The Rookies

[Shakeshack78]

The exterior of the police academy looks a lot like the one used in Charlie's Angels!

[TheHALOlegoboy]

And then theres the other guys

[sluggoII]

Kate Jackson! Pre-Charlie's Angels!

[TheMick26]

I loved this show as a kid. Georg Stanford Brown was my favorite, but I just noticed his shooting style.  Who shoots a gun with their middle finger all the way through the hole? LOL! Thanks for posting this opener bfelten... you're the greatest!

[Doug4422]

@TheMick26 It definitely looks that way, doesn't it? But, if you notice the size of his hands, you realize that his fingers are very long, making everything he handles look small in comparison.

[schiazzacmable]

GEORGE WEBSTER BLACK HOCKEY COP

[SuperChrisThor]

Two words. Michael Ontkean.  sigh.

[1simaddict1]

This show where Kate Jackson first started working with Aaron Spelling. When it was over, he called her to do Charlies Angels. They was gonna name it Alley Cats, but she didn't like that name so she came up with Charlies Angels. They also wanted her to play Kelly Garret and had the choice of any of the characters, but she wanted to play Sabrina.

[ClassicTVMan1981X]

@1simaddict1

Robert Wagner (who, fittingly, is getting the titular role in the new version of the 1976 series) also had a hand in that series, despite having no official on-screen role. His late two-time wife, Natalie Wood (1938-81), was also involved; the couple's production company was called "RONA II," which is meant to represent "Robert and Natalie, Second Time Around." Their association with Spelling and Goldberg goes back to the time of the 1973 TV movie "The Affair."

[MrDavkoz]

Thanks for posting, that last time I saw this it was on the air!

[Critique808]

Kate Jackson looks so pretty here.

[GarthanSaal444]

This was pre Charlie's Angels. Kate went straight from here to there without a break. I remember seeing the SWAT episode which led to their own TV show.

The Rookies was the show that informed my little 6 year old mind that you can find a suspect by describing him to an artist, then showing the drawing on the news.

[mkl62]

1-24-2011. Sake's alive, sake's alive, Officer Willie Gillis is 65. Happy Birthday, Michael. Where has the time gone? This was one of my favorite shows from childhood to early teens.

[butchmoo]

the same "Policy Academy" shot from the Charlies Angels intro.

[CoolasIce2]

@ScottyA222 Oh yea. I fucked her.

[Insomaniaartist]

They die in the first day. 

[klisher]

this looks exciting

[dariusdynamite]

CHARLIES ANGELS with DUDES!

[1560438]

Gee unless people are walking up walls today or flying in the air somehow they don't concentrate on reality at all! If I want superhuman feats, I'll watch Superman et al. We need plots not silly shows! Just think we pay for this crap every month to boot!

[snowrocket]

Good show and theme. Sometimes I got to watch this when I was a kid. I remember an episode where a guy got killed by a mollotov cocktail thrown into a police car. Scary stuff to see when you're eight.

[snowrocket]

Good show and theme. Sometimes I got to watch this when I was a kid. I remember an episode where a guy got killed by a mollotov cocktail thrown into a police car. scary stuff to see when you're eight.

[Marcstang04]

Sam Melville died way to young, and Kate Jackson was a little pre Charlies Angels doll

[JetMechMA]

LOL...there's no recoil to their guns. 

[tryithere]

And they were rookies for like 7 years.

[hanoc101]

@tryithere You're right LOL. They were rookies forever.

[cjs33139]

ahhhhhh, Sam Melville and Michael Ontkean... two hunks that encouraged many a wet dream for a gay teenager growing up in the 70s. ;)

[JetMechMA]

@cjs33139 I was gonna say, this is so gay. But we all enjoyed it. It's entertainment, right?

[monsta64]

@cjs33139 So then you must have gotten all hot n' bothered when Michael Ontkean, Harry Hamlin and Kate Jackson starred in a film from '82 titled: ''Making Love". Kate and Michael played a married couple when out of the blue he starts getting feelings for Harry Hamlin's character and the next thing you know her leaves his wife for him.

[4gnrations07]

ahhhh, this used to air Monday nights at 8 just before Monday Night Football, (i think my memory is correct!)

[TheVermont420]

yea i love this one too man,,,,,

[Beautifulmusiclistnr]

It has been over 35 years since I've seen an episode of the Rookies let alone the intro for it. It was a real winning combination with Georg Sanford Brown, Sam Melville, Michael Ontkean and Kate Jackson. This show put Aaron Spelling on the map in my opinion. I remember watching it on Monday nights as a child. Please post some episodes. Thanks!

