The Streets of San Francisco Season Four

Here are some more addenda for Mr. Mike's reviews. This season got to be kind of a slog for me: there are too many episodes with scripts that could have been a BARNABY JONES or a CANNON.

S04E01: Poisoned Snow

Contrary to what Mr. Mike writes about this episode, it does have an original score — and a very good one — by John Elizalde, the music supervisor for the series. His score (which uses the opening rhythm of Pat Williams' series theme at the beginning) is much stronger than his previous efforts for the show.

Mark Hamill was almost 24 years old when he played a high schooler in this episode. His character, Andy, attends "Garfield School"; it still stands today as an elementary school.

Stone says, "they shouldn't give women this kind of work — it's too dangerous," echoing his comments from an earlier episode that involved a policewoman.

This episode is very good in almost every respect, but I found Clu Gulager's performance distracting, alternating between Brando-style mumbling and overacting on par with Tony Lo Bianco from "Solitaire" at the end of season three. He often acts like he is the one strung out on something!

The medical examiner in this episode is not Bernie.

S04E02: The Glass Dart Board

Mr. Mike doesn't list it in his synopsis, but this episode features an original score by Pat Williams. It features a some nifty variations on his series theme near the beginning and end, as well as a stellar cue for the ransom drop.

At the time, the Bay Area had an NHL team called the Golden State Seals, but there doesn't ever appear to have been a hockey team called the Blazers in this area. (The Vancouver Blazers had played in the World Hockey Association the previous two seasons, but became the Calgary Cowboys around the time this episode aired.)

The synopsis says: "When one of Truax's shots kills an accountant, the cops get even more interested than just investigating the shooting angle." But the "accountant" was killed with the first shots by the sniper, so the police became involved as a result of this homicide. Keller does call the dead man an accountant toward the end of the episode, but he is initially identified as an "account executive" at Chadoff International.

The address of the Balboa Towers is 207 Saint Andrews.

S04E03: No Place to Hide

Rita King drives a Ford Pinto, license plate 864 ORE. Constantine drives a Ford sedan, 178 GUJ.

Max says the dump is "the only place I knew to find" Constantine, so maybe it's his regular meeting place — but did he just luck out that Constantine happened to be there?

Richard Markowitz's score has a number of subtle variations on Williams' series theme and provides solid support during climactic fight sequence.

Why would Rita dialing the operator not stop the dial tone just because Constantine had already picked up the extension?

S04E04: Men Will Die

The opening credits are about six seconds longer than usual due to all the guest stars (all women, except for special guest star Michael Parks). The episode appears as if it might have been written by a woman, but "Shirl" is a dude.

This is the first episode of the season with tracked music.

Near the beginning, there is yet another reference to Stone being a gambler: the 49ers won, but not by enough to beat the point spread. Does he have a problem or are these small bets? Is he gambling illegally or just amongst friends?

Nancy Price calls Stone's daughter "Jean," not Jeannie. The synopsis says Price is Jeannie's roommate but the dialogue says she "was Jeannie's roommate last year."

Jeannie's roommates are crime targets! A previous one was murdered on a bus in "Beyond Vengeance" (S01E22); Stone says another victim of the current perp "was studying anthropology the same time Jeannie was," although it's not clear if the two actually knew each other.

Why are Stone and Keller initially investigating this crime before a homicide is involved?

Keller is wearing a three-piece suit with a vest in this episode.

There is a 23-second reverse tracking shot of Stone and Keller walking down a hallway.

The name of the ship on which the rapists served together in the merchant marines was the Santiago Dominion.

When Stone catches Marlin accosting Jeannie, he should be able to arrest him for assault (and theft of the registration from her car) if nothing else, but lets the creep go.

The judge at Price's preliminary hearing is named George Gilbert, at least the third time this judge has appeared in the show; the actor is unidentified but appears to be different than the first two Judge Gilberts.

The judge binds Price over for murder in the first degree, but the act does not appear to have been premeditated. Wouldn't this be second-degree murder or manslaughter?

Wyatt's office is at 130 Bayside Drive on the sixth floor.

Marlin lives in apartment 223. When Angie answers the door to Steve and Keller, her appearance and demeanor seem to indicate that she has just been assaulted by Marlin.

How did Angie know that Marlin went to Wyatt's office? (Presumably this is how Stone and Keller knew where to go to find him.) Angie couldn't hear the other end of call. Did Marlin tell her where he was going before leaving?

Why doesn't Keller cuff Marlin when he is put under arrest?

Parker was also a victim, not just a witness.

This is a "message" show but a fairly good one.

S04E05: School of Fear

The synopsis calls Maurice Evans' character "Summers" (which matches IMDb and James Rosin's book) but the subtitles say "Summer" and the characters clearly call him "Summer" (not "Summers") throughout.

Keller asks Summer: "You realize this doesn't make any sense at all?" This quote aptly describes the entire episode!

There is a 27-second reverse tracking shot through the hallway of the high school.

The full names of the two students suspected of killing the teacher are James Whitcomb Riley (named after "the great American poet") and Richard Martino.

Leopold Summer has quite a collection of weapons. Were these all confiscated from former students?

Summer's license plate is CRS 969; he resides at 111 South Boyle Street. The Thomas Paine Academy was established in 1911.

John Parker's score is largely dominated by brass; at least one cue is tracked from Pat Williams' score for "The Glass Dart Board" (S04E02).

The Manual High School principal's name is John Evers.

Maurice Evans was 74 (not 64, as mentioned in the synopsis) when he guest-starred in this episode. Mr. Harris says he sounded "50, maybe more" and says "he sounded smart": does "smart" mean "British"? Evans certainly doesn't sound like someone who grew up in San Francisco.

S04E06: Deadly Silence

The final draft of this script has the earliest date of all the fourth-season episodes archived in the Michael Douglas papers, so it was likely the first to be shot. This could explain why Douglas' hair is so much longer than in the previous episodes, and also why Darleen Carr's hair is much longer than in "Men Will Die" (S04E04).

Jeannie is apparently still in school at ASU in this episode and has come home for her father's birthday; in "Men Will Die" (two episodes earlier) she was "on vacation."

Sonoma Liquor is located at 65 Sixth Street.

Jeff and Jodi Dixon have been married for two weeks, not two days as mentioned in the synopsis. (He says two days, but he is hallucinating due to his injury, and she corrects him.)

Dr. Reynolds at County Hospital seems to know Stone well enough that he also knows Jeannie.

The Ford van (a '73 or '74 model, beige with black and red stripes) has CA license 41 867R.

After Rudy shoots at Stone, Stone later says he couldn't hear where the sounds were coming from, but he's not completely deaf, so certainly he must have heard the gunshot in his good ear. He doesn't appear to react at all.

The synopsis says that "Keller shoots Rudy dead" but it's a uniformed patrolman (not identified in the credits), not Keller, who shoots and kills Rudy.

An article in a local paper (not the Dispatch, as in some previous episodes, possibly the San Francisco Sun?) has the headline: "Suspect Killed after High Speed Chase."

Stone assigns Inspector Tanner to be Keller's partner until he returns. Stone calls Keller "Smiley."

Jeannie's car has license plate WKJ 649.

How many old partners does Stone have?

Bill Drake's license plate is 161 LMJ.

Stone hails a Golden Gate cab with phone number 421-4701 and license plate 871 KDL.

S04E07: Murder by Proxy

Steiner lives at number 314. His print shop is "Steiner and Son Quality Printing."

It takes a long time for people in Steiner's neighborhood to connect the crime wave with all of the houses being bought up and the high-pressure offers to sell.

The phone number on the ambulance that hauls Steiner's body away is 421-7011.

At one point, Fitz refers to Communications Consolidated Inc. as "double C–I"; Johnny Steiner later says, "I thought they just made computers and television sets and stuff."

S04E08: Trail of Terror

George Romanis' score is mostly unremarkable. The intro music to Act II (and possibly some other cues) is tracked.

In Oak Grove, the Navy guys drive a station wagon with plate 276 LLH.

