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The Mod Squad
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| The Mod Squad | |
|---|---|
 Title screen, 1970 to 1973 | |
| Genre | Action Crime drama |
| Created by | Bud "Buddy" Ruskin |
| Developed by | Tony Barrett Harve Bennett Sammy Hess |
| Starring | Michael Cole Clarence Williams III Peggy Lipton Tige Andrews |
| Theme music composer | Earle Hagen |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 5 |
| No. of episodes | 124 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Aaron Spelling Danny Thomas |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Production company | Thomas-Spelling Productions |
| Original release | |
| Network | ABC |
| Release | September 24, 1968 – March 1, 1973 |
The Mod Squad is an American crime drama series, originally broadcast for five seasons on ABC from September 24, 1968, to March 1, 1973.[1] It starred Michael Cole as Peter "Pete" Cochran, Clarence Williams III as Lincoln "Linc" Hayes, Peggy Lipton as Julie Barnes, and Tige Andrews as Captain Adam Greer. The executive producers of the series were Aaron Spelling and Danny Thomas.[1][2]
The counterculture police series earned six Emmy Award nominations, four Golden Globe nominations plus one win for Peggy Lipton, one Directors Guild of America Award, and four Logies.[3] In 1970, the second-season episode, "In This Corner . . . Sol Alpert," script by Rita Lakin and Harve Bennett, was nominated by the Mystery Writers of America for an Edgar Award in the category of Best Mystery Teleplay, losing to the TV-Movie Daughter of the Mind. In 1997, a 1970 episode "Mother of Sorrow" was ranked No. 95 on TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time.[4]
Plot
[edit] | This section's tone or style may not reflect the encyclopedic tone used on Wikipedia. (January 2025) |
A critic described The Mod Squad as "the hippest and first young undercover cops on TV".[5] Each of these characters represented mainstream culture's principal fears regarding youth in the era:[6] long-haired rebel Pete Cochran (Michael Cole) was evicted from his wealthy parents' Beverly Hills home, then arrested and put on probation after he stole a car; Lincoln Hayes (Clarence Williams III), who came from a family of 13 children, was arrested in the Watts riots, one of the longest and most violent riots in Los Angeles history; flower child Julie Barnes (Peggy Lipton), the "canary with a broken wing,"[7]: 64 was arrested for vagrancy after running away from her prostitute mother's San Francisco home; and Captain Adam Greer (Tige Andrews) was a tough but sympathetic mentor and father figure who convinced them to form the squad.[1][8][9]
The concept was to take three rebellious, disaffected young social outcasts and convince them to work as unarmed undercover detectives as an alternative to being incarcerated. Their youthful, hippie personas would enable them to get close to the criminals they would investigate. "The times are changing," Captain Greer explained. "They can get into places we (the regular police) can't." Examples included their infiltrations of a high school to solve a teacher's murder, of an underground newspaper to find a bomber, and of an acting class to look for a strangler who was preying on blonde actresses.[1][9]
More than a year before the release of the film Easy Rider, The Mod Squad was one of the earliest attempts to deal with the counterculture. The show[2] also dealt with issues such as abortion, domestic violence, child abuse, illiteracy, slumlords, the anti-war movement, illegal immigration, police brutality, student protest, sex education, soldiers returning from Vietnam and PTSD, racism, euthanasia, and the illegal drug trade.[10] Spelling intended the show to be about the characters' relationships, and he promised that the Squad "would never arrest kids ... or carry a gun or use one."[7]: 63
The show was loosely based on creator Bud "Buddy" Ruskin's experiences in the late 1950s as a squad leader for young undercover narcotics cops, though it took almost 10 years after he wrote a script for the idea to be green-lighted by ABC Television Studios.[8]
Impact
[edit]The shows Hogan's Heroes (1965-71), Star Trek (1966–69), I Spy (1965–68), The Bill Cosby Show (1969–71), Room 222 (1969–74), Mannix (1967–75), Mission: Impossible (1966–73), Julia (1968–71), The Flip Wilson Show (1970–74), and The Mod Squad (1968–73) were among the first programs to feature African-Americans as stars since the stereotyped roles of Amos 'n' Andy and Beulah (ABC, 1950–53).[11] Significantly, The Mod Squad presented an African-American character (Linc) as being on an equal footing, as roles went, to the Caucasian characters (Pete and Julie). In one Mod Squad episode, the script called for Linc to give Julie a "friendly kiss". Since the first interracial kiss on an American television show was in 1968, this was still fairly new territory in popular culture.[12] The studio was frightened of a negative public reaction, so they asked Spelling to cut it:[7]: 67–68
"You can't do that," I was told. "You can't have a black man kissing a white girl." I won and ABC agreed to let it in, but they warned me I'd receive thousands of complaint letters. I didn't get one.[7]: 68
Linc's famous "solid" and "keep the faith" were among the current-day slang used on the show, which included "pad", "dig it", and "groovy."[8][13]
The "kids" traveled in Pete's old station wagon, "Woody": a green woodie-style 1950 Mercury which became famous until it burned up in a fire after going over a cliff during a chase at the end of the second-season episode "The Death of Wild Bill Hannachek".
