban development project in order to collar a perp; attempts to save his niece from being murdered on her wedding day by one of his old enemies; goes to elaborate lengths to convince others that he's "on the take" in order to flush out a dope dealer; matches wits with a brilliant criminal-justice student who believes he can commit the perfect crime; and grimly follows a trail of corpses to break up a smuggling ring. In addition to the aforementioned Harvey Keitel, the first-season guest-star lineup on Kojak includes such luminaries as Hector Elizondo, Yvonne Craig, Jackie Cooper, Tina Louise, Paul Michael Glaser, and John Ritter. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi