History Series / TheFelonySquad

** EvilOldFolks: [[spoiler: Mr. and Mrs. Anderson in "The Deadly Innocents" turn out to be abortionists.]]

** EvilOldFolks: [[Spoiler: Mr. and Mrs. Anderson in "The Deadly Innocents" turn out to be abortionists.]]

The Felony Squad is a PoliceProcedural that ran on Creator/{{ABC}} from September 8, 1966 to January 31, 1969.

The Felony Squad is a DetectiveDrama that ran on Creator/{{ABC}} from September 8, 1966 to January 31, 1969.

When the series debuted in the Fall of 1966, Jeanne Crain and Michael Cole were not in the cast. Duff's character, Sgt. Sam Stone, was made into a widower whose wife and son were killed in a car accident. Jim Briggs, played by Cole, went from being a uniformed cop to a detective. The other major character in the series was Jim's dad, Sgt. Dan Briggs, played by Ben Alexander, who was the desk sergeant at the Westwood Precinct where Sam and Jim were based. The recurring role of their boss, Captain Frank Nye, was played by Frank Maxwell. Maxwell departed the show after one season for a role on another ABC series, The Second Hundred Years, and was replaced by Captain Ed Franks (Barney Phillips). When The Second Hundred Years was canceled, Maxwell returned to the series for the abbreviated third season.

* BlackmailBackfire: I

** In "Image of Evil", Hal Jessup (John S. Ragin) threatens to reveal his boss's blackmail scheme unless he's made a full partner in the scheme, which is a PR firm that blackmails his clients. Unfortunately, Jessup brings all of this up as he's flying with his boss in the private jet. He winds up falling out of the plane without a parachute to his death.

* BadgesAndDogTags: In the episode "A Date With Terror", it is revealed that Sam served in UsefulNotes/TheKoreanWar, just like Sgt. Lufton (Charles Aidman), the Veteran's Hospital escapee that they're looking for.
* BlackmailBackfire: In the episode "Image of Evil", Hal Jessup (John S. Ragin) threatens to reveal his boss's blackmail scheme unless he's made a full partner in the scheme, which is a PR firm that blackmails his clients. Unfortunately, Jessup brings all of this up as he's flying with his boss in the private jet. He winds up falling out of the plane without a parachute to his death.

** Jim is framed for PoliceBrutality in "The Streets Are Paved With Quicksand". In the episode "The Terror Trap", he's framed for murder in an attempt to discredit his testimony against drug pusher Peel (Bartlett Robinson).

** In the episode "A Walk to Oblivion", condemned prisoner Joe Caslin (Jason Wingreen), who's sentenced to die in less than a day, asks Sam and Jim to look into a recent robbery/murder that's similar to the one he was convicted of, in an attempt to exonerate him.
** In the episode "The Broken Badge", Sam tries to aid fellow detective Bill Ehlers (John Larch), who's accused of stealing a portion of stolen money that he recovered.
** In the episode "The Strangler", Sam doesn't believe that Phil Calder (Dean Harens), who was convicted of nearly killing a woman several years earlier, is guilty of a similar assault and works to clear him.
* CoolCar: Chris Merritt (Bradford Dillman) drives a snazzy sports car that's used in the theft and murder in the episode "The 30-Gram Kill".

* DeathByFallingOver: Model Bobo Bradshaw (Amy Thomson) falls and fatally strikes her head after modeling agency president T.J. Gaynor (Creator/RicardoMontalban) strikes her, in the episode "A Fashion For Dying".

** In the episode "Killer With a Badge", Wade Harte (Paul Carr), the ex-con former husband of Jim's girlfriend Cloris (Diana Hyland), steals Jim's gun and badge and poses as the detective. He then uses the badge and gun to kill a thug named Paulie (Pat Renella), who's out for revenge against him.
** In the episode "A Most Proper Killing", British jewel thief Harry Wade (Peter Bromilow) kills UsefulNotes/ScotlandYard Inspector Murchison and steals his identity. Posing as Murchison, he visits the Squad and enlists their aid in finding his accomplice Dandy Phelps (William Beckley) who fled to the States with the stolen jewels.