Among the series' guest stars were Desi Arnaz Jr., Ed Asner (three episodes in three different roles), René Auberjonois, Jim Backus, Joe Don Baker, Tom Bosley, Victor Buono, David Cassidy, Jack Cassidy, Tyne Daly (two episodes in two different roles), Sammy Davis Jr. (three episodes in three different roles), Tony Dow, Richard Dreyfuss (two episodes in two different roles), Sam Elliott, Harrison Ford (uncredited role), Meg Foster (two episodes in two different roles), Anthony Geary, Louis Gossett Jr., Lee Grant, Andy Griffith, Clint Howard, Rodolfo Hoyos Jr. (three episodes in three different roles), Spelling's ex-wife Carolyn Jones, Fernando Lamas, Cleavon Little, Barbara McNair, Leslie Nielsen, Stefanie Powers, Vincent Price, Richard Pryor, Robert Reed, Sugar Ray Robinson, Cesar Romero, Marion Ross, Martin Sheen, Bobby Sherman (two episodes in two different roles), Vic Tayback, Danny Thomas (as well as being co-executive producer of the show), Daniel J. Travanti (three episodes in three different roles), Jo Van Fleet, Fritz Weaver, Billy Dee Williams and William Windom.[14]
Episodes
[edit]Broadcast history and Nielsen ratings
[edit]| Season | Time | Rank | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (1968–69) | Tuesday at 7:30-8:30 pm | No. 28 | 20.5 (tied with The Lawrence Welk Show) |
| 2 (1969–70) | No. 23 | 20.8 | |
| 3 (1970–71) | No. 11 | 22.7 | |
| 4 (1971–72) | No. 21 | 21.5 | |
| 5 (1972–73) | Thursday at 8:00-9:00 pm | #54 | 16.5 |
Syndication
[edit]In the United States, MeTV reran the series from May 26 to August 29, 2014, and again on Sunday afternoons from January 4 to August 30, 2015. Decades re-ran part of the series on February 24–25, 2018, and again on January 30–31, 2021, for their binge weekend programming block; they presented one final Decades Binge of it on March 25–26, 2023 before the network changed into Catchy Comedy. Mod Squad is currently airing on MeTV+ weekdays at 2 pm ET.
Related productions
[edit]A television pilot was shot in 1968, with a running time of 74 minutes, but it was never aired in its entirety. The film was edited to 50 minutes and aired as the show's first episode. The uncut 74-minute version appears on the DVD set as the opening episode, with the title "The Teeth of the Barracuda."
A TV reunion movie, The Return of the Mod Squad, was transmitted on ABC on May 18, 1979, featuring the entire original cast. Tom Bosley, a guest star during the original run, also participated as an antagonist targeting Julie Barnes herself. Peggy Lipton said she participated in it as a favor to Aaron Spelling.[citation needed]
In 1999, the series was adapted into a feature film with the same title by MGM; however, this film, which starred Giovanni Ribisi, Omar Epps, Claire Danes, and Dennis Farina in Cole's, Williams III's, Lipton's, and Andrews's roles respectively, was not a box-office success.
Home media
[edit]CBS DVD (distributed by Paramount) has released the first two seasons of The Mod Squad on DVD in Region 1.
