ABSTRACT
Between 1973 and 1978, Universal’s Kojak was one of the most popular TV police shows ever aired. It was a major ratings hit in the United States (see Variety, 31 October 1973) and it went on to spark a heated battle over which TV channels would buy it in the United Kingdom (see Evening Standard, 10 December 1973). In the pantheon of the action TV series Kojak occupies a central place even though it appeared at a time when the television networks of the West were awash with police series (see Martindale, 1991). Popular discussion in the 1970s, in reviews and TV guides, circulated the idea that the cop show had simply replaced the Western as the foremost TV genre. Yet even after acknowledging that this is a gross oversimplification Kojak stands out from other police series: partly because of its depiction of action scenes but also because of the way in which it portrayed social problems and issues of identity which demanded action. Although it is long gone from our screens, Kojak arguably remains today as a credible example of the action TV series of the 1970s.
