The Rookies
A Bloody Shade of Blue
TV Flash files “A Bloody Shade of Blue” as a desk essential hour — The Rookies (1972–1976) on ABC, season 1, episode 12, aired 1972-12-11, 60 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S01E12: listed hour 12 of 93 in the The Rookies guide, hour 12 of 23 in season 1. It aired 1972-12-11 (60 min). The listed hour before it is “A Deadly Velocity” (S01E11). Next is “A Very Special Piece of Ground” (S01E13).
Essential hour: “A Bloody Shade of Blue”. A Bloody Shade of Blue is the badge title as a bruise. Idealism meeting brutality plots: Spelling-Goldberg ensemble still sincere, the rookies still learning, the neon still a warning.
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
This episode centers on a pair of masked thugs who are on a vendetta to kill police officers. In the opener, they are on a rooftop and shoot a guy named Karl Miller that they assumed was a cop, because they had previously (not shown) seen him dressed as a cop from a masquerade party. The SCPD investigates the motive of the thugs, who target Officer Terry Webster as their next victim. They shoot at him in his police car, shattering the windshield glass into his eyes, temporarily blinding him. During his hospital stay, he bonds with a nurse, Lynn Everett. She helps him and they form a friendship. After Terry is released from the hospital--his eyes still bandaged--he and Lynn go on a picnic, where the criminals chase them down, with the intention of killing Terry, so he can't identify them. Lynn calls for help, Terry helps subdue the thugs and he regains his sight at the end. This episode is very touching and emotional, from Terry being scared that he may never see again, to Lynn sharing that she led a sheltered life and had never communicated with a black person before and didn't know how to. This is one not to be missed!
Viewer FAQ
Where does A Bloody Shade of Blue sit in the The Rookies guide?
S01E12 is listed hour 12 of 93 — hour 12 of 23 in season 1, season 1 episode 12.
When did The Rookies S01E12 air?
A Bloody Shade of Blue aired 1972-12-11 and is listed at 60 minutes.
Do I need The Mod Squad first?
No. This is a later youth-cop ensemble with Spelling-Goldberg earnestness. Related energy, not a sequel.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Young cops learn the badge on Spelling-Goldberg earnestness: idealism, brutality plots, and Kate Jackson before Charlie's Angels glamour. Youth-focused police ensemble bridging Mod Squad energy into the mid-1970s. Rookies who still believe the job, then get corrected by the street without losing the hour's pulse.
The idealism arrives before the Angels glamour. ABC, 1972–1976: young officers under Lt. Ryker face modern police work's moral gray zones in a Spelling-produced drama. Rita Lakin and William Blinn's The Rookies put Georg Stanford Brown, Sam Melville, and Michael Ontkean in the cars with Kate Jackson's Jill Danko and Gerald S. O'Loughlin's Lt. Eddie Ryker. Youth-focused police ensemble bridging Mod Squad energy into mid-1970s form. Social issues alongside action. **They were not just packaging a badge.** They were…
Filed against
- Georg Stanford Brown as Officer Terry Webster
Georg Stanford Brown's Officer Terry Webster learned the badge on The Rookies — Spelling-Goldberg earnestness, idealism meeting brutality plots, a 1970s youth-focused police ensemble. Kate Jackson before the glamour export. TV Flash files…
- Sam Melville as Officer Mike Danko
Sam Melville's Officer Mike Danko learned the badge on The Rookies — Spelling-Goldberg earnestness, idealism, brutality plots, Kate Jackson before Charlie's Angels glamour. Youth-focused police ensemble bridging Mod Squad energy into the…
- Michael Ontkean as Officer Willie Gillis
Michael Ontkean’s Sheriff Harry S. Truman is the decent center of Twin Peaks — the local law who agreed to take the FBI’s dream logic seriously without becoming a punchline. ABC’s 1990–91 murder soap needed a host in a badge; Ontkean made…
- Kate Jackson as Jill Danko
Kate Jackson’s Sabrina Duncan is the original Charlie’s Angels trio’s cool register — feathered-hair poster economy around her, a speakerphone boss as alibi, glamour doing franchise work. ABC action as perfume-ad photography. On TV Flash…
- Gerald S. O'Loughlin as Lt. Eddie Ryker
Gerald S. O'Loughlin's Lt. Eddie Ryker ran The Rookies from the desk — Spelling-Goldberg earnestness, young cops, idealism meeting brutality plots in a 1970s youth-focused police ensemble. The lieutenant as the correction the street would…