On August 20, 2013, it was announced that Visual Entertainment had acquired the rights to the series (under license from Paramount) and would release season 3 on DVD on September 24, 2013. Season 4 would be released on October 1, 2013.[15] In Canada, Season 3 was released on DVD a week earlier, on September 17, 2013, and Season 4 was released on October 8, 2013. Season 5 was released in Canada on November 19, 2013 and in the US on December 17, 2013.[16][17] A Complete Series set was released in Canada and the US on November 12, 2013.[18]
| DVD name | Ep # | Release date |
|---|---|---|
| Season 1, Volume 1 | 13 | December 18, 2007 (US & Canada) |
| Season 1, Volume 2 | 13 | March 11, 2008 (US & Canada) |
| Season 2, Volume 1 | 13 | November 25, 2008 (US & Canada) |
| Season 2, Volume 2 | 13 | May 26, 2009 (US & Canada) |
| Season 3, Volume 1 | 12 | September 24, 2013 (US)September 17, 2013 (Canada) |
| Season 3, Volume 2 | 12 | September 24, 2013 (US)September 17, 2013 (Canada) |
| Season 4, Volume 1 | 12 | October 1, 2013 (US)October 8, 2013 (Canada) |
| Season 4, Volume 2 | 12 | October 1, 2013 (US)October 8, 2013 (Canada) |
| Season 5, Volume 1 | 12 | December 17, 2013 (US)November 19, 2013 (Canada) |
| Season 5, Volume 2 | 12 | December 17, 2013 (US)November 19, 2013 (Canada) |
| Complete Series | 124 | November 12, 2013 (US & Canada)[18] |
References elsewhere in popular culture
[edit]The term "Mod Squad" had been introduced the previous year in Dragnet 1967's sixteenth installment, "The Big Kids," where it described a club of high schoolers who had to shoplift at least $20 to become members.
In 1990 on the TV series Twin Peaks, in which Lipton was a regular, Williams appeared in two episodes. The pair shared a brief scene that appears to have been an intentional reunion.[19]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d "The Mod Squad". St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture.
- ^ a b Lovece, Frank (December 16, 2007). "Groovy kind of law". Newsday. Archived from the original on February 15, 2008.
- ^ "Awards for The Mod Squad". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
- ^ "Special Collectors' Issue: 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time". TV Guide (June 28-July 4). 1997.
- ^ Hutchings, David (April 4, 1988). "Can You Dig It? the Mod Squad's Peggy Lipton, One Marriage and 15 Years Later, Returns to Acting". People. Vol. 29, no. 13. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
- ^ Debolt, Abbe A.; Baugess, James S., eds. (2011). Encyclopedia of the Sixties: A Decade of Culture and Counterculture [2 volumes]: A Decade of Culture and Counterculture. ABC-CLIO. p. 629. ISBN 9781440801020. Retrieved June 10, 2014.
- ^ a b c d Spelling, Aaron; Graham, Jefferson (2002). Aaron Spelling: A Prime-Time Life. Macmillan. ISBN 9780312313449.
- ^ a b c Madden, Joanne (May 17, 2011). "The Coolness of The Mod Squad". TV Banter. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
- ^ a b "The Mod Squad - Season 1, Volume 1". Amazon. December 18, 2007. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
- ^ Blythe, Kambur O. "The Mod Squad: The Second Season, Volume One". GameVortex.com. GameVortex Communications. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
- ^ Allen, Steve. "Television in the United States". Britannica.com. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
- ^ The Star Trek episode "Plato's Stepchildren", often cited as a controversial 'first' of this kind, was not until 1968.
