The BEST episodes of Adam-12 season 6
Every episode of Adam-12 season 6, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Adam-12 season 6!
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 - West Valley Division
Season 6 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/3/1973
Malloy and Reed notice an attractive woman walking her scottie when they get a call from Air Ten to assist with a motorcyclist who is also a potential firebug. They track the young man to his mother's house and the officers warn him about the pitfalls of arson. While the woman continues to walk her dog, the officers investigate a robbery at a movie theater where the manager and ticket taker are tied up; she lets them know a man on a gray motorcycle committed the crime, Malloy and Reed stop a gray motorcycle but the rider is a woman, they locate another motorcycle and catch the suspect after pursuit and the motorcycle crashing. The officers respond to another robbery at a department store where the security guard was shot and provides a dying declaration of who shot him, then Air Ten locates a possible suspect vehicle; the pursuit ends with two people just wanting to experience the thrill of a police chase. The Scottie dog is found tied up and the officers discover the woman is in reality a fur thief, and is arrested.
#2 - Foothill Division
Season 6 - Episode 3 - Aired 9/26/1973
Sgt. MacDonald reported his camper was broken into with three fishing rods and a pair of custom-made cowboy boots missing, and offers two free steak dinners for their return. The officers come across another man with the same "one of a kind" boots that Mac lost. Cases include Malloy, Reed, and Mac riding horseback to locate three suspects in a break-in at a stable, later the station is under sniper fire, Malloy, Reed, and Air Ten assist in capturing the sniper, and Officer Wells (showing his rarely-seen compassionate side) takes up a collection for a couple and their cancer-stricken daughter to get to San Francisco, later Wells finds out he's been had as the "couple" were well-known con artists with a long rap sheet.
#3 - A Clinic on 18th Street
Season 6 - Episode 24 - Aired 3/13/1974
Malloy and Reed investigate the death of an old man wearing an unusual belt, which leads to the case being turned over to Frauds Division, who finds that Dr. Gantman, running a clinic, is treating a blind seven-year-old patient with a pituitary gland condition but his "treatment" is worthless and preventing a real treatment (removal of the gland). Later, a TV repairman who makes oscillator belts for Gantman is busted for bookmaking and agrees to testify against the doctor, but Gantman demonstrates his "treatment" in open court and fails miserably.
#4 - L.A. International
Season 6 - Episode 23 - Aired 3/12/1974
Malloy, Reed, and Officer Woods are assigned airport duty at LAX, now equipped with closed-circuit cameras, which were used to observe a burglary in progress and apprehend the suspects before they could leave. An argument over a suitcase resulted in the discovery of drugs, another dispute involving an Army soldier and another man uncovers a scheme where the civilian took Japanese Yen from the soldier. A ticket clerk that catches Malloy's eye informs him of a man who bought tickets from her previously under a different name, which results in the breakup of a credit card theft ring, a runaway is escorted to security until his mother can pick him up, and a silent alarm at a toll gate results in the capture of a robber who was holding a hostage. As a reward for breaking up the credit card theft ring, the company invites Malloy and the ticket clerk to lunch--Reed is invited too but Malloy pays Reed (a week's worth of lunches) NOT to join the couple on the lunch date.
#5 - North Hollywood Division
Season 6 - Episode 16 - Aired 1/22/1974
Reed is assigned to write an article about Malloy for Police Beat magazine for his partner's 10th anniversary in the LAPD, and is having trouble with the content. Calls include a gas station robbery with an unusual outcome, a domestic dispute involving a barking poodle, a woman tries to get her husband arrested and the plan backfires, and a pursuit with a liquor store robber ends with the suspect barricading himself in a garage.
#6 - Skywatch (2)
Season 6 - Episode 22 - Aired 3/5/1974
Malloy and Reed take to separate helicopter units to continue their observations. The choppers assist in a stolen light plane from LAX by a distraught man, track two robbery suspects fleeing in separate cars, and assist in a nighttime house fire.
#7 - Harbor Division
Season 6 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/12/1973
Malloy has to sell two ballet tickets after his date cancels on him and gets needled by the squad. The officers are patrolling the Harbor Division and handle calls for a boat owner overcharged for fuel by a dealer, pull over a driver with a suspicious box on top of his car, investigate a suspicious young couple, pull over an astrologer for reckless driving, and a drunk shooting from the crows nest of a ship.
#8 - Sunburn
Season 6 - Episode 20 - Aired 2/19/1974
Reed returns from an off-day with a uncomfortable full-body sunburn, which causes him problems throughout the watch. Calls include responding to a traffic accident, acting on a tip from an informant, the officers bust a drug dealer working out of abandoned homes, search for a robbery suspect based on a vehicle description, and assist in the rescue of two boys when their boat capsizes.
#9 - Skywatch (1)
Season 6 - Episode 21 - Aired 2/26/1974
Malloy and Reed are chosen to ride in Air-70 to observe how the LAPD's air patrol works. The chopper's cases include searching for two robbery suspects inside a high-rise building and tracking an escaping murder suspect.
