The Streets of San Francisco Season Five

[Roy DeSoto]

Here is some addenda and super-trivial observations for the last season of the show. I was overran the character limit and had to split this into two parts (much like the season premiere!).

S05E01 & S05E02: The Thrill Killers

Patrick Williams' fifth-season version of the series theme, featuring harpsichord in the opening in place of clavinet, made its debut with this episode. Although not noted by Mr. Mike, Williams also wrote an original score for this epsiode, his last for the series. Michael Douglas as the special guest star is placed between Malden and Hatch, rather than at the end, and the announcer notes that the long list of guest stars is "in alphabetical order."

This story was originally conceived as a two-hour episode to be broadcast from 9:00 to 11:00 p.m. on Thursday, September 23, 1976, but the first presidential debate between Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter was subsequently scheduled for that night, so the double-length episode was reconfigured into a two-parter aired on consecutive Thursdays over the following two weeks. Cliff Gould's script (the final draft of which was dated May 20, 1976) was originally titled "The Jury Is Out," which is more apt (and far more clever) than "The Thrill Killers." Cliff Gould was the producer of the series' first season (and received story or screenplay credit for several episodes) but left before the second season due to health concerns. He returned to write this "special episode."

The opening courtroom scene makes a rare use of flashbacks (and slow motion) to reveal the criminal actions of the Tannengers.

When Keller contemplates quitting the force to teach criminology, Stone responds: "You belong in the classroom about as much as I belong in the Ballets Russes."

Mr. Mike's synopsis implies that Robbins is Stone's new partner as of the beginning of the episode. This does not seem to be the case. Stone calls Keller his "partner" when talking to Jeannie (over a meal of "Stroganoff, sour cream and noodles"). Right before he gets shot, Keller identifies himself on the radio as "Z84" while shortly thereafter (while driving Keller's car to the hospital) Robbins identifies himself on the radio as "Inspector 96."

Robbins has been a cop for four years. He served in 'Nam and used to work at the city bus barn during summer vacations. He tells Stone he has "been skin-diving my whole life."

Hatch had already filmed a few episodes of the series before Michael Douglas returned for this "transition show," which aired at the beginning of the season. Before offering Hatch the role of Dan Robbins, Quinn Martin had offered him the role of J.R. Jones on BARNABY JONES, a new regular character starting with the 1976–1977 season, but Hatch turned it down. (According to dates on scripts in the Bob Jeffers collection at UCLA, S05E21, S05E14, S05E12 and S05E09 may all have been filmed before this.)

The license plate on the jury bus is initially Y49 157, but replaced by the kidnappers with Z99964. Arlen Washington covers up the MARK IV logo on either side of the bus with yellow tape, but leaves the MARK IV logo on the back of the bus intact.

Uncharacteristically, there is no music at the end of Act II.

The math used to estimate the search area is a bit funky. Robbins subtracts the five miles the cops tailed the bus from the 14 miles the bus had travelled since it logged out of the bus barn to get 9 miles, but it's not clear if he accounted for the distance between the bus barn and the scene of the kidnapping (Vallejo and Front). Then he divides this by two to get a radius of 4.5 miles, but this assumes the bus drove from Vallejo and Front to the hiding place, then drove the same distance back and at that moment the cops spotted the bus. Robbins says the search area is 70–80 square miles; he apparently computes π(4.5)² ≈ 64 and this assumes that a bus could drive radially in a city, but it can't — it has to use "taxicab geometry," moving east and west or north and south along the street grid. And on top of all this, the entire city of San Francisco is about 47 square miles!

Breitback (the juror played by Norman Fell) is a plumber and (perhaps coincidentally) it is he who enters the bathroom as part of an aborted escape attempt.

In the homicide squad (which Stone calls "the bullpen" for perhaps the only time in the show), two policewomen are wearing regular uniforms, not the matron uniforms seen in earlier seasons. Sgt. Sekulovich is seen more than once, but curiously Inspector Bill Tanner is absent, despite this being an "all hands on deck" affair.

Stone calling Keller "buddy boy" when Keller is on the verge of death is quite touching, as is Stone's performance in general throughout this sequence.

Keller's blood type is A positive and he is allergic to penicillin.

Jeannie calls Stone "Mike" when he phones her from the hospital, then "daddy" (twice) when the gravity of Keller's situation sinks in.

Barbara Ross drives a beat-up old blue Ford Falcon, plate FTD 810.

The SFPD hotline number is 553-9111.

The radio station KZKA is mentioned.

The truck that hits Jelenik has plate 97 060 C.

Hari Rhodes (credited here as "Harry") plays Inspector Floyd Marsden from Undercover, who is "pretty savvy with the radical groups." He doesn't have much to do.

In the epilog, Keller seems to live at a different place than the one seen in early seasons.