Why doesn't Steve retrieve the keys that he throws away in order to convince Nancy to give him back his gun?

The synopsis says that "Nancy shoots the handcuffs, separating herself from Keller" but this is not correct. She indicates that she might do this but relents; then later, after Keller is wounded, he shoots the handcuffs. (This seems awfully dangerous and, as with all of the times that Stone and Keller shoot doorknobs to get through locked doors, doesn't seem like it would really work that smoothly in real life.)

Maybe the guy selling the crooks the guns was hard of hearing, hence the shouting?

S04E09: Web of Lies

Burt's car has license plate 175 PCE.

There does not appear to be an actual Gary Street in San Francisco, but there is a Geary Blvd. (although no address with number 3887).

The crooks stole the car used in the heist from a Mrs. Newberry (Mavis Neal Palmer) who lives on Russian Hill.

Paul Crumrine is one of the staff writers of the newspaper article accompanying the bogus sketch of Frankie. The verbiage in the articles on this page is the usual gibberish.

The forensics technician who examines the match is not Charlie Johnson (the recurring Vince Howard); Howard would make one more appearance as Johnson later during this season.

Prinz drives a Mercedes with plate 151 HGN.

Keller wears a three-piece suit in this episode.

Prinz sets a meetup for 11:00 a.m. with the thieves, who plan to fly out of SFO for Chicago at 11:30 a.m. (There wouldn't be time for this, and Frankie has just said he would rejoin them by noon after dealing with Burt.) But after the meet happens, Burt is only just leaving for work and tells his wife he will be back later for lunch.

Since the thieves are leaving town anyway, why don't they just take the diamonds with them and fence them elsewhere, where there would be no suspicion they came from a local robbery that involved in the death of a cop, thereby getting a much higher payout?

S04E10: Dead Air

The neighbor who discovers Ellen Blake's body drives a Ford Pinto, plate 594 KOM.

Barbara Tyler lives at 42 Havenswood Drive (presumably where she is seen sunbathing in a bikini on a balcony with a city view), but her father lives at a large place with street number 2724.

S04E11: Merchants of Death

The arrest report on George Chang says his complexion is "yellow"; his previous arrest date is one day before this episode aired!

The Duane Tatro score (which is just OK) has one or two variations on the series theme (unless these cues are tracked).

When Keller is chasing Buddy through various back alleys and over some fences, it is obviously a stuntman not Michael Douglas.

Bernie the medical examiner shows up, but the ADA is not the usual Gerald O'Brien.

Rudy's dad sells amphetamines "all over San Diego."

Greg Morris is kind of wasted in this episode

S04E12: The Cat's Paw

The snippet of Puccini's La bohème heard at the beginning is played by an organ, not an orchestra, as it would be at the opera.

In Dorothy C. Fontana's original script, the female lead who Stone dates was supposed to be Inspector Irene Elliott from "Ten Dollar Murder" (S03E18), with Carol Rossen reprising her role from the previous season. But Rossen was unavailable, so Inspector Irene Elliott became Inspector Irene Martin.

Ray K. Goman makes his one and only appearance as Capt. Robert Wilson. He appeared several times as Officer Vic Briles during the first two seasons.

Keller is driving a different car that has plate 754 MIB (the one usually seen on the car that Stone ad Keller use together).

Keller is wearing a three-piece suit and overcoat — he's just a hat shy of matching Stone's wardrobe!

Jeannie calls Stone "dad" not "Mike" when talking to Irene.

James Gillis, the cat burglar, doesn't seem to have a British accent, although he was caught and imprisoned in London.

A cat's paw is "a person who is used by another to carry out an unpleasant or dangerous task"; this would apply if Jerome Greenwood somehow used Judy Terrell to do the dirty work for the both of them. Maybe it is a more oblique reference to Judy using the Gillis as a scapegoat (and it's certainly a play on cat burglar).

S04E13: Spooks for Sale

This episode is Michael Douglas' one and only directorial credit (not just for TSoSF, but for anything).

The van used by Desco is the same van (with the same license plate) used by the robbers in "Deadly Silence" (S04E06).

