This is the pilot for the television series, following a TV movie made in 1973 starring William Holden. George Kennedy replaces Holden as "Bumper" Morgan, a beat cop wise to the streets and adverse to bureaucratic ways. Morgan takes it upon himself to investigate the death of a cop following a pawn shop robbery. His investigation leads him to Edwin Beall (Glynn Turman), a young black rights activist who might be arming the streets for a war against the cops. Based on Joseph Wambaugh's novel, this is an interesting piece of early 70s cop cinema. Not as tough as THE FRENCH CONNECTION or DIRTY HARRY, it still reinforces the idea that it is alright for cops to break the rules as long as we know they are doing it for the good of common man. Kennedy is his usual affable self, so it is kinda hard to swallow bits where he roughhouses thugs. Alex Rocco plays his closest friend on the force and Verna Bloom is Morgan's love interest. Directed with little flair by vet J. Lee Thompson.
2 Reviews
A tad slower than I expected
planktonrules19 July 2021
In 1973, William Holden starred in the film "The Blue Knight". Now, two years later, the network decided to make a TV series based on the movie, but with George Kennedy playing the lead, Bumper Morgan.
The show is very much like Jack Webb's "Adam-12", as instead of one really big case, the pilot feels more like a variety of cases that a street cop encounters. Yes, there is an overriding theme concerning some illegal guns...but mostly it just shows police procedure.
While I generally like cop and detective shows, I was surprised that this pilot was actually a bit slow...possibly even dull. Not a bad show, and George Kennedy was just fine, but also very little about it stood out for me. For a better show about cops from the same era, I strongly recommend "Police Story"....and apparently folks at the time must have agreed, as "Police Story" had a longer and more successful run. Worth seeing but far from a must-see.
The show is very much like Jack Webb's "Adam-12", as instead of one really big case, the pilot feels more like a variety of cases that a street cop encounters. Yes, there is an overriding theme concerning some illegal guns...but mostly it just shows police procedure.
While I generally like cop and detective shows, I was surprised that this pilot was actually a bit slow...possibly even dull. Not a bad show, and George Kennedy was just fine, but also very little about it stood out for me. For a better show about cops from the same era, I strongly recommend "Police Story"....and apparently folks at the time must have agreed, as "Police Story" had a longer and more successful run. Worth seeing but far from a must-see.
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