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| Police Woman | |
|---|---|
 Earl Holliman and Angie Dickinson in a 1975 publicity portrait for the show | |
| Genre | Action 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) |
| Related | |
| Police Story Joe Forrester David Cassidy: Man Undercover | |
Police Woman is an Americanpolice procedural television series created byRobert L. Collins starringAngie Dickinson that ran onNBC for four seasons, from September 13, 1974, to March 29, 1978.
Based on an original screenplay by Lincoln C. Hilburn, the series revolves aroundSgt. "Pepper" Anderson (Dickinson), an undercover police officer working for the Criminal Conspiracy Unit of theLos 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 anddrug 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.
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"). ThePolice Story episode entitled "The Gamble", which serves as a pilot forPolice 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 ofPolice 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.
| Season | Episodes | Originally released | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First released | Last released | |||
| Pilot | March 26, 1974 (1974-03-26) | |||
| 1 | 22 | September 13, 1974 (1974-09-13) | March 14, 1975 (1975-03-14) | |
| 2 | 24 | September 12, 1975 (1975-09-12) | March 2, 1976 (1976-03-02) | |
| 3 | 23 | September 28, 1976 (1976-09-28) | March 22, 1977 (1977-03-22) | |
| 4 | 22 | October 25, 1977 (1977-10-25) | March 30, 1978 (1978-03-30) | |
Among the guest stars in the series' 91 episodes were:Edie Adams,Loni Anderson,Diane Baker,Frank Bonner,Rossano Brazzi,Melendy Britt,Rory Calhoun,Dane Clark,Joan Collins,Bob Crane,Patricia Crowley,James Darren,Ruby Dee,Sandra Dee,Danny DeVito,Elinor Donahue,Patty Duke,Geoff Edwards,Sam Elliott,Ned Glass,Audrey Landers,Rhonda Fleming, Erica Hagen,Kevin Hagen,Larry Hagman,Florence Halop,Mark Harmon,Chick Hearn,Robert Horton,Amy Irving,Bayn Johnson,Cheryl Ladd,Fernando Lamas,Barry Livingston,Ida Lupino,Carol Lynley,Monte Markham,Ian McShane,Don Meredith,Donna Mills,Juliet Mills,James Olson,Annette O'Toole,Michael Parks,Lee Paul,[2]E. J. Peaker,Joanna Pettet,Kathleen Quinlan,Kim Richards,Kyle Richards,Cathy Rigby,Smokey Robinson,Ruth Roman,Tom Rosqui,Ricky Segall,William Shatner,Fay Spain, Michelle Stacy,Laraine Stephens,Philip Michael Thomas,Robert Vaughn,John Vernon,Patrick Wayne,Carole Wells,Adam West,Barry Williams, andDebra Winger.
| Season | Timeslot | Rank | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| (1) 1974–1975 | Friday at 10:00 pm | #15 | 22.8 |
| (2) 1975–1976 | #30 | 20.2 | |
| (3) 1976–1977 | Tuesday at 9:00 pm | #55 | 17.8 |
| (4) 1977–1978 | Wednesday at 9:00 pm | #74 | 15.3 |
On March 7, 2006,Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released season one ofPolice Woman on DVD inRegion 1.[3]Shout! Factory acquired the rights to the series in Region 1 in October 2011 and planned to release additional seasons on DVD.[4] They subsequently released season two on February 7, 2012.[5] Season three was released on December 19, 2017.[6] Season four was released on May 8, 2018.[7]
| DVD Name | Ep # | Release Date | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Region 1 | Region 4 | ||
| The Complete First Season | 22 | March 7, 2006 | October 5, 2016[8] |
| The Complete Second Season | 24 | February 7, 2012 | TBA |
| The Complete Third Season | 24 | December 19, 2017 | TBA |
| The Complete Fourth Season | 22 | May 8, 2018 | TBA |
The streaming serviceTubi made all episodes of the show available to watch starting in January 2022.[9] Several episodes from the first season are available to view for free inMinisode format onCrackle.Decades aired episodes on April 3rd & 4th, 2021 as part of "The Decades Binge". The series is currently seen onMeTV+.[citation needed]
Police Woman was one of the first hour-long television dramas starring a woman.Get Christie Love, starringTeresa Graves, the pilot for which precededPolice Woman by about two months, the pilot forPolice Woman airing in March 1974 as an episode ofPolice Story entitled "The Gamble". The syndicated 1957 seriesDecoy, starringBeverly Garland, was the first series, a 30-minute drama, to focus on a female police officer.
Dickinson received threeEmmy nominations[10] and won aGolden Globe award for the show.
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.[10] Dickinson said in 2019 that she somewhat regrets having done the series, since it left her with little time for other projects.[11]
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 asCharlie's Angels, whichPeople in 1978 described as a "three-shaker imitation".[10] 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 oftenPolice Woman has been referenced.
PresidentGerald Ford rescheduled a press conference so as not to delay an episode ofPolice Woman, reportedly his favorite show.[10]
"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 activistszapped 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.[12] "Flowers of Evil" is available on the season 1 DVD box set.
