TV DETECTIVES
The 705 may have been the decade that taste forgot, but as far as telly goes it was a golden age. At the forefront of our collective psyche are the cops who patrolled the mean streets of the Wolds; Brian Donaldson
Susth culture
THEY DON'T MAKE THEM LIKE THEY USED TO. An over-familiar phrase which no one would dare admit to uttering. But. let‘s face it. when
it comes to telly cops. no decade did it better
than the 1970s. And as ever. those felon-loving Yanks were ahead of the game and lapping up the law-protectors by the dirty dozen.
While America was beating itself up over
Watergate. Vietnam and The King croaking on the can. their filmmakers were responding by torturing audiences with ripped spleens. sev- ered heads. dripping innards and demonic
18 THE “ST 4—18 Nov 1999
children. Tems Chain Saw IWUSSUCIY’. Straw Dogs. The Wild [June/1. The lilrureist et all seemed to be a creative cry in the dark: America was in a state and on a road to nowhere.
Comfort and joy was sought and to be found on the small screen where Kojak. Cu/umlm and lmnside rose from the misery and stood tall (well. obviously not Raymond Burr's crocked crimebuster). As Write/ling The I.)eteetii'es. a Video collection of early episodes from the abo\e recall. each week they would be confronted by some drug-ped- dling. society-worrying scuzballs who were corrupting. murdering and maiming their way through the precinct. Closure and satisfaction were guaranteed with the felons being foiled at the last gasp by the cunning logic and cool hand of our heroes.