M Squad
The Bad Apple
TV Flash files “The Bad Apple” as a desk essential hour — M Squad (1957–1960) on NBC, season 3, episode 39, aired 1960-06-21, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S03E39: listed hour 117 of 117 in the M Squad guide, last listed hour of season 3. It aired 1960-06-21 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “The Tiger's Cage” (S03E38). No later hour is listed in this guide.
Essential hour: “The Bad Apple”. The Bad Apple closes 1960: last named Chicago hour, the hard cop packing a bruise later movies would widen into a stare.
Viewer FAQ
Where does The Bad Apple sit in the M Squad guide?
S03E39 is listed hour 117 of 117 — last listed hour of season 3, season 3 episode 39.
When did M Squad S03E39 air?
The Bad Apple aired 1960-06-21 and is listed at 30 minutes.
Where should I start?
Start with Marvin's Ballinger on the Chicago squad. Minimal smiles, noir half-hours; the jazz bite is the extra.
In the series
Why this series still plays
M Squad is Lee Marvin's hard cop in a hard Chicago: noir procedural with a jazz bite, later meaner when Count Basie got a theme. Tough urban police drama before Marvin's film cool peaked. Watch it now as badge television with bruise — jazz, alleys, and a star practicing lethality in half-hour form.
The bruise is already on the badge. Lee Marvin as Detective Lieutenant Frank Ballinger, NBC 1957–1960, a special plainclothes squad cleaning up Chicago crime with minimal smiles: M Squad, noir procedural with a jazz bite, 117 episodes, three seasons, Latimer Productions and Revue Studios. Paul Newlan as Capt. Grey holding the office while Marvin walked the alleys. Tougher than earlier badge shows. Later meaner in memory when Count Basie recorded a well-known version of the theme. Marvin practicing lethality in…
Filed against
- Lee Marvin as Det. Lt. Frank Ballinger
Lee Marvin's Det. Lt. Frank Ballinger made M Squad a hard cop in a hard Chicago — noir procedural with a jazz bite, later meaner when Count Basie got a theme, badge television with bruise. Tough urban police drama before film cool peaked.…
- Paul Newlan as Capt. Grey
Paul Newlan played Capt. Grey on M Squad, Lee Marvin’s 1950s hard cop in a hard Chicago — noir procedural with a jazz bite, later meaner when Count Basie got a theme. Tough urban police drama before Marvin’s film cool peaked. TV Flash…