Police Woman (TV series)

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Police Woman
Earl Holliman and Angie Dickinson in a 1975 publicity portrait for the show
Genre	Police procedural
Created by	Robert L. Collins
Starring	Angie Dickinson Earl Holliman Ed Bernard Charles Dierkop
Music by	Morton Stevens
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	4
No. of episodes	91 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer	David Gerber
Camera setup	Single-camera
Running time	48–50 minutes
Production companies	David Gerber Productions Columbia Pictures Television
Original release
Network	NBC
Release	September 13, 1974 (1974-09-13) – March 29, 1978 (1978-03-29)

Police Woman is an American police procedural television series created by Robert L. Collins starring Angie Dickinson that ran on NBC for four seasons, from September 13, 1974, to March 29, 1978.

Synopsis

Based on an original screenplay by Lincoln C. Hilburn, the series revolves around Sgt. "Pepper" Anderson (Dickinson), an undercover police officer working for the Criminal Conspiracy Unit of the Los Angeles Police Department. Sergeant William "Bill" Crowley (Earl Holliman) was her immediate superior, and Pete Royster (Charles Dierkop) and Joe Styles (Ed Bernard) were the other half of the undercover team that investigated everything from murders to rape and drug crimes. In many episodes, Pepper went undercover (as a prostitute, nurse, teacher, flight attendant, prison inmate, dancer, waitress, etc.) to get close enough to the suspects to gain valuable information that would lead to their arrest.

Character's name

Although Dickinson's character was called Pepper, sources differ as to the legal given name of the character. Most sources give the character's legal name as Suzanne. Others give it as Leanne^[1] or Lee Ann (the latter name is mentioned by Crowley in the second-season episode "The Chasers" and by Pepper herself in the first-season episodes "Fish" and "The Stalking of Joey Marr"). The Police Story episode entitled "The Gamble", which serves as a pilot for Police Woman, gives Dickinson's character's name as "Lisa Beaumont", although her character in "The Gamble" is a new officer, whereas on "Police Woman" she is a seasoned detective sergeant. On the Season 1 DVD release of Police Woman, Dickinson states that the producers and she decided not to go with the name Lisa Beaumont when the series first went into production and came up with the name Pepper.

Episodes

Guest stars

Among the guest stars in the series' 91 episodes were:

Ratings and timeslots

Home media

On March 7, 2006,

Police Woman was one of the first hour-long television dramas starring a woman, after

By the last season, Dickinson tired of appearing in scenes "where the phone rings while I'm taking a bath. I always want to look as sexy, beautiful and luscious as I can. But I'd prefer scripts where the sensuality is pouring out naturally for the whole 60 minutes". She, nonetheless, did not expect the show's cancellation in 1978.[9] Dickinson said in 2019 that she somewhat regrets having done the series, since it left her with little time for other projects.^[10]

While the series never ranked above number 15 for the annual ratings, Police Woman hit number one for the week on two occasions during its first year, also hitting number one in several other countries where the program aired.

Police Woman influenced later shows such as

It caused an avalanche of applications for employment from women to police departments around the United States. Sociologists who have in recent years examined the inspiration for long-term female law enforcement officials to adopt this vocation have been surprised by how often Police Woman has been referenced.

President Gerald Ford rescheduled a press conference so as not to delay an episode of Police Woman, reportedly his favorite show.^[9]

"Flowers of Evil" controversy

Main article: Flowers of Evil (Police Woman)

"Flowers of Evil" was the eighth episode of season one; it aired on November 8, 1974. In it, Pepper investigates a trio of lesbians who run a retirement home while robbing and murdering the elderly residents. Gay and lesbian groups protested the episode, calling its portrayal of lesbianism stereotypical and negative. A group of lesbian activists zapped NBC's corporate offices a week after the episode aired, occupying the offices overnight. Following negotiations with activists, NBC agreed in 1975 not to rebroadcast the episode.^[11] "Flowers of Evil" is available on the season 1 DVD box set.

References

1. ISBN 978-0-7864-6477-7
   . P. 844.
2. ISBN 9781476679785 – via Google Books
   .
3. ^ "Police Woman DVD news: Updated Info for 1st Season DVDS Confirms Pilot Episode Inlcuded [sic]! Plus Extras & Early Box Art! | TVShowsOnDVD.com". Archived from the original on 2011-11-14. Retrieved 2011-10-15.
4. ^ "Site News DVD news: DVD Plans for several Season 2 sets | TVShowsOnDVD.com". Archived from the original on 2011-11-17. Retrieved 2011-11-07.
5. ^ "Police Woman DVD news: Announcement for Police Woman - the Complete 2nd Season | TVShowsOnDVD.com". Archived from the original on 2011-11-10. Retrieved 2011-11-07.
6. ^ Police Woman - Are You Still Hot for Pepper? Shout! Brings 'The Complete 3rd Season'! 6-DVD package will hit the streets around the middle of December Archived 2017-09-08 at the Wayback Machine
7. ^ Police Woman - 'The Complete 4th and Final Season' on DVD, Starring Angie Dickinson! 6-disc package from Shout! Factory will be available in early May Archived 2018-02-08 at the Wayback Machine
8. ^ Police Woman 1st Season. Retrieved April 7, 2022. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
9. ^ ^{a b c d} Ames, Wilmer (1978-11-27). "Angie Keeps on Going". People. Retrieved 2020-07-22.
10. ^ "Why Angie Dickinson regrets doing "Police Woman"". CBS Sunday Morning. 24 February 2019. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
11. ISBN 0-345-41243-5
    , p. 113

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Police Woman (TV series).

• Police Woman at
  IMDb