- The Mod Squad
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For the film, see The Mod Squad (film). For the tag team, see The MOD Squad (professional wrestling).
The Mod Squad 
Title ScreenFormat Police Drama Created by Bud Ruskin Starring Michael Cole
Clarence Williams III
Peggy Lipton
Tige AndrewsTheme music composer Earle Hagen Country of origin United States No. of seasons 5 No. of episodes 123 Production Running time 60 min Broadcast Original channel ABC Original run September 24, 1968 – August 23, 1973 The Mod Squad is a television series that ran on ABC from September 24, 1968, until August 23, 1973. This series starred Michael Cole, Peggy Lipton, Clarence Williams III, and Tige Andrews. The executive producers of the series were Aaron Spelling and Danny Thomas.
In 1997, the episode "Mother of Sorrow" was ranked #95 on TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time.[1]
Contents
Plot
The main cast in 1971, from left: Clarence Williams III, Peggy Lipton and Michael Cole.
The Mod Squad was a police drama that featured three young, hip crime fighters. One White, One Black, One Blonde, was the promotional hype-line. The casting was intended to appeal to a youthful, counterculture audience. The basic premise was that the youthful investigators were offered work fighting crime as an alternative to being incarcerated themselves. The show's primary premise centered on the three cops using their youthful, hippie personas as a guise to get close to the criminals they investigated. The show was moderately popular during its initial run of five seasons and 123 episodes. Tige Andrews (Captain Adam Greer), Michael Cole (Peter Cochran), Peggy Lipton (Julie Barnes), and Clarence Williams III (Lincoln "Linc" Hayes) starred. The show portrayed a multicultural society and dealt with issues of racial politics, drug culture, and counterculture.
The show was loosely based on Bud Ruskin's experiences in the late 1950s as a squad leader for undercover narcotics cops, though it took almost 10 years after he wrote a script for the idea to be given the greenlight by ABC television studios.
Television movie and 1999 film
A TV reunion movie, The Return of Mod Squad, aired on ABC May 18, 1979.
In 1999, the series was adapted into a film of the same name by MGM starring Giovanni Ribisi, Omar Epps, Claire Danes, and Dennis Farina.
DVD releases
CBS DVD (distributed by Paramount) has released the first two seasons of The Mod Squad on DVD in Region 1.
DVD name Ep # Release date Season 1, Volume 1 13 December 18, 2007 Season 1, Volume 2 13 March 11, 2008 Season 2, Volume 1 13 November 25, 2008 Season 2, Volume 2 13 May 26, 2009 References
External links
Categories:- 1968 television series debuts
- 1973 television series endings
- 1960s American television series
- 1970s American television series
- American Broadcasting Company network shows
- Crime television series
- Black television drama series
- Television series by CBS Paramount Television
- Television series by Spelling Television
- Baby boomers in fiction
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