a5c7b9f00b A bald New York City detective cop, Lt. Theo Kojak, is primarily best-known for his no-nonsense capacity of bringing criminals and sending them to justice, in a calmly and quietly matter. He also had the knack of licking lollipops and using his popular catch-phrase, &quot;Who Loves Ya, Baby?&quot; At work in the New York Precinct, prior to loading up several cases on the scene of the crime, he frequently supports and often had a close bond with each of his workers, Capt. Frank MacNeil, who was his primarily boss who was also promotedChief of Detectives, Det. Bobby Crocker (with whom he always admired, all the time)Kojak&#39;s loyal partner, and Det. Stavros. A bald, lollipop sucking police detective with a fiery righteous attitude battles crime in his city. Telly Savalas was a grizzled film and TV veteran when he got the spotlight in 1973, with KOJAK. It was a most deserved turn in the sun. Telly took this character and made it his own…the ethnicitity, the old world charm, the brains behind the tough NYPD detective lieutenant that had a genuine compassion for the crime victims he encountered. Telly was the man! The scripts were outstanding, especially in the first season, when penned by Jack Laird, Robert Foster and Halston Wells. The direction was cineamatic quality by the likes of Leo Penn, Jeannot Szwarc and Joel Oliansky. Memorable episodesSIEGE OF TERROR, DEAD ON HIS FEET, LAST RITES FOR A DEAD PRIEST, THERAPY IN DYNAMITE…I could go on and on. It&#39;s also the breeding ground where James Woods, Steven Keats, Harvey Keitel and David Proval cut their small screen dramatic teeth. It&#39;s time for this TV legand to be released uncut and unedited on video. When I worked at New York State Crime Victims Board and of necessity I had to contact a lot of police. And cops like any other profession run the gamut in quality. I met time serving slugs, I met a group who were competent at their jobs, and I also met some folks who would really go the extra mile for the victims.<br/><br/>I saw that in Telly SavalasDetective Lieutenant Theo Kojak. He was passionate about his job, cared about the people he was sworn to protect and serve, and honest almost to a fault. And he had a precinct captain in Dan Frazer who backed him to the hilt although I think Frazer might have gotten a few gray hairs in the process.<br/><br/>Of Greek ancestry in the show and in real life, Telly Savalas never missed an opportunity to show a personal life steeped in Greek-American culture. Jack Webb&#39;s Sgt Friday washonest and dedicatedKojak, but we never saw a personal side for that guy. And comic relief in this intensely dramatic series was always provided by George SavalasKojak&#39;s fellow Greek detective Stavros. Poor Stavros just sat amiably byKojak bounced a few zingers off him. But his expressions were priceless. The brothers played well off each other.<br/><br/>Kevin Dobson was a young idealistic Detective Bobby Crocker who practically worshiped the tough Kojak. There was also Mark Russell and Vince Conti in the squad who got aboutmuch dialogthose extra Bowery Boys with Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall. Every time something was afoot, Telly Savalas would always bellow out their names, &quot;Saperstein and Rizzo&quot; and these two would follow like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. I do wish the show had developed themreal peoplethey did for both Savalas brothers and Dobson.<br/><br/>Watching the show on the METV network sure takes me back to New York of the Seventies. And I wish all the cops I dealt with were on the Kojak model.
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