The BEST episodes of Adam-12 season 3
Every episode of Adam-12 season 3, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Adam-12 season 3!
Follow two Los Angeles police officers as they patrol the streets of Southern California. Adam-12 was the first series to realistically portray the joys/frustrations of being a police officer in the late 1960's-early 1970's. This attention to detail made the show a catalyst for uncounted numbers of people to enter public service as adults. "1-Adam-12" was the radio call number of the unit that Malloy & Reed worked: "1" was the division assigned, "Adam" was LA Phonetic for "A" designating a 2-person patrol unit, and "12" was the beat area assigned. (Although, Malloy & Reed could be seen patrolling the streets anywhere in L.A. from Downtown to the Valley, they retained the number division #1, no matter where they were). The police station used throughout the series was the newly-built (at the time) Rampart Station.
#1 - Log 75: Have a Nice Weekend
Season 3 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/7/1970
Malloy and Reed investigate a series of robberies, an arson attempt and a violent argument.
#2 - Log 55: Missing Child
Season 3 - Episode 6 - Aired 10/31/1970
Officers Malloy and Reed search for a missing child whose disappearance becomes increasingly serious as time passes.
#3 - Log 95: Purse Snatcher
Season 3 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/3/1970
A teen-age purse snatcher thinks he can outwit the police and graduate to bigger crime.
#4 - Log 16: Child in Danger
Season 3 - Episode 22 - Aired 3/4/1971
Officers Malloy and Reed interrupt a robbery in progress, worry about a possible child-beating case, and warn a heedless girl about driving alone in a dangerous area of town.
#5 - Log 105: Elegy for a Pig
Season 3 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/21/1970
One of the finest episodes in the series' run, Malloy (who narrates this episode, Jack Webb-style) recalls the rainy night his previous on-duty partner was killed during a robbery. But Malloy's story goes much deeper, as he relates the life of the slain officer, confiding that the officer was more than just his partner, but a loyal and trusted best friend with a young family. Malloy also remembers how he met Reed and the early days of their relationship (before Malloy and Reed became a team). The opening and closing credits are shown over a black screen (in lieu of the usual sequences) without the music and with Jack Webb himself speaking, in apparent tribute to police officers who died in the line of duty.
#6 - Log 115: Gang War
Season 3 - Episode 14 - Aired 1/9/1971
Singer Trini Lopez portrays a Mexican-American priest who calls in police in hopes of preventing a needless teenage gang fight.
#7 - Log 65: Cigarettes, Cars and Wild, Wild Women
Season 3 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/17/1970
Reed and Malloy investigate a car theft ring, where pretty young women bait new car owners into giving them rides to a nearby convenience store (presumably to buy cigarettes). While the car owner is in the store, the women make off with their wheels. The cars are taken to a local chop shop, where they are disassembled for parts to be sold on the black market. As the officers make the arrests at the show's end, one of the women complains of being treated like "a common criminal," but Malloy refuses to give in.
#8 - Log 174: Loan Sharks
Season 3 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/19/1970
When a courageous teen-ager who comes forward to testify against loan-sharking racketeers is abducted, Officers Malloy and Reed must find him.
#9 - Log 175: Con Artists
Season 3 - Episode 13 - Aired 1/2/1971
Malloy and Reed answer a string of calls about a family who swindle residents with phony home repairs.
#10 - Log 106: Post Time
Season 3 - Episode 24 - Aired 3/18/1971
A bewildered printer, an elderly retiree, and an unusual motorist create some special problems for Officers Malloy and Reed. Guest star: Morey Amsterdam.
#11 - Log 45: Bright Boy
Season 3 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/10/1970
An 11-year-old boy with a photographic memory assists Officers Malloy and Reed on a burglary case.
#12 - Log 164: The Poachers
Season 3 - Episode 21 - Aired 2/25/1971
Officers Malloy and Reed capture a joy-rider in a police car, arrest a girl attempting forgery, and Reed even delivers a baby during their rounds.
#13 - Log 56: Vice Versa
Season 3 - Episode 23 - Aired 3/11/1971
Officer Malloy overlooks renewing his driver's license and, much to his discomfort, has to temporarily turn over the driving of the squad car to Officer Reed.
#14 - Log 35: Easy Bare Rider
Season 3 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/26/1970
Officers Malloy and Reed have to exercise all their wits when they encounter an amiable drunk driver who presents an unusual problem.
#15 - Log 125: Safe Job
Season 3 - Episode 26 - Aired 4/5/1971
A safe cracker who gets into buildings without any evidence of forced entry baffles Officers Malloy and Reed.
#16 - Log 85: Sign of the Twins
Season 3 - Episode 12 - Aired 12/26/1970
Officers Malloy and Reed contend with an antagonistic robbery victim, a nerve-wracked mother and a unique zoning case.
#17 - Log 66: The Vandals
Season 3 - Episode 17 - Aired 1/28/1971
A simple traffic violation turns into a serious case and a teen-age girl proves to be too popular for her own good as Officers Malloy and Reed ride their beat.
#18 - Log 36: Man Between
Season 3 - Episode 18 - Aired 2/4/1971
Officer Reed gets needled by Officer Ed Wells for having too much faith in his fellow man, as Reed and Malloy handle a variety of cases.
#19 - Log 155: I.A.D.
Season 3 - Episode 16 - Aired 1/21/1971
Officers Malloy and Reed search for an elusive bar girl who might be able to clear a fellow officer accused of blackmail.
#20 - Log 135: Arson
Season 3 - Episode 10 - Aired 12/5/1970
Officers Malloy and Reed encounter frustrating cases involving arson in the Rampart district, a family fight, and a dangerous mental patient.
#21 - Log 76: Militants
Season 3 - Episode 20 - Aired 2/18/1971
Two officers are shot down in ambush by members of a vocal black militant group. Complicating the matter is that both shooters are brothers of a friend of Officer Reed's, and the two disagree over the vigilantism.
#22 - Log 165: Once a Cop
Season 3 - Episode 19 - Aired 2/11/1971
A bitter ex-cop and a Hollywood starlet and her agent present some unusual problems for Officers Malloy and Reed.
#23 - Log 26: LEMRAS (Law Enforcement Manpower Resources Allocation System)
Season 3 - Episode 15 - Aired 1/16/1971
Two armed robbers take hostages in hopes of making a clean get away until Malloy and Reed thwart their plans. The officers then must contend with a group of burglaries committed by motorcycle riders. Computers help solve crimes.
#24 - Log 25: Indians
Season 3 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/28/1970
The officers search for a suspect involved in a series of bombings and investigate a bar fight.
#25 - Log 96: Pilgrimage
Season 3 - Episode 11 - Aired 12/19/1970
Christmas Eve brings mixed blessings for Officers Malloy and Reed when they have to arrest a sidewalk Santa Claus and launch a search for a small Indian child.