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Strike Force (TV series)

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Strike Force
Starring
Theme music composerDominic Frontiere
Composers
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes20 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
Producers
  • E. Duke Vincent
  • Elaine Rich
Running time60 minutes
Production companyAaron Spelling Productions
Original release
NetworkABC
ReleaseApril 2, 1981 (1981-04-02) –
May 21, 1982 (1982-05-21)

Strike Force is an American action-adventure/police procedural television series that aired on ABC during the 1981–1982 television season, and was produced by Aaron Spelling Productions. The program starred Robert Stack as Capt. Frank Murphy, the leader of a specialized unit of detectives and police officers whose job is to stop violent criminals at any cost (usually with a hail of gunfire).

Overview

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Mixing elements of Stack's classic television series The Untouchables from 20 years earlier with doses of Mission: Impossible and Dirty Harry, Strike Force immediately provoked controversy over its violence – at one point the series was labeled the most violent in American TV history.[citation needed] The series attempted to balance the violence by interjecting liberal amounts of humor into its regular characters and focusing on the detectives' personal lives.[1]

Cast

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  • Series star Robert Stack's character, SCPD Det. Capt. Frank Murphy, is the head of the special Strike Force unit. He is a tough, incorruptible cop, tenacious and efficient on the job, but whose personal life is as unkempt as the home he lives in. He is a recent divorcé who is stuck with a house that was painted pink by his ex-wife, Eve (who left him for a career in show business, but whom he still obviously loves dearly), where he lives with Sam, his scruffy, oversized, beer-drinking dog (whose main source of nutrition appears to be a brand of dog food labeled "Doggone It").[2] He is as tough as nails, but caring and fair, and loyal to the people under his command.[3] Capt. Murphy's favorite food is chili dogs (which he seems to "require" everyone on his team of "Strike Force" detectives to eat); his constant nemesis is the squad room soda machine, which seems to work for everyone in the precinct but him, and is a running joke in the series.
  • Det. Sgt. Paul Strobber, played by Dorian Harewood, is the only married member of the team, and the most serious; a loving family man, with a wife and young son, but easily the most fearless and dangerous Strike Force member on the street. He is like a coiled spring, ready to strike when provoked, as he does when his family is threatened by white supremacists in the episode "The Outcasts".[4] He likes to wear turtleneck sweaters instead of ties, and hates Murphy's chili dog diet, refusing to share in it.
  • Det. Sgt. Rosie Johnson, played by former Australian teen singing star Trisha Noble,[5][6][7][8] is tough, curvaceous, and beautiful — and very much a lady. She became a police officer after her husband went missing in Vietnam and enjoys making — and-deflecting — jokes about her bust size. She is crazy about Gunzer, and often tries to get him to notice her.
  • Det. Lt. Charlie Gunzer, played by Richard Romanus, is the group's free-spending ladies' man, with a dry, wicked sense of humor, who Rosie likes, but is afraid to tell him. Gunzer likes fast cars (in one episode, he buys a Mercedes SL sports car), and faster women, and looks upon the chaste Rosie as nothing more than a friend and colleague.
  • Det. Sgt. Mark Osborne, played by Michael Goodwin, is the youngest member of the team, and clearly the most "normal" in this dynamic, dysfunctional group.[1] Called "The Kid" by Gunzer, he is a dedicated police officer whose favorite food is chocolate chip cookies. He likes Rosie, and has asked her out at least once, but to no avail.
  • Deputy Police Commissioner Herbert Klein, as played by Herb Edelman, is Strike Force's immediate superior, and a close personal friend to Capt. Murphy. A dedicated cop and family man, Herb was cited several times for valor in his early career, but seems to have lost his taste for the violence in the streets, and now is content simply to stay behind a desk and wait out his time until retirement. He is also an amateur author, who often asks Murphy his opinion on the novels he writes — which never seem to get published.

Guest stars

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Notable guest stars during the series run included:

Episodes

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No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air date
1"Pilot"Richard LangLane SlateNovember 13, 1981 (1981-11-13)
Five bizarre and brutal murders bring together the Sheriff's Department, LAPD, and the Highway Patrol as a special strike force. Headed by Captain Frank Murphy, the force begins their investigation -- their only clue is that each victim served on the jury of an embezzlement case.
2"Kidnap"Lawrence DobkinMichael FisherNovember 20, 1981 (1981-11-20)
The team is tipped off about a kidnapping by Frank's ex-partner, a souse who claims he also witnessed a murder. This episode was directed by Lawrence Dobkin, who portrayed gangster Dutch Schultz in three episodes of Stack's ABC series The Untouchables,[10] and who also directed another Strike Force episode — "Fallen Angel".[10]
3"The Victims"Lane SlateLane SlateNovember 27, 1981 (1981-11-27)
The Force gambles that money will motivate a woman to set up her colleagues in crime.
4"The Predator"Richard LangCalvin Clements Jr.December 4, 1981 (1981-12-04)
Murphy plays on the emotional insecurity of a sadistic rapist who stalks his victims in supermarkets.
5"Magic Man"Richard LangE. Nick AlexanderDecember 11, 1981 (1981-12-11)
A dealer uses marijuana and pills to lure teenagers into pushing harder drugs to their friends.
6"Night Nurse"Cliff BoleMichael FisherDecember 18, 1981 (1981-12-18)
Patients have been dying inexplicably at four hospitals — including the one where Klein is taken following a heart attack.
7"The Hollow Man"Richard LangWilliam Douglas LansfordDecember 25, 1981 (1981-12-25)
A bomber sends Klein a photographic clue to his next target, and then pays him a visit.
8"The Outcasts"Don ChaffeyStory by : T J. Miles
Teleplay by : T J. Miles & Gene Hanson		January 8, 1982 (1982-01-08)
Strobber shoots a teenage robber whose racist partners swear revenge in a taped message left on the body of a slain Black cop.
9"Ice"Cliff BoleJeffrey BloomJanuary 15, 1982 (1982-01-15)
An international hit man plays cat and mouse with Frank, who has 48 hours to determine his target.
10"Internal Affairs"Bob SweeneyLes CarterJanuary 22, 1982 (1982-01-22)
Clues in a string of jewelry-store robberies point to on-duty policemen -- and the captain of Internal Affairs — who try to pin the crimes on Gunzer.
11"Lonely Ladies"Bob SweeneyWilliam HopkinsFebruary 5, 1982 (1982-02-05)
The common element in a series of rape-murders is that the victims were last seen in singles bars.
12"Fallen Angel"Lawrence DobkinStory by : Robert Brennan
Teleplay by : Joe Gores		February 12, 1982 (1982-02-12)
A murderous cult is alerted to a police investigation by the mayor's premature press conference.
13"Shark"Cliff BoleStory by : Ron Friedman & George R. Hodges
Teleplay by : Ron Friedman		February 19, 1982 (1982-02-19)
Muggings of the elderly go unchecked until a councilwoman is murdered trying to stop an attack.
14"Turnabout"Cliff BoleStory by : Fenton Hobart Jr.
Teleplay by : Calvin Clements Jr.		February 26, 1982 (1982-02-26)
A mobster's right-hand man uses Murphy's ex-wife to contact him about becoming a government-protected witness.
15"The John Killer"Don ChaffeyStory by : F. Michael Johnson & E. Byrne
Teleplay by : Michael Fisher & Calvin Clements Jr.		March 5, 1982 (1982-03-05)
Conventioneers are being murdered by someone masquerading as a call girl.
16"Humiliation"Robert GistBill StrattonMarch 19, 1982 (1982-03-19)
Young muggers out on bail terrorize witnesses scheduled to testify against them.
17"Deadly Chemicals"Charles PicerniStory by : William Douglas Lansford
Teleplay by : Bill Stratton		March 26, 1982 (1982-03-26)
Prison escapees hijack a military van, unaware of the contents: refrigerated germ-warfare cultures.
18"Revenge"Don ChaffeyRick KelbaughApril 2, 1982 (1982-04-02)
A high-school girl left for dead by kidnappers provides the break in a series of abductions.
19"Chinatown"Mike VejarCalvin Clements Jr.April 9, 1982 (1982-04-09)
Gunzer and his girlfriend are wounded by hit men and the street talk is the girl was the target.
20"Death Fare"Don ChaffeyStory by : Glen Olson & Rod Baker
Teleplay by : Bill Stratton & Michael Fisher		April 16, 1982 (1982-04-16)
A policeman's widow is terrorized by phone calls from a man who claims to be her husband trying to avenge his "death".

Reception

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Although initially popular, the novelty of the series quickly wore off;[3] only 19 episodes were produced, plus the 90-minute pilot.[11] According to Todd Gitlin's 1983 book Inside Prime Time, Strike Force finished a dismal 76 out of 105 shows in the Nielsen ratings for the 1981–82 season.[12]

Another factor in the series' demise was the competition: ABC pitted Strike Force against the successful CBS soap-opera Falcon Crest, which had, as its lead-in, the then-number one show on television, Dallas.

Home media

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The first episode of Strike Force was released on video in North America in the late 1980s.[citation needed]

As of 2018, there has been no official DVD release of this series, though there have been several requests for its release,[citation needed] and bootleg copies have circulated in the "collectors market" for the last three decades since Strike Force's cancellation.[2][13][14][15][16]

References

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  1. ^ a b Bobbin, Jay (August 20, 1981). "The 'Force' is with Michael Goodwin". Sarasota Journal.
  2. ^ a b "Strike Force (1981)". Comeuppance Reviews. July 27, 2012. Archived from the original on September 30, 2013.
  3. ^ a b c Mackay, Kathy (April 19, 1982). "Straight Shooter Robert Stack Pounds a Tough 'strike Force' Beat (Vol. 17 No. 15)". People.
  4. ^ "Watch Strike Force Season 1 Full Episodes". OV Guide. Archived from the original on November 25, 2016.
  5. ^ amajor2002 (November 22, 2008). "Patsy Ann Noble - Accidents Will Happen". Archived from the original on December 22, 2021 – via YouTube.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ "YouTube". YouTube.[dead YouTube link]
  7. ^ sallie6 (August 26, 2011). "♫ Patsy Ann Noble ★ Mama ♫". Archived from the original on December 22, 2021 – via YouTube.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ thecountofbasie (July 31, 2010). "Patsy Ann Noble - If You Wanna Be More Than Friends". Archived from the original on December 22, 2021 – via YouTube.
  9. ^ cinemobile (June 26, 2010). "strike force pilot teaser" – via YouTube.
  10. ^ a b "Lawrence Dobkin". IMDb.
  11. ^ "Strike Force TV show". November 13, 2011.
  12. ^ Gitlin, Todd. Inside Prime Time. New York: Pantheon, 1983.
  13. ^ "STRIKE FORCE starring Robert Stack - COMPLETE". Thomas Film Classics.
  14. ^ "STRIKE FORCE: The Complete T.V. Series 1981-1982 Robert Stack & Trisha Noble ..." Sell.com.
  15. ^ "Strike Force: User Reviews". November 13, 1981 – via IMDb.
  16. ^ "Strike Force". The TV IV.
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