* PistolWhipping: In the episode "The Desperate Silence", Vincent Ludi (Chris Robinson), enraged that a fence (Woodrow Parfrey) won't handle the hot jewels he and his partner have stolen, whacks the fence over the back of the head with a gun several times, killing him.
* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: The two-part episode "The Nowhere Man" introduced a black detective, Cliff Sims, played by Robert DoQui, and many sources say that he was a regular in the final season, but this two-part episode marked the only appearance for the Sims character. However, a pair of later episodes, "Hostage" and "The Law and Order Blues", feature a similar black detective, Ray Hendrix, played by Hal Frederick. The same child actor played both Sims's son and Hendrix's son.

[[caption-width-right:350:Left to right:Sam Stone, Dan Briggs and Jim Briggs.]]

!!The Felony Squad contains examples of:

* CreatorCameo: Lawrence Dobkin, who directed several ''Felony Squad'' episodes, is the main guest star in "Bond of Fear".

The series managed to run to respectable ratings on Monday nights for the first two seasons, but a move to Fridays in the 1968-69 season proved fatal. The Felony Squad ended its run on January 31, 1969, with a crossover episode with another Fox-produced series, Judd For the Defense. The Judd episode aired a hour and a half after the Felony Squad episode.

* BadgesAndDogTags: In the episode "A Date With Terror", it is revealed that Sam served in tUsefulNotes/TheKoreanWar, just like Sgt. Lufton (Charles Aidman), the Veteran's Hospital escapee that they're looking for.

** Jim is framed for police brutality in "The Streets Are Paved With Quicksand". In the episode "The Terror Trap", he's framed for murder in an attempt to discredit his testimony against drug pusher Peel (Bartlett Robinson).

* BadgesAndDogTags: In the episode "A Date With Terror", it is revealed that Sam served in the Korean War, just like Sgt. Lufton (Charles Aidman), the Veteran's Hospital escapee that they're looking for.

* Cool Car: Chris Merritt (Bradford Dillman) drives a snazzy sports car that's used in the theft and murder in the episode "The 30-Gram Kill".
* Creator Cameo: Lawrence Dobkin, who directed several ''Felony Squad'' episodes, is the main guest star in "Bond of Fear".

* ImpersonatingAnOfficer: In the episode "Killer With a Badge", Wade Harte (Paul Carr), the ex-con former husband of Jim's girlfriend Cloris (Diana Hyland), steals Jim's gun and badge and poses as the detective. He then uses the badge and gun to kill a thug named Paulie (Pat Renella), who's out for revenge against him.

* DeathByFallingOver: Model Bobo Bradshaw (Amy Thomson) falls and fatally strikes her head after modeling agency president T.J. Gaynor (Ricardo Montalban) strikes her, in the episode "A Fashion For Dying".

The Felony Squad is a DetectiveDama that ran on Creator/{{ABC}} from September 8, 1966 to January 31, 1969.

The Felony Squad is a detective drama that ran on ABC from September 8, 1966 to January 31, 1969.

The series was created for 20th Century Fox Television by Richard Murphy and produced by Walter Grauman, a prolific TV director whose credits included Series/PerryMason, Series/BurkesLaw and Series/TheFugitive, among other series. However, it didn't quite start out as a pure detective drama. It was originally conceived as a nighttime soap opera about police officers entitled Men Against Evil. Both Howard Duff and Dennis Cole, who appeared in the revised series, were cast in the original series, though Cole's character was a patrolman rather than a detective. '40's starlet Jeanne Crain was to have appeared as Duff's wife, and Michael Cole (who later became famous as part of a different squad) was also slated as a regular. There exists a short clip of the original variant, directed by Gordon Douglas.

L&M Cigarettes, the series' sponsor, decided that they weren't going to back a soap opera, and the decision was made to change the series from a soap to a straight police drama. L&M insisted on one other change...they didn't want to sponsor a show with the word 'evil' in the title, and so the series became The Felony Squad.