#10 - Taking It Easy
Season 6 - Episode 17 - Aired 1/29/1974
Reed is suffering from a wrist injury which puts him on desk duty, while Malloy has to break in a new rookie partner. Reed's day is far from routine as he has to handle a bomb threat that results in the evacuation of the station, and Officer Brinkman accidentally discharges his shotgun twice outside the station adding more tension, a young man wants to report misconduct by a police officer, an elderly man brings a shotgun into the station to drop off, Malloy brings in a group of children abandoned by their mother, and Malloy and his partner pursue a car into the police parking lot, where the suspects are arrested.
#11 - Routine Patrol
Season 6 - Episode 19 - Aired 2/12/1974
Patrol begins with a drunk woman threatening a group of bar patrons with a gun, investigate the death of a mentally-impaired man which looks suspicious, and a group of carjackers who capture a cache of guns and go on a robbery spree.
#12 - Van Nuys Division
Season 6 - Episode 7 - Aired 10/31/1973
Malloy returns from vacation sporting a mustache, prompting chuckles and guffaws from the squad. The officers then assist Air Ten in an airplane operated by a drunk pilot which crash-landed, and the police have to get the pilot out before he lights a cigarette which would have ignited the leaking gas coming from the plane, and rescue the pilot's son who required CPR. Reno West is suspected in the theft of some stamps from a mansion, a witness provides excellent descriptions of suspects involved in a jewelry store robbery, who is apprehended during a routine traffic stop, and a woman taking an alleged purse snatcher to the police station in her car rather than walk four miles to do so. Malloy shaves off the mustache when he has trouble trimming it.
#13 - Venice Division
Season 6 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/10/1973
The officers investigate a woman nude sunbathing on the beach, with her "agent" begging for her arrest, later Reed arrests a man trying to steal coins from a phone booth, assist a motorcycle policeman in catching a dune buggy thief, a leotard-wearing woman who fears for her life after receiving obscene phone calls, later is attacked by the caller and the officers locate and arrest him, a wino that dies after eating dinner, and a low-speed pursuit of a jack-o-lantern.
#14 - Hot Shot
Season 6 - Episode 6 - Aired 10/24/1973
The officers pull over a car on a traffic violation and find the driver is Reno West, a cat burglar Malloy sent to prison four years previous, and Malloy is suspicious that West will resume his career, as he is found later at the library looking up likely articles to steal while investigating stolen books. Other cases include removal of an abandoned car, a robbery which turns to murder as the shopowner is killed, the suspect is chased into a tunnel where Reed is forced to kill him after a standoff, and a hostage situation involving a distraught man and his daughter; the officers are able to end the situation peaceably despite the man having a bead on Reed with his gun.
#15 - Training Division
Season 6 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/7/1973
A rookie cop with a "know-it-all" attitude, Officer Barrett, presents problems for the officers on the force, including Officer Wells, Malloy and Reed. At the start of the episode -- after an academy demonstration of an arrest gone tragically wrong -- Barrett bungles the arrest of an elderly man suspected of holding up a bank. Officers Malloy and Wells verbally reprimand Barrett (who has apparently made similar mistakes before) about his latest mistakes, even though the old gent did not display a weapon (he simply presented a note to a teller requesting $1 million) and had a few screws loose. Near the end of the show, the officers must deal with a bomber who has planted an explosive device inside a cereal box at a local grocery store, with the bomb set to go off within the hour. After the officers corner the suspect (who holds another man at gunpoint) Barrett chokes when Reed orders the hot-dog rookie to arrest the suspect; Malloy eventually takes the man into custody. In the wrap-up,
#16 - Rampart Division
Season 6 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/19/1973
Malloy and Reed patrol an area of Los Angeles inhabited by a large retirement population. Calls include a purse snatching during which the suspect eluded capture, but was later found during routine patrol, a retired policeman turned security guard named George who wants to talk shop, an elderly man with multiple warrants for auto theft trying to break into a car in a church parking lot, a dispute between and elderly woman and man over her eviction and his offer to take her in, then arrest the woman when she begins smashing a car with a baseball bat, handle another dispute over $5, prevent a baby stroller from rolling into a lake, and a robbery during which George assisted in the capture of the suspects, then laments to the officers about being lonely due to all of his friends passing on.
#17 - Trouble in the Bank
Season 6 - Episode 15 - Aired 1/15/1974
On patrol, Reed stops at his bank to do some personal banking and walks into an armed robbery in progress. The two robbers are experienced and take steps to make sure other officers won't storm the bank. A suggestion by Malloy allows the suspects what they want: a getaway car, with the provision that the robbers let all hostages go except Reed. Malloy hides in getaway car's trunk, with a portable radio to advise fellow officers of his position. The suspects drive to a remote location to switch to another vehicle. Thinking that they had accomplished in getting away unnoticed, the suspects order Reed out of the car with the intention of killing him. Malloy calls Mac advising he has to act and kills one gunman while the other gives up, saving Reed's life.
