39 Fun Facts About Adam-12

Which two LAPD officers are the central characters of Adam-12?

Pete Malloy (Martin Milner) and Jim Reed (Kent McCord) ride together as the crew of patrol unit 1-Adam-12 for all seven seasons of the series.

In which year did Adam-12 premiere?

Adam-12 premiered on 21 September 1968, while creator Jack Webb was also producing his revived Dragnet; the two shows shared a fictional LAPD.

What is Jim Reed's status when the series begins?

Reed begins the series as a rookie on probation, fresh from the academy; Malloy is assigned as his field training officer and the two stay partners long after.

Jack Webb's production company, which made Adam-12 with Universal Television, was called what?

Mark VII Limited was Jack Webb's production company; its closing logo showed a hand with a hammer stamping the Roman numeral VII into a metal plate.

On which network did Adam-12 originally air?

Adam-12 aired on NBC for all seven seasons of its original run; the network also carried Jack Webb's revived Dragnet.

How many episodes of the original Adam-12 were made?

Adam-12 made 174 half-hour episodes across seven seasons; for its first several seasons every episode title began with a 'Log' number.

In LAPD radio code, what does the 'Adam' in '1-Adam-12' signify?

In LAPD call signs the letter A, spoken 'Adam', denotes a two-officer patrol unit; a one-officer car is 'L' for Lincoln.

Despite a Central Division call sign, which real LAPD station did Malloy and Reed work from?

The Rampart Police Station on West Temple Street closed in 2008.

What make of car did Adam-12 drive in the pilot and first three seasons?

Unit 1-Adam-12 was a Plymouth Belvedere for the pilot and the first three seasons, starting with a 1967 model; a Plymouth Satellite followed in season four.

From the fifth season onward, Adam-12's black-and-white was which model?

From season five Adam-12's unit was a 1972 AMC Matador, supplied under a product-placement deal with American Motors; a Plymouth Satellite had served in season four.

What was Malloy's plan at the very start of the series, before he was assigned to train Reed?

Malloy was about to resign from the LAPD, shaken by his partner's death in the line of duty; being assigned to train rookie Reed in the pilot changed his mind.

What is Malloy's badge number?

Malloy's badge reads 744; partner Reed wears 2430, while Joe Friday's famous 714 belongs to Dragnet.

Who played Sergeant 'Mac' MacDonald, the watch commander?

William Boyett played Sergeant 'Mac' MacDonald across all seven seasons; he had been best known before Adam-12 as Sergeant Ken Williams on Highway Patrol (1955-59).

Officer Ed Wells, Malloy's friend, was played by the son of which famous crooner?

Gary Crosby, eldest son of Bing Crosby, played the loudmouthed Officer Ed Wells, a recurring presence at the station across the show's run.

What did Jack Webb have removed from the car for the pilot because sky reflections hid the actors' faces?

Webb had the windshield removed for the pilot because sky reflections hid the actors' faces; blowing hair and sound problems followed, so it was restored with an overhead shade to cut the glare.

Adam-12 shares a fictional universe with Dragnet and which other Jack Webb series?

Malloy and Reed appeared in the Emergency! pilot movie, and the Emergency! cast turned up in the Adam-12 episode 'Lost and Found'.

Which recurring Adam-12 investigator was often shown in different divisions, similar to Joe Friday?

Detective Sergeant Jerry Miller turns up in whichever division a story needs, much as Joe Friday did on Dragnet; he took over the investigations that Malloy and Reed's arrests fed into.

Which future NCIS star guest-starred as rookie Officer Gus Corbin in a late episode?

Mark Harmon, later NCIS's Leroy Jethro Gibbs, played rookie Officer Gus Corbin in Adam-12's final season, early in his career; his father was 1940 Heisman winner Tom Harmon.

Jo Ann Pflug played Officer Dana Hall, notable at the time for what?

Wells and other officers mocked her, but Reed treated her as an equal.

