Patricia Abbott (pattinase): Three of My Favorite TV Cops

Thursday, March 27, 2014

Three of My Favorite TV Cops

Peter Falk as COLUMBO, Dennis Franz as Andy Sipowicz on NYPD, and Regina King as Detective Lydia Adams on SOUTHLAND.

Who are you favorites?

25 comments:

Brian Lindenmuth said...: Frank Pembleton
Lester Freeman; 7:49 AM
Al Tucher said...: Val Avery. I'm not thinking of any particular role, but he played a cop or a mobster in practically every crime film of the 60s and 70s. It got so he didn't need to do anything but appear on screen to lend the movie authenticity.; 9:13 AM
George said...: Clint Eastwood as DIRTY HARRY.; 9:16 AM
Anonymous said...: Yes to Frank Pembleton (and Andre Braugher is amusing on the otherwise weak Brooklyn Nine-Nine) and Andy Sipowicz. Also Phil Esterhaus on HILL STREET BLUES. Robert Ironside.

Jackie said Sipowicz but she also liked Cagney & Lacey.

Jeff M.; 9:31 AM
pattinase (abbott) said...: How could I forget Cagney and Lacey!
Lots of memorable cops.; 9:38 AM
J F Norris said...: As you know, I'm not impressed with hyperreal acting. I like the quirky characters:

Vincent D'Onofrio as Goren in LAW & ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENT

Jack Soo on BARNEY MILLER - the perfect example of the cop fed up with the routine of all the desk work, and done with wry humor

Teresa Graves on GET CHRISTIE LOVE! "You're under arrest, sugar!"; 9:56 AM
pattinase (abbott) said...: I don't think I ever saw CHRISTY LOVE.; 10:39 AM
Todd Mason said...: I liked GET CHRISTY LOVE a lot as a kid.

The partners at the center of LIFE (played by Sarah Shahi and Damian Lewis)...the cast of HOMICIDE and THE WIRE...the marshals of JUSTIFIED and KAREN SISCO...William Conrad as radio cop Matt Dillon...CAGNEY AND LACEY...SOUTHLAND was pretty solid, indeed, as was COLUMBO (in the first series, not even Falk could quite carry the revival)...really, too many.; 11:40 AM
Todd Mason said...: I did prefer the other pairings on CRIMINAL INTENT, such as Chris Noth and Annabella Sciorra (as the Sherlock of that duo), then with Julianne Nicholson and Alicia Witt (whom I've enjoyed this season on JUSTIFIED)...and the tall duo of Saffron Burrows and Jeff Goldblum, possibly the tallest duo in any cop show so far.

And BANSHEE...forgot BANSHEE above...; 11:46 AM
Rick Robinson said...: Broderick Crawford as Dan Mathews in HIGHWAY PATROL. More recently Dennis Weaver as McCloud.; 12:16 PM
George said...: Diane and I have been watching SCOTT & BAILEY, a British version of Cagney & Lacey shown on our local PBS station. Highly recommended!; 12:16 PM
pattinase (abbott) said...: Aa, Rick. More recently like forty years ago. Just when did you give up on TV.
Will look for it, George.; 12:44 PM
Chad Eagleton said...: Before her sight deteriorated, Southland was the only cop show I could ever convince my wife to watch. It was all because of Detective Lydia Adams.; 1:48 PM
Al Tucher said...: One of my ambitions is to have Chris Noth tell me personally, "Geddadda here."; 2:09 PM
pattinase (abbott) said...: She was such a fully realized woman!; 3:10 PM
Anonymous said...: Ah but he's not really a cop, is he Todd? (on BANSHEE)

Jeff M.; 3:18 PM
Stevev Oerkfitz said...: Jerry Orbach, Andre Braugher(Pretty much the whole cast of Homicide could be listed)and Timothy Olyphant.
Never could stand Dennis Franz or Cagney & Lacey.; 4:46 PM
Anders E said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 8:00 PM
Anders E said...: I can't understand why the obvious one has not yet been mentioned - Helen Mirren as Jane Tennison in PRIME SUSPECT. Such a real person.

For the surreal - Leslie Nielsen as Frank Drebin.

- Who are you and how did you get in here?
- I'm a locksmith and...I'm a locksmith.; 8:01 PM
Todd Mason said...: In BANSHEE, Jeff, the protagonist finds out that by pretending to be a cop tends to make him a cop (uniform and even more expectations can make the man)...and the rest of the small-town force is interesting as well.; 11:06 PM
Todd Mason said...: ORPHAN BLACK to a lesser extent had a similar dynamic in place in the first season, at least.; 11:07 PM
Cap'n Bob said...: Jack Webb, far and away the best. The Adam 12 team next. Lee Marvin in M Squad.; 1:03 AM
Deb said...: No love for the Brits? John Nettles as Bergerac or Barnaby; John Thaw as Morse; David Jason as Frost. (Although I can't stand the TV incarnations of Dalziel and Pascoe.) Stateside, no one will top Jerry Orbach as Lenny Briscoe--he really inhabited that character.; 7:04 AM
pattinase (abbott) said...: Jane Tennison and Morse would be my favorites.; 7:09 AM
Sergio (Tipping My Fedora) said...: I would have to go go for either Frank Pemberton in HOMICIDE or COLUMBO. INSPECTOR MORE remains my favourite UK cop; 7:21 AM