Strike Force
Encyclopedia
Strike Force was an American
action-adventure/police procedural
television series that aired on ABC
during the 1981–1982 television season. The program starred Robert Stack
as Capt. Frank Murphy, the leader of a group of specialized detectives and police officers whose job is to stop violent criminals at any cost (usually with a hail of gunfire). Mixing elements of Stack's classic TV series The Untouchables
from 20 years earlier with doses of Mission: Impossible
and Dirty Harry
, the series immediately provoked controversy over its violence — at one point the series was labeled the most violent in American TV history — though the series attempted to interject liberal amounts of humor into its regular characters and balanced the violence by focusing on the detectives' personal lives. For example, Stack's character is a recent divorcé who is stuck with a house that was painted pink by his ex-wife; Sgt. Rosie Johnson became a police officer after her husband went missing in Vietnam
and enjoys making jokes about her bust size.
Capt. Murphy's favorite food was chili dogs and his constant nemesis was the squad room soda machine.
Although initially popular, the novelty of the series quickly wore off; only 19 episodes were produced. According to Todd Gitlin
's 1983 book Inside Prime Time, Strike Force finished a dismal 76 out of 105 shows in the Nielsen ratings for the 1981-82 season. The first episode was released on video in North America in the late 1980s.
The cast included Trisha Noble
, Richard Romanus
, Herb Edelman
, Michael Goodwin
and Dorian Harewood
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
action-adventure/police procedural
Police procedural
The police procedural is a subgenre of detective fiction which attempts to convincingly depict the activities of a police force as they investigate crimes. While traditional detective novels usually concentrate on a single crime, police procedurals frequently depict investigations into several...
television series that aired on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
during the 1981–1982 television season. The program starred Robert Stack
Robert Stack
Robert Stack was an American actor. In addition to acting in more than 40 films, he was the star of the 1959-1963 ABC television series The Untouchables and later served as the host of Unsolved Mysteries.-Early life:...
as Capt. Frank Murphy, the leader of a group of specialized detectives and police officers whose job is to stop violent criminals at any cost (usually with a hail of gunfire). Mixing elements of Stack's classic TV series The Untouchables
The Untouchables (1959 TV series)
The Untouchables is an American crime drama that ran from 1959 to 1963 on ABC. Based on the memoir of the same name by Eliot Ness and Oscar Fraley, it fictionalized the experiences of Eliot Ness, a real-life Prohibition agent, as he fought crime in Chicago during the 1930s with the help of a...
from 20 years earlier with doses of Mission: Impossible
Mission: Impossible
Mission: Impossible is an American television series which was created and initially produced by Bruce Geller. It chronicled the missions of a team of secret American government agents known as the Impossible Missions Force . The leader of the team was Jim Phelps, played by Peter Graves, except in...
and Dirty Harry
Dirty Harry
Dirty Harry is a 1971 American crime thriller produced and directed by Don Siegel, the first in the Dirty Harry series. Clint Eastwood plays the title role, in his first outing as San Francisco Police Department Inspector "Dirty" Harry Callahan....
, the series immediately provoked controversy over its violence — at one point the series was labeled the most violent in American TV history — though the series attempted to interject liberal amounts of humor into its regular characters and balanced the violence by focusing on the detectives' personal lives. For example, Stack's character is a recent divorcé who is stuck with a house that was painted pink by his ex-wife; Sgt. Rosie Johnson became a police officer after her husband went missing in Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
and enjoys making jokes about her bust size.
Capt. Murphy's favorite food was chili dogs and his constant nemesis was the squad room soda machine.
Although initially popular, the novelty of the series quickly wore off; only 19 episodes were produced. According to Todd Gitlin
Todd Gitlin
Todd Gitlin is an American sociologist, political writer, novelist, and cultural commentator. He has written widely on the mass media, politics, intellectual life and the arts, for both popular and scholarly publications.-New Left activist:...
's 1983 book Inside Prime Time, Strike Force finished a dismal 76 out of 105 shows in the Nielsen ratings for the 1981-82 season. The first episode was released on video in North America in the late 1980s.
The cast included Trisha Noble
Trisha Noble
Patricia Ann Ruth "Trisha" Noble is an Australian singer and actress.-Biography:Noble was born in Sydney, Australia. Her father was comedian and singer Buster Noble and her mother was the entertainer Helen De Paul....
, Richard Romanus
Richard Romanus
Richard Romanus is an American actor of Lebanese descent. Among other roles, he has appeared in Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets, and provided voices for Ralph Bakshi's animated films Wizards and Hey Good Lookin'. He played Lorraine Bracco's ex-husband, later husband again, in three episodes of The...
, Herb Edelman
Herb Edelman
Herbert "Herb" Edelman was an American actor of stage, film and television. He was twice nominated for an Emmy Award for his television work. One of his best remembered roles was as Stanley Zbornak, the ex-husband of Dorothy Zbornak on the long-running situation comedy, The Golden Girls...
, Michael Goodwin
Michael Goodwin
Michael Kemper Goodwin was an important architect in the Phoenix, Arizona area. He also served two terms in the Arizona House of Representatives in the 1970s.-Early life:Michael Andrew Goodwin was born in San Antonio....
and Dorian Harewood
Dorian Harewood
W. Dorian Harewood is an American actor. He first garnered attention for his portrayal of Simon Haley in the ABC miniseries Roots: The Next Generations.-Career:...
.
Episode list
- "Strike Force: Pilot" - 11/13/1981
- "Kidnap" - 11/20/1981
- "The Victims" - 11/27/1981
- "The Predator" - 12/4/1981
- "Magic Man" - 12/11/1981
- "Night Nurse" - 12/18/1981
- "The Hollow Man" - 12/25/1981
- "The Outcast" - 1/8/1982
- "Ice" - 1/15/1982
- "Internal Affairs" - 1/22/1982
- "Lonely Ladies" - 2/5/1982
- "Fallen Angel" - 2/12/1982
- "Shark" - 2/19/1982
- "Turnabout" - 2/26/1982
- "The John Killer" - 3/5/1982
- "Humiliation" - 3/19/1982
- "Deadly Chemicals" - 3/26/1982
- "Revenge" - 4/2/1982
- "Chinatown" - 4/9/1982
- "Death Fire" - 4/16/1982