Adam-12
Log 122: The Thief Who Stole Christmas
TV Flash files “Log 122: The Thief Who Stole Christmas” as hour 13 of 174 in the TV Flash guide — Adam-12 (1968–1975) on NBC, season 1, episode 13, aired 1968-12-21, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S01E13: listed hour 13 of 174 in the Adam-12 guide, hour 13 of 26 in season 1. It aired 1968-12-21 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “Log 061: The Runaway” (S01E12). Next is “Log 081: The Long Walk” (S01E14).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
It's the Christmas Eve shift, and Adam-12, along with all the other units, is delivering donated toys to many of the disadvantaged families in the area in-between calls. One of those families is the Wards. Malloy and Reed learn directly from young Harvey Ward that he has his heart set on a yellow toy dump truck for Christmas. Beyond arranging to meet Mrs. Ward later to give her the toys then so that Harvey and her other kids won't see the toys before Christmas, Malloy and Reed discuss the pros and cons of themselves adding to the Christmas donations of a yellow toy dump truck for Harvey. Regardless of what Malloy and Reed decide to do about the toy, they later find out that Harvey may not get any presents at all as Mrs. Ward's old beater of a car gets stolen, along with all the toys in the trunk. With a few leads of past GTA cases from Sgt. Miller, Malloy and Reed hope they can locate Mrs. Ward's car by the end of the shift to get the toys back to her. But Reed also realizes that the toys may not get back to Wards regardless by Christmas, unless he and Malloy can do some sweet talking to Miller. The other issues Adam-12 deals with on this shift are a too common one on this day, namely a drunk driver, who has far too much alcohol induced Christmas spirit, and a domestic dispute call where balancing the traditional festivities against the cost of doing so is the issue of contention between husband and wife. Malloy and Reed just hope that that Christmas spirit, which got the couple into their argument, will also get them out of it.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Log 122: The Thief Who Stole Christmas sit in the Adam-12 guide?
S01E13 is listed hour 13 of 174 — hour 13 of 26 in season 1, season 1 episode 13.
When did Adam-12 S01E13 air?
Log 122: The Thief Who Stole Christmas aired 1968-12-21 and is listed at 30 minutes.
Do I need Dragnet first?
No. Mark VII sister spirit, not a sequel. Adam-12 is two-man patrol television: Malloy, Reed, and the next call.
In the series
Why this series still plays
One-Adam-12: Malloy and Reed on patrol in a black-and-white unit while Jack Webb keeps the moral grammar tight. Ride-along procedural before every badge show learned the radio-code poetry. Two officers closing the shift, case by case, with the calm of a training film that became a hit.
The black-and-white unit arrives before the siren. NBC, 1968–1975: Martin Milner's Officer Pete Malloy and Kent McCord's Officer Jim Reed in a patrol car that defined the two-man format, Jack Webb and R.A. Cinader's Mark VII shop keeping the moral grammar tight. Adam-12 is sister spirit to Dragnet: real LAPD consultation, radio-code poetry, shift-by-shift calls with by-the-book ethics. *Black-and-white paint as a silhouette, radio as jewelry, training-film calm as a press strategy.* Style is the plot. One-Adam-12…
Filed against
- Martin Milner as Officer Pete Malloy
Martin Milner’s Tod Stiles put a Corvette on actual American pavement in Route 66 — location drama when most series never left the lot — then patrolled Adam-12 as Malloy with Jack Webb’s moral grammar tight. Highway as character;…
- Kent McCord as Officer Jim Reed
Kent McCord's Officer Jim Reed made Adam-12 a ride-along before every badge show learned radio-code poetry — Malloy and Reed in a black-and-white unit, Jack Webb's moral grammar, case by case, shift by shift. TV Flash files him as 1970s…