The WORST episodes of Adam-12
Every episode of Adam-12 ever, ranked from worst to best by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The worst episodes of Adam-12!
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 - 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.
#2 - 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.
#3 - Log 88: Reason to Run
Season 3 - Episode 25 - Aired 4/1/1971
Officers Malloy and Reed handle a burglary at a riding school owned by a former Western movie star.
#4 - Operation Action
Season 7 - Episode 20 - Aired 3/25/1975
When Malloy fails to show up for an off-duty appointment, Reed retraces his partner's steps and finds out he has been kidnapped by a revolutionary group demanding the release of one of their friends.
#5 - Log 022: So This Little Guy Goes Into This Bar
Season 1 - Episode 26 - Aired 4/5/1969
Malloy and Reed on patrol deal with a domestic dispute, the theft of a fur, and the noise from a loud party.
#6 - Log 071: I Feel Like a Fool, Malloy
Season 1 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/2/1968
Among other calls, Officers Malloy and Reed answer a loud noise complaint and discover a teen-age babysitter in desperate need of help.
#7 - 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.
#8 - Log 073: I'm Still a Cop
Season 1 - Episode 20 - Aired 2/22/1969
Malloy is a part-time student at a local college, where he suddenly finds himself in the middle of of a riot.
#9 - 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.
#10 - 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.
#11 - 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.
#12 - 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.
#13 - 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.
#14 - Log 092: Tell Him He Pushed Back a Little Too Hard
Season 1 - Episode 25 - Aired 3/29/1969
A couple of neighbors co-own a boat and continually fight over it so Malloy and Reed do their best to mediate this latest rift.
#15 - Log 054: Impersonation
Season 2 - Episode 16 - Aired 2/7/1970
An investigator for the Rampart division is suspected of defrauding residents of their money. But is he really the guilty party, or is it a clever criminal who has assumed his identity?
#16 - Credit Risk
Season 7 - Episode 10 - Aired 12/17/1974
Reed applies for a credit card only to discover that he has been turned down because he is considered a bad credit risk. Reed fights to clear his credit history while Malloy offers advice in the interim.
#17 - Christmas
Season 7 - Episode 11 - Aired 12/24/1974
Reed and Malloy spend Christmas Eve on patrol, answering calls such as a man playing Christmas carols on the bagpipes, a stolen truck carrying radioactive materials, a man caught trying to steal gas from someone else's car, a liquor store robbery, and a rooftop sniper.
#18 - Harry Nobody
Season 5 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/8/1972
A hotel janitor (and wino) named Harry witnesses a murder in a hotel room, but refuses to talk until Reed shows him compassion and respect, both of which are lacking from his family and friends, but his testimony is clouded by his alcoholic past. Malloy relives his childhood by telling the story of his chaperoning a junior high dance.
#19 - Log 072: El Presidente
Season 1 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/9/1968
Malloy teases Reed about calculating the cost of a new house while their first baby is still 6 months away. In the meantime they settle a domestic dispute between arguing neighbors, help a taxi driver that was just robbed, and a local man mistaken as the President by a group of rural Mexicans. Finally, they must arrest a psychotic shooter holed up in his house.
#20 - Citizen with Gun
Season 7 - Episode 17 - Aired 3/4/1975
A nervous homeowner who has been burglarized on time too many decides to buy a gun to protect himself and his home, but nearly shoots Officer Wells, who is responding to a prowler call.
#21 - The Wednesday Warrior
Season 4 - Episode 24 - Aired 3/15/1972
Reed is worried when his friend, an electrical engineer, is made a reserve police officer and ends up being partnered with Officer Wells. Malloy and Reed have to contend with illegal campers, a couple driving a stolen car, and help Wells and his new partner chase down a heavily-armed bank robber who forces innocent people to participate in his crimes.
#22 - Log 112: You Blew It
Season 1 - Episode 18 - Aired 2/8/1969
Reed and Malloy make a routine traffic stop on a motorist. Before the NCIC check is completed, the dispatcher broadcasts a domestic dispute call in the two officers' patrol area; Reed and Malloy take the call and let the motorist go. Bad choice; the lieutenant soon calls the two errant officers in to scold them. Turns out the motorist had warrants out for his arrest on robbery and weapons charges. Malloy and Reed then come up with and carry out an ultimately successful plan to nab the wanted criminal.
#23 - Log 024: A Rare Occasion
Season 2 - Episode 17 - Aired 2/14/1970
Malloy and Reed deal with a purse snatcher focused on being jailed in time for dinner, a young boy on drugs with his dealer out to kill him, while enduring worry and concern over two policemen friends hospitalized in critical care resulting from a crackup in a high speed pursuit.
#24 - Ambush
Season 4 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/10/1971
Malloy and Reed are assigned to transport a prisoner from Malibu to Los Angeles for outstanding traffic warrants. The prisoner is also a witness in a mob murder and a hit has been ordered on him. En route to LA, the cruiser is ambushed, a tire is shot out and they are out of radio range in an isolated area. Reed is captured by hit men attempting to get assistance, but Malloy and the prisoner steal the hit men's car to get to a phone and LAPD sends the police helicopter to search for Reed, who ends up overpowering and capturing the hit men. NOTE: This is the episode of Adam-12 seen on the television in the "Emergency!" Season 1 episode "Hang-up"
#25 - Log 093: Once a Junkie
Season 2 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/22/1969
Malloy and Reed begin to suspect that their street informant has returned to using and is committing crimes to support his habit.