The car driven by Stone and Keller now has plate 455 NCT.

Regarding how Keller locates Kimbro near the end of the show, Keller tells Stone, "I'll check out some of his old hangouts." Apparently Kimbro used to frequent this bar he and Keller were beat cops.

S04E14: Most Likely to Succeed

Hanna's pen is found clutched in Bobby's hand, but both of Bobby's hands are clearly wide open when he is pushed off the cliff.

Vicky Kincaid (who in the story must be a junior in high school or younger) hits on Keller.

S04E15: Police Buff

Near the beginning there is a brief reverse tracking shot down the steps of the courthouse as a a TV cameraman is shooting Stone and backing up — a reverse tracking shot of a reverse tracking shot!

Doyle's work vehicle is a red Econoline van with a sign on the side advertising the Golden Gate Decoration Service, 1850 Kearny, 421-4701 (which is the number seen on Golden Gate cabs in some previous episodes).

Keller doesn't show up until Act II in this episode. This may be so that Doyle can't have recognized him from the opening courtroom scene when Keller goes undercover as Roscoe.

Vince Howard makes his final appearance as forensic scientist Charlie Johnson in this episode. Fred Sadoff makes his first appearance of the season as psychiatrist Lenny Murchison. And Reuben Collins returns as Inspector Bill Tanner after being missing (or at least uncredited) for several episodes.

KBEX was the radio station that the annoying reported worked for in "Flags of Terror" (S03E08). These call letters were used for fictional TV and radio stations in a number of 1970s series, so the shot of the building exterior was probably stock footage and no one noticed that the call letters didn't match the station mentioned elsewhere in the episode.

Keller drives a(n older-looking) Thunderbird when masquerading as Roscoe.

Keller (as John Roscoe) stays in room 504 at the El Cortez.

Stone's police car is a "tan 1975 Ford."

S04E16: The Honorable Profession

This episode features a phony doctor and the previous episode featured a phony cop!

The armed robbers throw their guns into a dump truck with plate Z25 3Q6.

Ciurila, the wounded motorcycle cop, is taken to Harbor Emergency.

Callahan/Avery/Holtfield says he is on staff at St. Agnes hospital; Holtfield's gravestone says "Arnold Stephen Holtfield, M.D., 1912–1972."

Keller talks to Bernie (the medical examiner) on the phone but Bernie doesn't appear in this episode.

Callahan attended the University of Pennsylvania medical school from 1961 to 1963, but dropped out due to insufficient funds.

Did Stone and Keller get a warrant to search Avery's medical office? Did they have time to do this?

Avery's license plate is 526 ILE.

S04E17: Requiem for Murder

The opening credits are extended by about 10 seconds for extra guest stars.

Stone and Farrow were planning to attend a '49ers game the night Farrow attempts suicide.

Stone shows a single photo of a suspect to Farrow and asks if this is the person who shot him: this would not hold up in court as a legitimate identification. (Of course, Farrow shot himself, so it wouldn't have mattered!)

There is a lot of organ music in the (tracked) score for the religious setting.

Bill Tanner is Inspector 84.

Mr. Mike writes, "I guess Ellen had hidden the gun in the drawer," but Mrs. Costello was the person who discovered Farrow wounded at the beginning of the episode, so she presumably found the gun and hid it somewhere, later using it to kill Farrow (perhaps wiping off her prints using the cloth that Tanner finds, leaving behind gun oil) and then disposing of the weapon in the garden, where Keller finds it. Stone then places it in a different drawer in a smaller chapel, setting up Mrs. Costello, who is directed there to prepare for a private ceremony. Perhaps Stone correctly suspects that she will view this as a "sign from God" and confess, Perry Mason–style.

S04E18: Underground

The purse snatcher caught by Segal is not cuffed when he is being booked, even though he tried to escape earlier.

Keller paid $14 for the basketball tickets he was unable to use.

Eddie Segal is shot at the Bay Meadows racetrack (which is located in San Mateo). The sniper who kills him appears to be shooting through a glass partition, but there is no indication of breaking glass.