[Gonnabeatthis]

@Beautifulmusiclistnr It's out on DVD. i have the first season. Can't understand why they have only released season one. The samething with Baretta...

[Beautifulmusiclistnr]

@Gonnabeatthis Thanks for letting me know that the show The Rookies is out on DVD. I'll have to do a search for it. Welcome to YT. I see you just joined. Take care.

[whiskeyify]

it was fun to watch this stuff...I remember reading real cops would say it was not real life..but who cares ? it was just fun to watch and I didn't care.

[RX552VBK]

R.I.P. Sam Melville.

[tonywallacess45]

@RX552VBK When did Sam Melville die? BTW having a Black guy as the lead was ahead of its time. Usually the Black guy is bit part and he dies.

[RX552VBK]

@tonywallacess45 Unfortunately, tony, Sam died in back 1989 of heart failure in L.A.

[Rando123a]

kate Jackson was a Little hotty in this show....this was a great show.

[RingtailStudios]

And this was before her Charlie's Angels years, too!

[nozcr]

Boy, talk about recycling! I guess Aaron Spelling was really into ecology 40 years ago, he reused all that footage and photos in the intros to Charlie's Angels and S.W.A.T.! He even reused Kate Jackson! I've had that theme in my head for 38 years! It's great to hear it again! And I love the Cherries on the Police Cars! The following year they started using flashing light bars.

[Jiltedin2007]

Where's Kate Jackson now?

[goatboyful]

i loved this show when i was a kid in the 70's, and still a great bit of theme music!!

[lorddude232]

ur an adult?

[goatboyful]

yes, i'm in my fourties now.

[FireitupBedford]

@goatboyful some of the best tv theme music was back in the 70's and 80's...

[goatboyful]

mate you'll get no arguement from me on that score. this one, SWAT, The Streets of San Francisco and Police Story. and that's only three more off the top of my head!

[FireitupBedford]

Oh don't forget sexy Angie Dickinson in Police Woman. Man it's so hard to believe that she's now 78 years old...

[AstralPixie]

I remember thinking that this show was cool.

[xxZaharoulaxx]

RIP Sam Melville !

[drshagstein]

Great show from back when TV was actually entertaining to watch. Today, there are seemingly 5 billion channels available and almost all of them SUCK HOLE!!

[hanoc101]

@drshagstein I agree. I mean how many "reality shows" can they put on?

[Airsoftcleaner]

@drshagstein This would be a good cast if they did a Rookies Movie,Tae Diggs as Webster,Justin Timberlake as Danko,and Ashton Kutcher as Gillis and Jennifer Love Hewitt as Jill Danko.

[worldoftone]

Watched this as a kid. I guess it was pretty short-lived, but I do remember it.

[FireitupBedford]

Me to. The Rookies ran from Sept 11, 1972 to Mar 30, 1976 IMO one of the best cop shows in tv history...

[pookeeeee]

This so bad ass!

[Aerick2281]

what a sizzler. This is prob the hottest 70s theme around. LOVE IT

[Dkels219]

That's that shit right there. Gotta love it!

[beaagent29p]

This was my show!!!

[RX552VBK]

Great opening theme. Elmer Bernstein I believe. I wish TV LAND would put this on instead of constant reruns of the Jefferson and M.A.S.H.

Oh yeah, one other thing...R.I.P. Sam Meville.

[StukInBuf]

I saw "The Ten Commandments," and never knew that the same Mr. Bernstein wrote the music for that film.

[RX552VBK]

T'was Mr. B. He was great. Another great score was the 'extended' opening theme to Police Story. Great stuff.

[spacepatrolman]

the 10 commandments was a 2 lp set and a 45 berstein scored more films than anyone 200 number 2 )was probably jarre at 159 , 3)goldsmith  with 103 ,4) tiomkin with 102 .

[RX552VBK]

Boy, I loved this show. When we were kids we would play the Rookies. I was Brown (aka Webster--if i remember correctly), my other two friends would be the other rooks. We'd run up and down along Southern Blvd in the Bx. What days, man!

[metalpriest420]

kate jackson was so hot

[shandirocks]

Tvland has gone down the tubes. Seems like its the same 3 shows on all the time so i never watch it anymore. There needs to be a tvland II with all of them great cop shows from the 70's-early 80's.

[eci4r]

I agree withyou about tvland to be dead honest

I don't even watch tvland anymore

[pullybrit]

Is the 'fro that Georg Stanford Brown sporting within the department grooming regs? LOL

[primetime10x]

word

[Green18600]

Brilliant Opening!! Entertainer Kate Jackson was a fox at the start of "The Rookies" on ABC Television. She still is a fox to this date; breast cancer will never take away her accomplishments to this date. Fabulous 7!! Tons of balance and precision were noticed in the opening montage to the show. Enjoy!!

