Chase (TV Series) Pilot (1973) User Reviews

ONE OF THE BEST COPSHOWS EVER!!!!!!!!!

[sammi4049442 · 20 December 2001]

Chase was a very good show with a talented list of actors on both the movie and tvshow. Unfortunately with the exception of Mitchell Ryan most of the actors just seemed to disappear. Show would probably had lasted longer on tv if they hadn't tried to change the cast midseason.

Best of the 70's Cop Shows . . . for a while, anyway

[louiepatti · 10/10 · 28 September 2004]

Warning: Some Spoilers Attached, though it's unlikely this show will air anytime soon. . . . In the 60's, the top genre for American TV was the western; in the 70's, it was police shows, ranging from the deadpan Adam-12 to the self-effacing humor of Columbo. In 1973 came Chase, a surprisingly fresh series about a renegade captain who doesn't play by the book. Captain Chase Reddick (well-portrayed by Mitchell Ryan) forms an elite and secret squad gleaned from the best the police force has to offer. Their mission is to go after the bottom of the barrel, really tough cases. Reddick recruits former stock-car driver Steve Baker, ex-chopper pilot and Viet Nam War vet Norm Hamilton and hotshot motorcycle cop Fred Sing. He sells them on the idea of his no-glory operation, though Baker isn't real enthused at first, and they crack their first hard case and become a team. In the ensuing series, Sgt. Sam MacCray (Wayne Maunder) and his attack dog Fuzz are added to the group, which becomes very tight. The actors had a great on screen presence and a nice chemistry with each other; Maunder fit seamlessly into the group and the dog was a nice touch. Chase was a very promising show . . . but then came trouble. NBC had some sort of strike (writers, I believe) and had to slash the show's budget. Special effects were pared back and three of the principal actors---Reid Smith/Hamilton, Michael G. Richardson/Baker and Brian Fong/Sing were fired, to be replaced by the lackluster pair Ed Rice(Gary Crosby) and Tom Wilson(Craig Gardner). No offense to those gentlemen, but they were flat and and their characters annoying. The powers that be must've thought the viewers wouldn't mind such a major switch, but they thought wrong. The ratings sank like a stone with the departure of Messrs. Smith, Richardson and Fong; though Maunder was gorgeous and Ryan a ruggedly good actor, even they couldn't carry the show on their talents alone. What resulted was an exercise in frustration for people who enjoyed the series and Chase soon suffered a premature demise. It was a pity. Like so many other TV shows, Chase began with such promise and fizzled out. If only DVDs were available. . . !