- ^ "'Mod Squad' Star Returns to TV". Los Angeles Times. Times Wire Services. October 19, 1990. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
- ^ "No. 12: Classic TV Beauties 1960s Countdown: Peggy Lipton as Julie Barnes in "The Mod Squad"". ClassicTVBeauties.com. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
- ^ Half-Season Sets Scheduled for 'Season 3' and 'Season 4' Archived August 23, 2013, at the Wayback Machine at TVShowsonDVD.com
- ^ The Mod Squad Season 5, Volume One at Amazon.com
- ^ The Mod Squad Season 5, Volume Two at Amazon.com
- ^ a b The Mod Squad: The Complete Collection at VisualEntertainment.tv
- ^ Thomlison, Adam. "Q&A". TV Media. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
External links
[edit]The Mod Squad
View on GrokipediaPremise and Characters
Core Plot Elements
The Mod Squad follows three young adults—Pete Cochran, a disaffected youth from a wealthy Beverly Hills family estranged from his parents; Linc Hayes, a Black man from the Los Angeles ghetto who resisted the Vietnam War draft; and Julie Barnes, a white runaway from San Francisco—who are arrested during the 1966 Sunset Strip curfew riots but spared prison by Los Angeles Police captain Adam Greer.[5][2] Greer recruits them into an experimental undercover squad to address rising youth crime, leveraging their outsider status and familiarity with countercultural scenes to infiltrate groups inaccessible to traditional officers.[1][6] Recurring plot elements revolve around self-contained episodic cases where the squad poses as hippies, dropouts, or street hustlers to probe narcotics trafficking, organized youth delinquency, draft evasion rings, and exploitation within the 1960s-1970s subcultures, often set against Los Angeles backdrops like beaches, clubs, and communes.[3][2] The protagonists operate unarmed, relying on intuition, interpersonal dynamics, and non-violent tactics to gather evidence and avert harm to vulnerable youths, with Greer's oversight providing strategic guidance and occasional paternal intervention.[1][3] Character-driven arcs underscore themes of redemption, as the trio confronts personal traumas—such as Pete's parental rejection, Linc's racial profiling experiences, and Julie's abusive family history—while building familial bonds within the squad, though resolutions prioritize moral persuasion over procedural arrests.[5][6] Episodes avoid graphic violence, focusing instead on psychological tension and social commentary on generational divides, with the squad's hippie aesthetics (long hair, casual attire, and Woody station wagon transport) enabling seamless blending into suspect milieus.[1][3]Main Characters and Casting
The main characters of The Mod Squad were three young undercover police officers recruited from juvenile detention as an alternative to imprisonment: Peter "Pete" Cochran, played by Michael Cole; Lincoln "Linc" Hayes, portrayed by Clarence Williams III; and Julie Barnes, enacted by Peggy Lipton.[1] [7] Their supervisor, Captain Adam Greer, was depicted by Tige Andrews, who appeared in all 124 episodes of the series.[1] [8] Pete Cochran was characterized as a wealthy, long-haired youth arrested for car theft, serving as the group's informal leader with a rebellious streak.[9] Linc Hayes, an African American former convict incarcerated after a street fight, contributed toughness and cultural insight to the team.[9] Julie Barnes, an orphan who fled an abusive home, brought empathy and undercover versatility, often leveraging her appearance for infiltration.[9] Captain Greer, a veteran LAPD officer, provided mentorship and operational oversight, embodying authority amid the squad's countercultural style.[1] The casting emphasized youth and diversity, with Cole (born 1945), Williams III (born 1939), Lipton (born 1946), and Andrews (born 1920) embodying the era's social experimentation in law enforcement portrayals.[1]Production History
Development and Creation
Buddy Ruskin, a former officer with the Los Angeles Police Department's juvenile and narcotics divisions during the 1950s, conceived The Mod Squad based on his real-world experiences leading an undercover unit of teenage officers who posed as high school students to target drug dealers and other criminals preying on youth.[1] Ruskin drew from these operations to craft a narrative of reformed juvenile delinquents working as civilian undercover agents for law enforcement, emphasizing redemption through service amid countercultural themes.[10] Ruskin penned the pilot script in 1960, but network skepticism delayed production for eight years as executives grappled with the unconventional premise of hip, youthful protagonists in a police procedural during a era of generational tensions.[11] The concept was eventually refined and developed by television writers Tony Barrett, Harve Bennett, and Sammy Hess, with producer Aaron Spelling taking on executive production duties to align it with ABC's strategy for recapturing baby boomer audiences alienated by traditional programming.[1] [2] ABC greenlit the series in 1968, premiering it on September 24 as part of a broader network push to inject relevance into prime-time fare by featuring relatable young characters tackling social issues like drug abuse and racial prejudice, while maintaining a pro-law enforcement core to appeal across demographics.[2] The pilot episode, titled "The Teeth of the Barracuda," originated as a 90-minute telefilm before being trimmed to fit the one-hour slot, setting the template for the squad's investigative format.[12]Filming and Technical Aspects