#18 - Capture
Season 6 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/14/1973
Reno West's burglary reign continues, and the Captain orders it stopped at all costs. Malloy and Reed find the veteran burglar at a gas station with a female companion and West is not too happy to see the police following him. Later West's friend's car is spotted at the scene of another burglary and despite Officer Wells blowing the stakeout, Malloy re-captures his old nemesis. Other cases include having to divert a vicious guard dog so the officers can save a 70 year old man in a diabetic coma, investigate a theft of a rare jade statue from a mansion, and a domestic dispute between a couple where it appears the wife is the abuser.
#19 - If the Shoe Fits
Season 6 - Episode 12 - Aired 12/12/1973
Reed's shoes are being fixed and the replacements have a squeak that drives Malloy crazy. When he later returns to the shop to pick the shoes up, he notices a bank robbery which turns into a hostage situation. Malloy "gives in" by providing a car--with the doors locked and the robbers are apprehended. Other cases include a B&E that was actually a husband destroying his furniture due to his wife leaving him and the country, a van pulled over for no brake lights and a driver with a negative attitude towards police, and Sgt. MacDonald sends the officers to a demolition site where a visually-impaired boy is hiding out. Malloy takes a crane to pluck the boy out of danger.
#20 - Northeast Division
Season 6 - Episode 11 - Aired 12/5/1973
Reed needs his TV repaired, and brings in his Boy Scout neighbor with a merit badge in electronics to work on it, but takes the entire TV apart and the squad is skeptical he can put it back together again. He does fix it--with a little help from a TV repairman. Cases involve pursuing a juvenile on a souped-up minibike, only to find he lives with his aunt after being orphaned and has no friends, a woman whom a neighbor thought had killed her husband after overhearing an argument and the woman digging in the backyard, only to find she was burying a dead chicken; a robbery committed by a long haired woman in high heels, whom Reed spots at a bus stop with shorter hair and no heels; a picket line at a store resolved when the lead picketer found out she went on a "computer date" with the store manager and he lied about his occupation; and a report made on a robbery turned out to be made by the actual robbers.
#21 - Krash
Season 6 - Episode 18 - Aired 2/5/1974
Malloy gets a new car, and Reed gets to drive it, but the car is damaged while the officers chase and capture a purse snatcher. Sgt. MacDonald refers Malloy to his brother's autobody shop for repairs, with Malloy concerned about the cost (which turned out to be $20)--despite Reed's offer of covering 1/2 the price. Calls include a drunk man shooting arrows, a shop is held up and the shop owner suffers a heart attack and dies while the officers question him, and a robbery at a pharmacy where the suspect gets away in the back of a truck, which is tracked by a motorcycle officer and alerts Malloy and Reed, who apprehend the suspect.
#22 - Hollywood Division
Season 6 - Episode 10 - Aired 11/21/1973
Malloy really likes the voice of the new dispatcher but when he meets her in person is dismayed to find she is married to the SWAT lieutenant. Cases handled include a hit-and-run which seriously injured a young girl, a synagogue who had their Hebrew-based typewriter and money stolen, a drunk woman sitting on a lawn who is spurned by her daughter when the officers take the drunk there, and while visiting T.J.'s wagon, T.J. clues them in on a disgruntled former painter who is planning revenge, and when the officers arrive at the studio shots are fired, two painters are injured; the SWAT team is brought in to rescue another painter and capture the shooter.
#23 - The Sweet Smell...
Season 6 - Episode 14 - Aired 1/9/1974
Malloy and Officer Woods return from a day of fishing, and the car smells like fish...which is aggravated when a disoriented woman who caused a lot of damage to a shop is put into 1-Adam-12 and she spills perfume in the back seat; she blames both her accidents in the shop and in the car on her "poltergeist". Numerous trips to the police garage fail to get the smells out. Other incidents include a mute woman informing the officers someone had broken into a church, and investigation shows the pastor got into the church because he forgot his keys and ID, and Woods (backing up Malloy and Reed) has to explain why he's missed church services, a kidnapping call that turns out to be a man picking up a drunk woman to take her home, and a boy whose bike was stolen by a big boy and was recovered when the boy's friends caught and held the big boy until the police arrived.
#24 - Southwest Division
Season 6 - Episode 13 - Aired 12/19/1973
Responding to a dispute in a park, an elderly woman tries to stop a painter from selling a painting that she considers indecent. To resolve the issue (due to the seller needing a new permit and being short on money) Malloy buys the painting in question. Other calls include a man trying to retrieve a valuable nickel from a toy dispenser his son put in inadverently (and making the shop owner think he was trying to steal all the money); a potential "peeping tom" who is actually a liberated woman using a telescope to check meters to avoid dogs, a repo man trying to widen a door in a house he is trying to repossess furniture from, and an ex-football star who turned to robbery is captured in the very location he made his name--the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.