Charles Gross Theme from N.Y.P.D.

N.Y.P.D. is the title of a half-hour American television crime drama of the 1960s set in the context of the New York City Police Department. The program appeared on the ABC network during the 1967-68 and 1968-69 television seasons. In both seasons, the program appeared in the evening, 9:30 p.m. time slot. During the second season, N.Y.P.D was joined by The Mod Squad and It Takes a Thief to form a 2½ hour block of crime dramas.The cast included Jack Warden as Lt. Mike Haines, Robert Hooks as Detective Jeff Ward, and Frank Converse as Detective Johnny Corso. Among the acting personalities who appeared in the series were Al Pacino, Jane Elliot, Ralph Waite, Harvey Keitel, James Earl Jones, Charles Durning, Gretchen Corbett, and Roy Scheider (who also plays a retired NYPD officer in the 2009 film Iron Cross.)
The show was a production of Talent Associates, Ltd., a company founded by Alfred Levy and David Susskind. Talent Associates had produced 14 years of the anthology program Armstrong Circle Theatre and the Kaiser Aluminum Hour, both highly respected shows. Television producer, movie producer, and talk show host Susskind created N.Y.P.D. with screenwriter Arnold Perl (Cotton Comes to Harlem). At the time of his death in 1971, Arnold Perl was working on a screenplay about assassinated black activist Malcolm X, which would later become the basis for Spike Lee's 1992 film, Malcolm X. Daniel Melnick, the show's executive producer, was a partner with Susskind in Talent Associates and had brought Mel Brooks and Buck Henry together to create the TV comedy Get Smart in 1965. Producer Susskind and actor Harvey Keitel would work together again on Martin Scorsese's Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974). Scripted by writers like Lonne Elder, who would later be the first African-American nominated for a Best Screenplay Oscar (for 1972's Sounder), the stories came with such titles as Cruise to Oblivion, Which Side Are You On?, The Screaming Woman, and Deadly Circle of Violence. In N.Y.P.D. scripts, there were white cops and black cops, white suspects and black suspects, white witnesses and black witnesses, an unselfconscious racial blend that would not be seen for years to come on network television.
In 1967, N.Y.P.D. was the first television series in America to air an episode with a gay theme ("Shakedown"). The police track down a man blackmailing gay men, prompting several suicides.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• N.Y.P.D.
• ABC
• TV

[edwardjames50]

This was a fabulous show, and I never missed it. I was in my teens at the time, and living in New York. It was the most realistic representation of the city I'd seen on television, and this opening theme is so evocative of the city, especially at night. Thanks for the post!

[boswell69]

@edwardjames50 I agree. I was a huge fan of this show myself.

[thogy]

I remember this show, every Tuesday night, I would watch. I was 14. I always remember the opening. Ground breaking show at the time.

[boswell69]

@thogy Me too. Loved this show.

[fromthesidelines]

A very powerful theme for a very powerful series. You forgot to mention that the series was actually filmed on the streets of New York, in "cinema verite" style.

[boswell69]

@fromthesidelines You're absolutely right. A very memorable theme song. I used to love this show. I was 12 years old when it first aired.

[rw5791]

one episode a guy got stabbed in the gut in a times square underground shopping arcade.it made an impact on me,being 10 years old at the time.

[spacepatrolman]

@miserabowl I noticed frank converse on the street he was in a play at lincoln center robert hooks was the first host of like it is producer david suskind had a sleazy sunday night talk show with sexual deviants he used gateway to the west by robert farnon as the theme robert farnons neice was in the sound of music chosen over hundreds of auditioners even though she had no experiance they changed her name

[newyorkmets41]

Great show- I saw it when it was in reruns. I loved the opening theme song. The show was fast-moving and had great music.

[miserabowl]

This show covered issues of the day, drugs, prostitution, runaways. I was about 13 when this was on and I loved it for it's realism. Also thought Frank Converse was cool and good-looking.

[michaudd61]

remember this program, i was 6-7 yrs. old and loved cop shows.

[rickker20]

I remember this I was 8 years old