____

"!!The Felony Squad contains examples of"

* AmoralAttorney: Leslie Gorman (Darren McGavin) in the premiere episode, "The Streets Are Paved With Quicksand". He first tries to bribe Jim after he and Sam break up a fight between Gorman and a parking lot valet. Then when Jim arrests him, he fakes an injury so he can file phony police brutality charges against the young cop.

* Creator Cameo: Lawrence Dobkin, who directed several Felony Squad episodes, is the main guest star in "Bond of Fear".
* Crossover: The series' final episode, "The Law and Order Blues", featured a special guest appearance by Carl Betz as lawyer Clinton Judd, who arrives to defend African citizen Marcel Nburu (Brock Peters) on assault charges. When he's later accused of killing the victim, the case goes to trial, and Part Two of the episode aired on Judd For the Defense later that evening, with Howard Duff and Dennis Cole guest-starring.
* Da Chief: Firm but fair Captain Nye in the first and third seasons, Captain Franks in the second season.

* DirtyCop: Lt. Mike Reineck (John Anderson), Sam's ex-partner, in "The Deadly Partner". He kills two criminals who were involved in a robbery he helped plan and sets a third up to be killed in a shoot-out with Sam and Jim.

** In the episode "A Most Proper Killing", British jewel thief Harry Wade (Peter Bromilow) kills Scotland Yard Inspector Murchison and steals his identity. Posing as Murchison, he visits the Squad and enlists their aid in finding his accomplice Dandy Phelps (William Beckley) who fled to the States with the stolen jewels.

____

When the series debuted in the Fall of 1966, Jeanne Crain and Michael Cole were not in the case. Duff's character, Sgt. Sam Stone, was made into a widower whose wife and son were killed in a car accident. Jim Briggs, played by Cole, went from being a uniformed cop to a detective. The other major character in the series was Jim's dad, Sgt. Dan Briggs, played by Ben Alexander, who was the desk sergeant at the Westwood Precinct where Sam and Jim were based. The recurring role of their boss, Captain Frank Nye, was played by Frank Maxwell. Maxwell departed the show after one season for a role on another ABC series, The Second Hundred Years, and was replaced by Captain Ed Franks (Barney Phillips). When The Second Hundred Years was canceled, Maxwell returned to the series for the abbreviated third season.

** Sheriff Calvin Cable (Pat Single) in "Killing, Country Style"...the corrupt small-town Sheriff shows up, looking to eliminate a witness against his boss, Mob leader Gus Mills (Scott Brady).

The series was created for 20th Century Fox Television by Richard Murphy and produced by Walter Grauman, a prolific TV director whose credits included Series/PerryMason, Series/Burke'sLaw and Series/TheFugitive, among other series. However, it didn't quite start out as a pure detective drama. It was originally conceived as a nighttime soap opera about police officers entitled Men Against Evil. Both Howard Duff and Dennis Cole, who appeared in the revised series, were cast in the original series, though Cole's character was a patrolman rather than a detective. '40's starlet Jeanne Crain was to have appeared as Duff's wife, and Michael Cole (who later became famous as part of a different squad) was also slated as a regular. There exists a short clip of the original variant, directed by Gordon Douglas.

The series was created for 20th Century Fox Television by Richard Murphy and produced by Walter Grauman, a prolific TV director whose credits included series/PerryMason, series/Burke'sLaw and series/TheFugitive, among other series. However, it didn't quite start out as a pure detective drama. It was originally conceived as a nighttime soap opera about police officers entitled Men Against Evil. Both Howard Duff and Dennis Cole, who appeared in the revised series, were cast in the original series, though Cole's character was a patrolman rather than a detective. '40's starlet Jeanne Crain was to have appeared as Duff's wife, and Michael Cole (who later became famous as part of a different squad) was also slated as a regular. There exists a short clip of the original variant, directed by Gordon Douglas.