[danalia]

Ah the memories! The Rookies, Police Woman, and then Charlie's Angels, and Wonder Woman! THAT was television!

[theylou]

WOW!!! There will never be a tv line up like this again. They should take a channel and put all the shows from ABC & NBC from the 70's on. What the Hell happened to TVLand!!! Why don't they pic up some of these shows? I enjoyed your post.

[StukInBuf]

Especially given the recent "Bachelor" brouhaha, those kind of "reality" shows ought to be axed in favor of something like "The Rookies."

Who are the dim-bulbs that dream up such "Bachelor"-esque garbage anyway? Aren't there any old-timers who can show these young execs a thing or three about putting together QUALITY TV?

Man... the 70s/80s/early 90s(and throw a bone to ER and NYPD Blue, too)... GREAT TV era!

[MrRipley59]

Having viewed some of the old school tv clips its amazing in my opinion how simplistic and silly the plots were looking at them in todays adult life. As a child and teen they were great but now as an adult they seem so simplistic and would probaby not even watch them today. But this is my opinion

[stevephil07]

One of the crimes of the 70's! Kate Jackson was made to look so dull and almost butch in Charlie's Angels after being an absoulute hottie on the Rookies...

[vampyros1]

Kate Jackson looked exactly how she wanted to look in Charley's Angels, and most of us think it was pretty damned good...but on the other hand, there's conspiracy theorists like you...

[stevephil07]

Um vampyros...I don't think stars had as much pull with their characters as they do today. Remember, they had to do stuff like Battle of the Network Stars and Love Boat for extra money! Obviously, they wanted three different type of policewoman sexy. Hot (farrah), Sexy (jaclyn) and Smart (kate). If they left Kate as she was on the Rookies, she might've outshined Jaclyn and/or Farrah...

[joker3092]

Ha..ha.. I don't think the main reason they did those shows was for "extra money"(as if they're regular joes who need a second job?) I'm sure they got paid,but the opportunity for more exposure on tv is probably why.

[kbirdusa]

If you read the "Charlie's Angels Casebook" that was published a few years ago, you know that Kate appeared pretty much as she wanted to, by all accounts. The wardrobe people were frustrated because Farrah and Jackie were all into nice clothes, and Kate just wanted turtlenecks and jeans. When a new producer came in, he wanted the makeup and wardrobe people fired because Kate looked so much better in person. Then he found out that that was her choice, not theirs.

[barefootpoet24]

Kate Jackson was the best actress out of the three. She made Charlie's Angels. I guess I am in the minority in thinking that the show got better when Farrah left, but I don't care.

[shirazhound]

Yes, guys, Gywenth Paltrow's daddeeeee produced this.

[jizzwizzz]

One of THE best themes ever created for TV...

[stevephil07]

I agree jizzwizz, I watched some shows as a kid just for the intros! The only great intro left is The Sopranos. I think network TV forgot intros are what hooked people into watching certain shows...

[TariusShinobi]

I bought Season One of the DVD set. It's great ! Brings back lots of memories.

[TariusShinobi]

TV of today is fucked up ! They don't make action shows like they use to. All we have are "Sex & The Shitty" type shows ! TV for Alpha Males is GONE !!!!!!!!

[iamnewfie1]

gay rights and minorties rule the airways today...sucks to be a real man............

[dereka79]

Well, get ready, because we are about to rule even more!!!

[iamnewfie1]

under the watchfull eye and u know it....

[brucelee214]

the only thing gays rule is cock in their ass.

[dereka79]

speaking from experience, huh?

[brucelee214]

the same experience i gave your mother bitch!

[dereka79]

such a childish, juvenile response! What are you 12? First of all, that is MISS BITCH to you! And secondly, if you wish to get on that level, then you should know your daddy not only sucks a mean cock, but he can sure take a big old cock up his ass quite well! Just like you! Guess you learned it from him!

[brucelee214]

my my i guess i touched a nerve there miss bitch

[brucelee214]

the only cock sucking here was done by you miss bitch

[iamnewfie1]

gay rights and minorties rule the airways today...sucks to be a real man............

[StukInBuf]

And then you have "The Bachelor," another piece-of-sh** show!

Heard of the recent installment? The guy ends up choosing Melissa, and then decides he wants Holly in the post-show interview.

Except for House, ER, NYPD Blue, and maybe even CSI and Law And Order... TV today is in the sh**pile!

[TariusShinobi]

I agree ! Even shows with female leads in tha' 70's were great:

Charlie's Angels, Police Woman & The Bionic Woman.