Which sketch-comedy show featured Milner and McCord in cameos as their Adam-12 characters?

The cameos came in the fifth season of the show.

After Adam-12, Martin Milner played the father in which short-lived 1975 adventure series?

Milner played Karl Robinson, the father, in Irwin Allen's The Swiss Family Robinson, which lasted a single season on ABC in 1975-76.

Before Adam-12, Martin Milner starred as Tod Stiles in which 1960s road series?

Milner played Tod Stiles on Route 66 from 1960 to 1964, a series shot on location across America as Tod and his partner drifted from town to town in a Corvette.

Martin Milner made his 1947 film debut in which movie starring William Powell?

Milner debuted as John Day, one of the Day sons, in Life with Father (1947), with William Powell as the father; Sands of Iwo Jima followed in 1949.

What is Kent McCord's real surname?

Kent McCord was born Kent Franklin McWhirter in Los Angeles in 1942 and was billed under his birth name in his earliest television appearances.

Kent McCord became a close friend of which teen idol early in his career?

McCord met Rick Nelson while playing a fraternity brother on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, the Nelson family's sitcom, and the two became close friends.

After Adam-12, Kent McCord played Captain Troy in which sci-fi spin-off?

McCord played Captain Troy, the grown-up Boxey, in Galactica 1980, the short-lived Battlestar Galactica spin-off that ran for just ten episodes in 1980.

The 1990–91 revival's lead, Officer Matt Doyle, was played by a son of which Hollywood legend?

Ethan Wayne, John Wayne's youngest son, played Officer Matt Doyle opposite Peter Parros's Officer Gus Grant in the syndicated 1990-91 revival The New Adam-12.

How many episodes did the syndicated revival The New Adam-12 make?

The New Adam-12 made 52 half-hour episodes, two seasons of 26, in first-run syndication from September 1990 to September 1991.

Which planned Jack Webb project, with Kent McCord as Joe Friday's partner, was cancelled by Webb's death in 1982?

Webb was preparing a third Dragnet series, with himself again as Joe Friday and Kent McCord as his partner, when he died of a heart attack in December 1982.

Where were most scenes in the earlier seasons filmed?

Early seasons were shot mostly on the Universal Studios lot in Universal City, its backlot streets standing in for Los Angeles neighbourhoods; later seasons used more real locations.

Who composed the music for Adam-12?

Comstock was a Jack Webb regular; the show's clipped radio-call theme became instantly recognisable.

On Adam-12, what does the radio request 'Code 7' ask for?

Code 7 is the LAPD's request to go out of service for a meal break; Malloy and Reed ask for it constantly, and the show made the code familiar to audiences nationwide.

Who co-created Adam-12 with Jack Webb?

Cinader and Webb went on to create the paramedic drama Emergency!, set in the same fictional universe.

In which year did the original run of Adam-12 end?

The series ran seven seasons from September 21, 1968, to May 20, 1975.

Who voiced the radio operator heard in almost every episode?

Claridge treated acting as a side job until she retired from the LAPD in 1990.

Kent McCord later played astronaut Jack Crichton, the hero's father, in which sci-fi series?

In Farscape, the Jim Henson Company's space series, McCord played Jack Crichton, the astronaut father of Ben Browder's hero John Crichton.

What is the name of Jim Reed's wife in the series?

She was played by several actresses, including Mikki Jamison and Kristin Nelson; a son, Jim Jr., appears in season two.

Which actor played Detective Sergeant Jerry Miller?

Jack Hogan, earlier Kirby on Combat!, played Detective Sergeant Jerry Miller in Adam-12's early seasons; the role faded after season two as Sergeant MacDonald became the station's on-screen boss.

Which company acquired the DVD distribution rights to Adam-12 from Universal in 2008?

Shout! Factory picked up the DVD rights in 2008 and released the remaining seasons itself, after Universal had put out only season one in 2005.