Adam-12
The Radical
TV Flash files “The Radical” as hour 82 of 174 in the TV Flash guide — Adam-12 (1968–1975) on NBC, season 4, episode 4, aired 1971-10-06, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S04E04: listed hour 82 of 174 in the Adam-12 guide, hour 4 of 24 in season 4. It aired 1971-10-06 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “The Grandmothers” (S04E03). Next is “The Search” (S04E05).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
On patrol they encounter a squad car that is deserted and they have not heard any officer announce stopping there. When they check it out, they find that a lone officer saw a hitchhiker and had chased him down with a bag of stolen items. During roll call the officers are told to be on the lookout for the radical Robin Saydo who has ties to bombings. The department wants him trailed but not picked up. Malloy receives a call from retired security officer Fred Tibbles who works on the docks and is being forced to overlook thefts. They come upon a truck driver who was knocked out and his load of pantyhose stolen. Tibbles calls with a tip about a heist to take place that afternoon and one earlier. Malloy realizes the trucks being hijacked are being taken for the trucks and not their loads. In a stakeout and pursuit with a police chopper, they become involved in a shootout but break the ring. Reed spots the radical on the streets. They trail him to a building where the DA decides to arrest him and make a search for weapons, etc.
Viewer FAQ
Where does The Radical sit in the Adam-12 guide?
S04E04 is listed hour 82 of 174 — hour 4 of 24 in season 4, season 4 episode 4.
When did Adam-12 S04E04 air?
The Radical aired 1971-10-06 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…