From The TV IV

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87th Precinct is a police drama that aired on NBC. The weekly one-hour series was based on a series of crime novels written by Evan Hunter (under his Ed McBain pseudonym) that were set in the borough of Isola in an unnamed American city (that clearly was based on New York City). It followed the dedicated police detectives of the 87th Precinct, who wore out much shoe leather trudging from one clue to the next in pursuit of murderers, rapists, robbers and other criminals. Action scenes were few, and clues rarely fell into the detectives' laps. Using tenacity and good old-fashioned police work, the 87th Precinct cops managed to--usually--get their man. In the 87th Precinct, as in real life, sometimes the bad guys got away with it. "Dragnet" with humor is a good way to describe the "87th Precinct" TV series.

Detective Steve Carella (Robert Lansing) was the show's leading man. Tough, handsome, sensitive and very smart, Carella was usually partnered with Bert Kling (Ron Harper), a rookie detective with blond hair. Meyer Meyer (Norman Fell) was the squadroom's comic relief, and big Roger Havilland (Gregory Walcott) provided muscle. Occasionally seen was Carella's wife Teddy (Gena Rowlands), a deaf-mute.

"87th Precinct" has never been available on VHS or DVD in the United States, and has rarely been shown in syndication. It is, however, a well-mounted police series that's faithful to the novels on which it was based, and McBain fans should find it satisfying, should they ever get to see it.

Contents 1 Cast 2 Seasons 3 In-Depth 4 DVD Releases 5 External Sites

[edit] Cast

Actor	Character	Duration
Main Cast
Robert Lansing	Det. Steve Carella	1
Ron Harper	Det. Bert Kling	1
Gregory Walcott	Det. Roger Havilland	1
Norman Fell	Det. Meyer Meyer	1
Gena Rowlands	Teddy Carella	1

[edit] Seasons

Season	Premiere	Finale	#
NBC
Season One	September 25, 1961	April 30, 1962	30

[edit] In-Depth

• At a Glance: Additional information about the series

[edit] DVD Releases

[edit] External Sites

• Internet Movie Database entry on "87th Precinct"
• Wikipedia entry on the "87th Precinct" novels
• Ed McBain's official Web site