Adam-12

This has been the summer of Adam-12. If you don't know, Adam-12 was a wonderful 1/2 hour TV drama about the day-to-day exploits of Officers Malloy and Reed. It ran for somewhere about 7 seasons in the late 60's and early 70's and is fun to watch. The dialogue is minimal and the stories are very parochial, but the window into life when LA wasn't so built up, and seeing what cops are like beyond the bluster is a rare treat. Later shows like Chips and Barney Miller took the private lives of cops and increased those stories' presence in the overall narrative. Adam-12 always fell on the side of minimalist, not swamping us with too much beyond the "see the man" calls and the continuing call that anchored the episode. There were different writers and directors but the show always kept its central focus (by the end of season 6 and into season 7 there were some more socially conscious episodes and a few that strayed from the formula of Malloy and Reed's cruiser).

Then there is the double whammy of season 4, episodes 3 and 4. Let's start with episode 3:

This has to be the best and funniest episode of any show and is really the mark of the heyday of Adam-12. It was directed by Ozzie Nelson. The first scene with Mrs. Pine and the other woman whose name I don't have is perfect. The writing is so quick, while still being deadpan slow. The mix between the drama of the moment and the weirdness of the dialogue is delicious. The episode included madcap comedy and a sped up chase and fight scene. In fact, you could probably create a class on the foundational elements of comedy just using this episode as a primer. I highly recommend it.

Episode 4 is excellent for a completely different reason. There are pursuits, dry remarks and a car's needing to make a K turn in the middle of a chase. The cliches are at once familiar and inverted. It is almost as if the episode is establishing the template for all similar scenarious but at the same time, being self aware and self parody. The events develop in a way so predictable as to be unpredictable. This is no episode for the jaded and cynical TV watcher but for someone who wants to see something go by the numbers and do nothing more even as you sit on the edge of your seat and expect different. It is jarringly unjarring. Also strongly recommend.