I enjoy just about all of the episodes from this series, though some are better than others. They're so earnest. Friday and Gannon are just two upright cops doing their no-nonsense duty. Their idea of relaxation is to remove their sports jackets and sit on a soft chair while watching a ball game on the tube. They don't loosen their neckties, let alone take off their shoes. They eat popcorn, but there is no beer.
It seems unfair of Command to send these two squares up against their most rabid enemies on a panel show called something like "Speak Your Mind" or "Spew Your Venom" or whatever it is. Officer Gannon has a little trouble when they apply make up to darken his eyebrows ("everything but lipstick") and when nobody's looking he rubs it off.
The "judge" (Eiseley), who should clearly have recused himself, mocks the fuzz, while the other two members of the panel -- a pompous, ivory-tower egghead and a nasty editor who runs an anti-establishment rag -- call the two officers names like fascists, goons, and machines. The audience applauds each scurrilous attack and later gets to ask direct questions.
Actually, Friday and Gannon acquit themselves well. Their answers embody sweet reason without passion, the way Aristotle defined law. They put their lives on the line for the sake of justice, they point out. They're fair and enforce the law without making it. And they admit to occasional mistakes. Sure, once in a while, a rotten apple gets through but the LAPD is no more happy about it than the citizen is. The percept is almost the opposite of that presented in the movie "L. A. Confidential." The movie has one truly outstanding feature. In the first row of the audience are three black dudes, all wearing shades and Afros. One of them is Mamba Obamba, head of the Black Widow Party. I swear I'm not making that up. His mouth is full of crooked teeth and he sneers as he launches his attack on police force racism.
I mean it when I say I enjoyed it immensely.
It seems unfair of Command to send these two squares up against their most rabid enemies on a panel show called something like "Speak Your Mind" or "Spew Your Venom" or whatever it is. Officer Gannon has a little trouble when they apply make up to darken his eyebrows ("everything but lipstick") and when nobody's looking he rubs it off.
The "judge" (Eiseley), who should clearly have recused himself, mocks the fuzz, while the other two members of the panel -- a pompous, ivory-tower egghead and a nasty editor who runs an anti-establishment rag -- call the two officers names like fascists, goons, and machines. The audience applauds each scurrilous attack and later gets to ask direct questions.
Actually, Friday and Gannon acquit themselves well. Their answers embody sweet reason without passion, the way Aristotle defined law. They put their lives on the line for the sake of justice, they point out. They're fair and enforce the law without making it. And they admit to occasional mistakes. Sure, once in a while, a rotten apple gets through but the LAPD is no more happy about it than the citizen is. The percept is almost the opposite of that presented in the movie "L. A. Confidential." The movie has one truly outstanding feature. In the first row of the audience are three black dudes, all wearing shades and Afros. One of them is Mamba Obamba, head of the Black Widow Party. I swear I'm not making that up. His mouth is full of crooked teeth and he sneers as he launches his attack on police force racism.
I mean it when I say I enjoyed it immensely.