Adam-12
Gifts and Long Letters
TV Flash files “Gifts and Long Letters” as hour 114 of 174 in the TV Flash guide — Adam-12 (1968–1975) on NBC, season 5, episode 12, aired 1972-12-20, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S05E12: listed hour 114 of 174 in the Adam-12 guide, hour 12 of 24 in season 5. It aired 1972-12-20 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “Hot Spell” (S05E11). Next is “O'Brien's Stand” (S05E13).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
A call about a suicide attempt at a hotel finds a women has tried to commit suicide for the second time but she is okay. She has left a note for another resident of the hotel. When they contact the man they recognize him as a convicted felon on parole involved with some serious mob activities. The man is a recluse and refuses to talk to the woman. The officers spot a man changing a tire and ask if he needs help but he says no. A second call to hotel occurs when the manager tries to evict the parolee because he types till 3:00 am but really simply wants the man evicted. When they hear a robbery report on the radio including the car the man was changing the tire on, they report it and a description of the man. They stop at the restaurant where the woman works to check on her and tell her why her friend refuses to see her which is due to a fear of someone from the mob being after him. Detectives locate the car and ask Malloy and Reed to help identify the owner which they do. A report of shots fired at the hotel finds the parolee has lost contact with reality and believes someone is after him forcing the officers into a gun battle until he runs out of ammunition.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Gifts and Long Letters sit in the Adam-12 guide?
S05E12 is listed hour 114 of 174 — hour 12 of 24 in season 5, season 5 episode 12.
When did Adam-12 S05E12 air?
Gifts and Long Letters aired 1972-12-20 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…