The series was produced by Thomas/Spelling Productions and filmed primarily at Paramount Studios, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, supplemented by extensive on-location shooting across the city and its environs to depict realistic urban settings and youth culture.[1] Specific exterior scenes were captured in neighborhoods like Pacific Palisades, including Swarthmore Avenue, La Cruz Drive, Sunset Boulevard, and adjacent alleys, as well as sites such as 3400 Wilshire Boulevard.[13][14] Executive producer Aaron Spelling highlighted the emphasis on location work for visual dynamism, noting: “The show has a lot of visual appeal... We do a lot of location shooting in and around Los Angeles and there are some exciting chase sequences involved in the action.”[6] This approach integrated high-energy action elements with quieter “soul scenes” focused on character introspection, enhancing the program's relevance to contemporary social themes.[6] Production techniques drew from recent cinematic innovations, particularly the photographic breakthroughs in the 1967 film The Graduate, which Spelling credited as an influence: producers aimed “to take advantage of [those] breakthroughs... and try a lot of exciting things” to elevate television's aesthetic beyond studio-bound conventions.[6] These efforts contributed to a more fluid, documentary-like style suited to the undercover premise, though specifics on camera equipment or cinematographers remain undocumented in primary production records. The series maintained a standard one-hour format for ABC broadcast, prioritizing mobility for street-level authenticity over elaborate studio effects.[6]Broadcast and Performance
Original Run and Scheduling
The Mod Squad premiered on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) on September 24, 1968, with its pilot episode "The Teeth of the Barracuda," and concluded its original run on March 1, 1973, after airing the final episode "Call Me Eduardo." The series produced 123 episodes across five seasons, each approximately 60 minutes in length. Broadcast during the prime time evening hours, it targeted a young adult audience amid the countercultural era, contributing to its initial scheduling flexibility.[1][15] Initially slotted on Tuesday nights from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time during its debut season (1968–1969), the program benefited from leading into established hits like The FBI, which helped secure solid viewership. For seasons two through four (1969–1972), ABC shifted it to Thursday evenings at 8:00 to 9:00 p.m. ET, a competitive slot that sustained its popularity despite growing network rivalry. This placement allowed it to air opposite CBS's Family Affair and NBC's variety shows, where it often performed respectably.[16][17] In its fifth and final season (1972–1973), the show was rescheduled to a less favorable Friday night slot, which correlated with declining ratings and accelerated its cancellation decision by ABC executives. The move reflected broader network strategies to refresh lineups amid shifting audience habits and competition from films and youth-oriented programming, though production wrapped after fulfilling the season's commitment. No mid-season replacements or hiatuses significantly disrupted the run, with episodes airing weekly during the standard fall-to-spring television cycle.[15][16]Nielsen Ratings and Viewership
During its first season (1968–69), The Mod Squad ranked 28th in the Nielsen ratings among primetime programs, achieving an average household rating of 20.5, which equated to roughly 11.9 million viewers per episode given the approximately 58 million television households in the United States at the time.[18] This performance placed it just outside the top 25 shows, reflecting solid but not elite viewership for a new series targeting younger demographics amid competition from established hits like Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In and Bonanza.[18] The show's popularity grew in subsequent seasons, peaking during its third season (1970–71) when it reached No. 11 in the Nielsen rankings, buoyed by its appeal to youth audiences and innovative undercover policing premise.[19] In the second season (1969–70), it climbed to No. 23 with a 20.8 rating/share, while the fourth season (1971–72) held steady at No. 21.[17] These rankings underscored consistent mid-tier performance on ABC, where the series helped attract advertisers interested in counterculture-themed content, though it never cracked the top 10 dominated by family-oriented or variety programming. Viewership declined in the fifth and final season (1972–73) after a shift to a less favorable time slot and night, failing to rank in the top 25 and contributing to its cancellation on March 1, 1973.[17] Overall, the series' ratings trajectory mirrored broader trends in late-1960s television, where youth-focused dramas like The Mod Squad initially capitalized on social changes but faced erosion as audience preferences evolved toward more escapist fare by the early 1970s.[19]| Season | Nielsen Rank | Average Rating |
|---|---|---|
| 1 (1968–69) | 28 | 20.5[18] |
| 2 (1969–70) | 23 | 20.8[17] |
| 3 (1970–71) | 11 | 22.7[19] |
| 4 (1971–72) | 21 | 21.5[17] |
| 5 (1972–73) | Unranked (top 25) | N/A[17] |