Adam-12
Back-Up One L-20
TV Flash files “Back-Up One L-20” as hour 99 of 174 in the TV Flash guide — Adam-12 (1968–1975) on NBC, season 4, episode 21, aired 1972-02-23, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S04E21: listed hour 99 of 174 in the Adam-12 guide, hour 21 of 24 in season 4. It aired 1972-02-23 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “Sub-Station” (S04E20). Next is “Who Won?” (S04E22).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Malloy and Reed are called to provide backup to of all people Mac, who happened upon a B&E in progress. Mac requests Malloy to be the accompanying officer in transporting the perpetrator, Victor Lamson, back to the station, while Reed secures the crime scene. Both Mac and Malloy's friendly attitude change as they, while driving to the station, hit an elderly pedestrian. Both Mac and Malloy know that the pedestrian came out from between two parked cars into traffic, whereas the three independent witnesses on the street all state that the pedestrian was in the pedestrian crosswalk, thus had the right of way, and that Mac was speeding. Lamson, who knows that Mac and Malloy are telling the truth, will not corroborate their story unless they let him go, which they both refuse. Internal Affairs does an investigation. Mac comes to the realization that he could be in real trouble and lose his job, and that Malloy will also have a rough ride if Mac is found guilty. They have to do some digging to see if the victim, who eventually dies from her injuries, and/or the witnesses have ulterior motives in lying about what they saw. Malloy also believes there may be another witness out there that can and will tell the truth. Meanwhile, Lamson ends up being a victim himself when friends of his realize that because he is in jail, his apartment filled with stolen goods is just ripe for the picking.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Back-Up One L-20 sit in the Adam-12 guide?
S04E21 is listed hour 99 of 174 — hour 21 of 24 in season 4, season 4 episode 21.
When did Adam-12 S04E21 air?
Back-Up One L-20 aired 1972-02-23 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…