These Feminazi shows of today ( with the xxx-ception of Ugly Betty ) are KKKorny as hell !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[RX552VBK]

You're right, TS. Man, I had big crush on Lindsey Wagner. She's still a very lovely woman; you can catch her the bed commercials.

[Gnillob802]

The spin off of this show was S.W.A.T. Kate Jackson later starred in Charlie's Angels which also opened with a shot of the same Police Academy sign. All were Aaron Spelling shows as was The Mod Squad.

[ccrinc]

the police academy shown is los angeles city police.

[Audiogenix]

Yeah !!! I remember This Theme,but not the actual show lol !! This is Very Funky,and will be a point of reference when i begin work on my next upcoming Miles Davis project.Thanx for posting !!

[rtususian]

I loved Kate's nurse character, and in several episodes she would act very "Sabrina Duncan"-like [her Angels character] by helping solve the cops' cases for them. For some reason she didn't appear in a lot of the later episodes, but in the last season she was doing stuff that her Angels character would do, like pretending to be a prostitute.

[rtususian]

Never watched this show originally (1972-76), I discovered Kate Jackson while watching the 1st season of Charlie's Angels in 76, and one of my local stations played ROOKIES reruns on Sat nites in the late 70s.

[FireitupBedford]

This is my favorite Police show ever.

[wormsquish]

so cool! thanks for posting.

[MrPandaeye]

Love that gritty 70's cop show music. Cool show.

[455Transam]

Whatever happened to "Mike" Sam Melville??

[DRUMTOY2002]

Unfortunately he passed away on 3/9/1989 of heart failure. Great actor and very hawt!!!

[rednop44]

Completely hot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[godadameve]

thehungryveg: Are you kidding me??! This was possibly the most over-hyped (and watched!) show of the seventies! It was on right BEFORE Monday night football! Good Grief!It was consistently in the TOP TEN for almost FIVE YEARS!

[rockintetster]

The rookies went to the same police academy as Charlie's Angels- what a coincidence!

[richmjr67]

an same as tj hooker

[SheriffGeneralStoner]

It's no coincidence. It the ABC Police Academy, not to be confused with the Canadian Los Angeles Police Academy featured in the 'Police Academy' movies in which the first 4 starred Michael Ontkean clone Steve Guttenberg

[36index]

NOW THAT WAS FUNNY AS HELL (laughing, about to bust my gut,.... gotta catch my breath.......HA HA HA HA HA......DAMN!) THAT REALLY MADE MY DAY!

[SheriffGeneralStoner]

When I went to see the first Police Academy in theaters in 1984 I honestly thought that Michael Ontkean played Mahoney. IMHO, there is an uncanny resemblence between Ontkean and Guttenburg

[godadameve]

Nice posting. Thanks. But...if my memory serves me right this is NOT season one opening. More like season three. THis reeks of 1974. Season one = 1972.

[johnjms2]

No - it's season one. I just bought the Season One DVD and the opening is identical.

[frankd1965]

A great "classic" from the late Aaron Spelling. Aired on ABC(Aaron Broadcasting Company).

[sc813]

My parents named my sister "Jill" after K Jackson's character on the show.

[bhamson]

Kate was a hottie!

[mrceleb2006]

What did the end credits to "The Rookies" TV series look like?

[mrceleb2006]

Does anyone have the end credits to this TV series? If so, please post it to YouTube, OK? Thank you for your understanding.

[mrceleb2006]

I just learned that the end credits to "The Rookies" TV series was on a red background with white letters.

[ClassicTVMan1981X]

@mrceleb2006

Similar to "S.W.A.T." but on a red background.

[Airsoftcleaner]

@ClassicTVMan1981X S.W.A.T. was a spinoff of The Rookies

[Declan50]

Anybody know why Michale Onkeat left the show?

[crispycritterz]

That had the rockinest theme ever....

[FireitupBedford]

How true. Then I would have to say the third or fourth season of Starsky and Hutch music.

[drummerbraves]

That is the police academy where Sabrina, Kelly, and Jill met each other in Charlie's Angels. Matter of fact, Kate Jackson played Sam Melville's husband on The Rookies, she was a nurse on the show.

[deck17]

could you please put on some episodes if you have any or tell me where I can find episodes! The loved this show.

[bfelten]

This is from The Greatest 70's Cop Shows DVD

[THEHUNGRYVEGETARIAN]

The first season, of THE ROOKIES just came out on DVD. I remember that show. It's one of those 1970's shows, that never got the attention it deserved.

[THEHUNGRYVEGETARIAN]

The first season of THE ROOKIES comes out on DVD, next Tuesday. That was one of those 1970's shows, that never really got the attention it deserved.