Uncharacteristically for this show, we see the entry wound in Kurland.

Robert F. Simon appeared five times as Capt. Rudy Olsen during the first two seasons of the show, but here he is Capt. O'Hare.

Sunny Malone's phone number is 673-7097 and she is staying in room 224 at the Cable Motel. (Is the phone number for the motel?) The plate on the car that she rides in with Waldron is 716 KUO.

S04E19: Judgment Day

When Barry Jensen is threatening Judge Lela Matthews in her chambers, she keeps pressing a button that sounds an alarm in the courtroom. We don't see her being shot, but do hear the alarm stop. However, we don't hear the gunshot. Are the chambers (or the courtroom) soundproofed to the extent that a gunshot could not be heard through the wall?

The law partner of Brian Johnson (the lawyer that Jensen kills) says they both attended Boalt Hall, which is the law school at University of California Berekely. (It was renamed in 2020, as John Henry Boalt was an anti-Asian racist and a big proponent of the Chinese Exclusion Act.)

Keller appears to have a five o'clock shadow when he and Stone visit the Bar Association office, but in the next scene Keller is clean shaven.

Keller tells Miss Hewitt at the Bar Association that the elder Jensen is "a defender of liberal causes," to which she shoots back, "Or radical causes, depending on where you sit." Stone and Keller give each other some meaningful glances.

When Stone is masquerading as a judge in small-claims court, the plaintiffs in the first case are named Richard Donner and Alex Bren. Presumably the first name was a nod to the director, who helmed two second-season TSoSF episodes (as well as various episodes of other Quinn Martin productions).

According to IMDb, the Rutledge University sequence was shot at San Francisco State University.

Is this the first mention of Keller having attended two years of law school? Was this at Cal or did he go to Rutledge (or some other school) after his undergraduate studies at Cal? In the pilot, Stone says Keller has a "fancy degree in criminology."

S04E20: Clown of Death

Stone says it costs $6.50 to attend the circus. This is the second episode shot at the Cow Palace, the first being "The Hard Breed" (S02E21).

Stone says, "I just read up on clown routines whenever I can. I—I did a clown act…I mean, I tried to do a clown act in the police show. Strictly amateur."

Keller says to Stone, "How many times have you told me, never, as a police officer, do you use yourself as a target." But they both do this all the time — Stone did it in the previous episode when he masqueraded as a judge who was the target of a killer! And Keller impersonated a gangster who was the target of a killer three episodes before that!

At the end, Ruggers doesn't seem too upset to learn that his girlfriend killed both of his uncles.

This is the second episode in a row where a child goes on a killing spree to avenge a group of people responsible for their parent losing their career.

S04E21: Superstar

This episode was written by Mort Fine, who was the producer of the spinoff series BERT D'ANGELO/SUPERSTAR. The SoSF "backdoor pilot" was originally supposed to air before the premiere of SUPERSTAR, but it got pushed back and wasn't broadcast until after two episodes of SUPERSTAR had aired (at 10:00 p.m. on Saturdays). Sorvino expressed his displeasure about this in interviews, but the D'Angelo character is so unlikeable that it may have helped more than hurt.

D'Angelo, not Keller, is the one who says, "Maybe he's a Rudyard Kipling freak, too." Keller gets the reference and laughs. Stone is the only one who doesn't react.

Latham is a client of Valarie, not her boyfriend. She says he "likes oil. Maybe 'cause he's a fry cook."

Bert tells Latham, "I ever find out you're lying to me, the cats are going to lick your face," which is apparently a euphemism for "you will be dead."

Bert tells Stone and Keller he has both a wife and a mistress. He then asks "to borrow some doojee from your property room" to set up Latham on a drug charge, and when that doesn't fly says, "Give me an hour on the street, I'll come up with all the scag we need." (Scag being another slang term for heroin, and the title of one of the episodes of SUPERSTAR.) Stone reads him the riot act: "If you try that in this city, I'll tell you what I will do. I will be standing right next to you when they book you. I will click the camera when they mug you. I will take you to your arraignment. I will testify against you. And I'll tell you what else I'll do. I'll give you a big smile when I visit the penitentiary to assist in the annual magic show. Two smiles, Bert, you can count on it."

