The Blue Knight (TV series)
| The Blue Knight | |
|---|---|
 George Kennedy as Bumper Morgan. | |
| Genre | |
| Based on | The Blue Knight by Joseph Wambaugh |
| Developed by | E. Jack Newman Albert Ruben |
| Starring | George Kennedy |
| Theme music composer | Henry Mancini |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 23 (6 unaired) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Lee Rich Philip Capice |
| Running time | 60 minutes (per episode) |
| Production company | Lorimar Productions |
| Original release | |
| Network | CBS |
| Release | December 17, 1975 – October 20, 1976 |
The Blue Knight is an American crime drama series that aired on CBS from December 17, 1975 until October 20, 1976. It stars George Kennedy as Officer Bumper Morgan. The show was based on the 1973 novel of the same name by Joseph Wambaugh and produced by Lorimar Productions. It was also inspired by the 1973 TV film The Blue Knight, starring William Holden, which ran before the TV show premiered.
Plot
Bumper Morgan is a veteran police officer in Los Angeles, who continues to patrol the streets in uniform. The series dealt with Morgan's daily dealings with dangerous criminals and drug dealers.
Guest stars included Jim Davis, Robert Hays, Vivi Janiss, Harry Lauter, Gerald McRaney, Bruce Glover, Robert Hoy, and Lee Weaver. After a run of twenty-three episodes, the series was cancelled by CBS.
Episodes
Pilot (1975)
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pilot | "The Blue Knight" | Unknown | Unknown | May 9, 1975 | |
75-minute pilot episode: Reaching his last week on the force before retirement, Bumper decides to devote his time to searching for a fellow officer's killer. | |||||
Season 1 (1975–76)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Two to Make Deadly" | Paul Krasny | Story by : Don G. Letney Teleplay by : Don G. Letney & Herman Groves | December 17, 1975 | |
Bumper's beat becomes a powder keg of murder and theft when two hoods decide it would be safer to rob other lawbreakers. | ||||||
| 2 | 2 | "Triple Threat" | Unknown | Unknown | December 24, 1975 | |
Bumper Morgan wounds a suspected mugger, then tangles with the injured man's fiercely protective sister, an attorney who will not believe that her brother is a criminal. | ||||||
| 3 | 3 | "Odds Against Tomorrow" | Daniel Haller | Anthony Lawrence | December 31, 1975 | |
When the mistress of a sadistic crime boss tries to leave him he beats her up, and vice officers ask Bumper Morgan's help in using the incident to persuade the girl to lead them to her long-wanted boyfriend. | ||||||
| 4 | 4 | "A Fashionable Connection" | Unknown | Unknown | January 7, 1976 | |
Bumper discovers that a high style fashion firm, headed by a shrewd woman designer, is the front for a smoothly-operated narcotics trade. | ||||||
| 5 | 5 | "The Cop Killer" | Unknown | Unknown | January 14, 1976 | |
A deranged ex-con, blaming Bumper Morgan for putting him behind bars, hires a killer to carry out his revenge. | ||||||
| 6 | 6 | "The Creeper" | Unknown | Unknown | January 28, 1976 | |
Bumper Morgan sets out to track down a mentally deranged hotel sneak thief. | ||||||
| 7 | 7 | "The Candy Man" | Unknown | Unknown | February 4, 1976 | |
After arresting a major drug pusher, Bumper finds the man is apparently immune to the law when federal narcotics agents put him back on the street. | ||||||
| 8 | 8 | "Mariachi" | Charles S. Dubin | Earl Wallace | February 11, 1976 | |
The savage beating of an elderly gambler sets Bumper on the trail of a loan shark and his sadistic henchman. | ||||||
| 9 | 9 | "Snitch's Karma" | Unknown | Unknown | February 25, 1976 | |
Eager to catch an elusive thief, Bumper reluctantly uses a small-time hood as an informant. | ||||||
| 10 | 10 | "A Slower Beat" | Paul Krasny | Walter Dallenbach | March 3, 1976 | |
Gunmen are holding up everybody on Bumper Morgan's beat—including his girlfriend—and detectives belittle him at every turn. | ||||||
| 11 | 11 | "To Kill a Tank" | Unknown | Unknown | March 10, 1976 | |
A dangerous criminal, armed with a stolen anti-tank gun, goes looking for a big score with his reluctant sidekick as Bumper tries to find him. | ||||||
| 12 | 12 | "The Pink Dragon" | Unknown | Unknown | March 24, 1976 | |
Bumper's campaign to close a hangout for crooks pits him against a hood who tries to trap him with a pretty girl. | ||||||
| 13 | 13 | "Everybody Needs a Little Attention" | Unknown | Unknown | March 31, 1976 | |
Bumper demonstrates to his partner that "everybody needs attention" after a massage parlor manager files a false complaint that threatens his badge. | ||||||
Season 2 (1976)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | 1 | "Bullseye" | Unknown | Unknown | September 22, 1976 | |
A trigger-happy cop forces Bumper into an all-out battle by endangering a valuable informer. | ||||||
| 15 | 2 | "A Slight Case of Murder" | Unknown | Unknown | September 29, 1976 | |
Police machinery is hard to stop when evidence points to an old wino as a cop killer. | ||||||
| 16 | 3 | "Upward Mobility" | Unknown | Unknown | October 13, 1976 | |
Bumper stirs up trouble on his beat when he tries to steer a young girl into a safer life. | ||||||
| 17 | 4 | "The Rose and the Gun" | Unknown | Unknown | October 20, 1976 | |
An overeager young cop shoots and kills a suspect, then hints that Bumper was afraid to fire. | ||||||
| 18 | 5 | "Everything in Life is 3 to 1 Against" | TBD | TBD | Unaired | |
A retired cop is heavily in debt to a bookmaker Bumper has doggedly tried to shut down. | ||||||
| 19 | 6 | "A Matter of Justice" | TBD | TBD | Unaired | |
Defying Bumper's warning about taking the law into his own hands, a vigilante goes after a band of hoodlum-robbers who raped his daughter. | ||||||
| 20 | 7 | "Great Wall of Chinatown" | TBD | TBD | Unaired | |
Bumper investigates the shooting death of a Chinese gang leader | ||||||
| 21 | 8 | "Point of View" | TBD | TBD | Unaired | |
Bumper goes back to the Police Academy to take a course designed to update veterans in modern techniques. An ex-con has a job, but an informer says he is in on plans for a big robbery. | ||||||
| 22 | 9 | "Throwaway" | TBD | TBD | Unaired | |
Bumper is relieved from duty while officials investigate his fatal shooting of a hood. | ||||||
| 23 | 10 | "Death Echo" | TBD | TBD | Unaired | |
Bumper tells down-and-out bum Joey to stop disturbing the police when he keeps confessing that he is the one responsible for raping and murdering four women. But when Joey begins to give details which only the cops and the murderer know, Bumper realizes that Joey has become the sounding-board for a maniac. | ||||||
References
- Encyclopedia of Television Series, Pilots and Specials: 1974-1984 Written by Vincent Terrace
- Television detective shows of the 1970s: credits, storylines, and episode guides for 109 series by David Martindale