tadloml I have read the book so many times I forgot how many, it was that good! I saw the TV movie when it first came out in the days before video staring William Holden and the TV show staring George Kennedy, Holden had the moxie that Wambaugh describe in his book but Kennedy had the build, Bumper Morgan weighing in at 275 pounds, the TV series was played down more than the movie was as far as attitude and Bumper way of thumping on people, but they were both excellent films and were way ahead of their time. You had to wait for Hill street Blues to come to TV before you got another true life cop show. Blue Knight was on TV in 1973 and 1975-76, Hill street did not come on tell late 80's I believe, that left a lot of years without good police shows on TV. now people are use to good shows with Law & Order and others but I remember a time when on a Saturday night at 7pm all you had to watch was Lawerance Welk, he-ha, and bugs bunny,! I choose the Bunny..

kewpie-4 My friend & me were discussing old TV shows & she remembered a great detective/police show starring William Holden that she viewed back in the 70's. She couldn't remember the name of it so I told her I would go online & find out the show's name & the information for her, which I did at this site. She loved the show & watched it even though the series didn't last as long as she would have liked. She also said the show included a dog which was his companion. I did discover that the dogs name was Leo & that it was a Bulldog/Terrier mix. I noticed this information was not on the other comments & thought maybe some of the readers would enjoy knowing this. Thanks so much for this great site!

mibailiff I also saw this NBC mini series in its original uncut network run in the fall of 1973 and then saw it repeated in 1975, but that's it. Yes, it needs to be released on DVD or VHS in its original state because this is classic landmark adult TV. This was the re-birth of William Holden's career and he was beyond memorable as Bumper Morgan. The characters ran better here than in print and that was hard to top because Wambaugh wrote a great first person character analysis with his novel of the final works days of a dinosaured LAPD street cop. Overlooked was the supporting mastery of Joe Santos, Vic Tayback and Sam Elliot. Along with KOJAK, this was TV's best of 1973.

Deb Cote Truly one of the best mini-series ever, with a monumental, Emmy-winning performance by William Holden. I sure wish I knew who to bug about getting this out on DVD, because if you weren't around in 1973, you missed a wonderful, gripping series. Holden is fantastic. Please, please put this on DVD!!!