Bernie the medical examiner makes a brief appearance.

D'Angelo tells Stone and Keller, "Sure, I slapped Joey around once in a while, but it was good for him. Like a kid, he expected it." Add child abuser to his many endearing qualities!

The five doctors originally from New York spit out by the computer are: Helman Sutterman (1212 Bentalou St.), Henry Melford (155 Brian St.), Pravek, Frank Gatman (4223 Nonehart Ave.) and Paul Glauner (905 Canfield St.).

Bert's catchphrase seems to be "I'll break your arm in three places," as he says this to Pravek and then to someone else in the SUPERSTAR series:

SUPERSTAR promo

The repartee between Stone and Keller is particularly entertaining (and pretty much all this episode has going for it).

S04E22: Alien Country

The car driven by Montoya in the opening scene has plate UBM 028. One of the cars driven by the immigration officers has plate 754 MIB, which was the longtime plate of the brown police car driven by Stone and Keller, and more recently the plate on the secondary green car often driven by Keller when Stone is using their newer tan 1975 Ford.

The usual tracked music is supplemented by some "south of border" solo guitar cues for Costa and some of his fellow immigrants.

The Arborville Elementary School is in the "Watson district."

Reeves slams the hood of his car but it doesn't latch, yet it is latched as he drives away moments later.

The immigration papers found on Reeves are dry even though his body was in a car submerged in a river. And why did Montoya leave these on Reeves' body? And Reeves had just discovered them when Montoya surprised and killed him, so he didn't really have a chance to secure them on his person.

Near the end of the show, Stone and Keller ride off with the sheriff but then arrive at Courtney Vineyards in their own vehicle with the sheriff following right behind.

S04E23: Runaway

Fred Cavanaugh lives in apartment 27.

The tracked music cues for the scene with Jeannie and Chris at a restaurant seem poorly chosen.

Jeannie calls Stone "dad" rather than Mike when he comes home to find Chris there.

There are a couple non-process shots of Keller driving, which have been absent in recent episodes. There is also a wealth of interesting character actors and some genuinely funny moments between Mike and Jeannie, and between Stone and Keller.

Stone tells Chris that Jeannie was about her age (15) when his wife died.

Chris' mother lives in Elmdale, Kansas.

Fred Cavanaugh hops in a Seaside Cab, phone number 555-9837. He holes up (and is almost gunned down) at the Golden eagle hotel (not an apartment, as indicated in the synopsis).

Art Passarella appeared as Sgt. Sekulovich in dozens of TSoSF episodes, but rarely had any lines. (He is often seen in the background through the window of Stone's office, and is usually the cop to whom Stone hands off a perp for booking.) A former Major League Baseball umpire, Passarella was Karl Malden's longtime stand-in. Stone often called him "Art" in earlier episodes but then transitioned to "Sekulovich." In this episode we see the nameplate on his desk says "Sgt. M. Sekulovich" (but theoretically his middle name could be Arthur or something). This is all an inside joke, because Karl Malden's birth name was Mladen George Sekulovich, hence the "M. Sekulovich" on the nameplate. Malden adopted his stage name at the same time Kirk Douglas (born Issur Danielovitch) adopted his; it was Kirk's wife (and Michael Douglas' mother) Diana (who guest-starred in "Chapel of the Damned" [S02E16]) who suggested "Karl Malden."

The end credits incorrectly identify Passarella's character as "Officer Sekulavich"; he clearly has sergeant's stripes on his uniform, so he is not an "officer," and the nameplate in the show has the correct spelling of Malden's original surname.

Contrary to the synopsis, Sekulovich does not give Stone's home phone number to Clarence Hoby. Rather, Hoby just says he will call Stone at home. Hoby is one of Stone's regular snitches, so he must already have this information.

In Act IV, Cavanaugh hides out at building 23 of "the old Wrightwood area project."

Keller's line about "this, uh, great magic power you have over all these women" sounds like something Stone has often said to Keller!