This episode is not without its faults, but I would give it 3.5 stars rather than 3.

S05E03: Dead or Alive

Gail Dobbs (the victim) drives a Porsche 911.

Sgt. Sekulovich is seen in the background at Homicide.

Stone has five teams working on the investigation.

The bus driven by an eyewitness has plate 659796; it was on route 83, which takes an hour and 50 minutes to traverse.

Wilton leers at some girls who his sort-of girlfriend Rhoda (Arlene Golonka) says are "only about 15," but they look older than this.

According to his rap sheet, Donald S. Wilton lives as 1850 Kearny (an address previously used in "Asylum" [S03E21], and used several times during this fifth season) and was arrested for assault and rape on 2/20/76 but beat that rap. HIs booking photo number is 5279. His eyeglasses prescription is 40 over 60 — what does this mean?

Zabrockie hands Stone a folded wanted poster but it's not creased when seen in a closeup. How did these posters get printed and distributed before Stone and Robinson checked out Wilton's place of residence? KL 5-9559 is Larry Dobbs' phone number as shown on the wanted poster.

Stone's car has plate 907 PRR. There appears to be some sort of leaflet stuck under the windshield wiper when he and Robbins leave Wilton's place — is this a copy of the wanted poster?

Stone quotes penal code 652, which supposedly relates to "offering a reward for the capture of a person, dead or alive." The actual code is about body piercing of minors!

The ID of the merchant marine mistaken by vigilante citizens for Wilton says he is Paul E. Hartley, who left San Francisco 4/9/76 and returned 9/2/76 (although a calendar in the previous scene is set to July). Stone immediately says Hartley was "just off the boat two hours," but how could he possibly have known this?

Inspector Bill Tanner was, surprisingly, missing from the two-part season opener, but he returns here, at a desk (with nameplate W. Tanner) opposite that of Eddie Clarke.

For some reason Stone tells Robbins to call for backup and then jumps out of a window to chase down Wilton rather than having the younger man handle the athletics. When Robbins radios for assistance, he doesn't specify his location.

Throughout the series' run, Ford has supplied most of the cars driven on screen and gets an acknowledgment in the end credits, but in the epilog of this episode, a big Chevrolet billboard can be seen in the background from the Bryant Street parking lot.

S05E04: The Drop

The kidnappers drive a car with plate 704 PBV.

When Springer calls Stone (Stone's extension is 321), Springer asks, "You got your tape recorder going?" Stone says it is (and later he listens back to a tape of this call) but the reel-to-reel recorder on his desk is not running.

The newspaper that Andy holds up as proof of life is the San Francisco Dispatch.

In Ernie's lab, Stone loads the reel-to-reel tape with the Springer interview backwards.

Robbins does another area calculation rather quickly in his head, computing that π⋅5² is "over 80 square miles" (it's about 78.5).

On his way to the drop, Stone drives a black Ford, plate 618 LHC.

In the Bryant Street parking lot, a (different) Chevrolet billboard can be seen in the distance.

Stone puts Tanner in charge of all the tail cars. Tanner calls in on the radio as "Inspectors 85." He is driving a car with plate 894 PRR.

The review says "there is the sound like a train whistle on the soundtrack at around 43:35, but nothing is made of this"; however, right when that happens Robbins asks "What time is it?" and Tanner says, "Almost 5:30." The train whistle was heard on the tape at 5:28:10, so this is at least an oblique reference that Robbins "makes something" of the train whistle.

John Peter Smalley's score is mostly generic '70s cop show music, although he does work in some variations on the Pat Williams series theme.

S05E05: No Minor Vices

Maureen McCormick turned 20 right around the time this episode was filmed; her character just turned 18, so she is not that much older (unlike a lot of actors playing high schoolers in previous seasons).

Walter Reeves (who resided at 813 Hamel St. and worked at 66908 Hartley Ave.) was killed 9/4/76, according to the police report (Tanner was originally assigned to the case), and this was "eight days ago," so the episode takes place in the middle of September. But Hollingsworth stayed at the Larchmont hotel for a convention on Thursday and Friday of "last week," and the hotel invoice shows that he checked in on August 8, 1976, and checked out on August 10, so this timeline doesn't match up. However, September 9 and 10, 1976, were a Thursday and Friday, so all of this would line up if the month on the invoice were September instead of August.

When Cindy calls her answering service from home on a rotary phone she seems to be actually dialing 555-3645, but when her father calls the same answering service from his workplace on a push-button phone, he appears to be entering a much different number (certainly not one starting with 555).

Mr. Lawson drives a Ford Mustang, plate RQU 079.

When not with Stone, Robbins is driving a geen Ford, plate 913 PRR. Robbins' badge number is 2248.

Harry Delman's phone number is 555-8104. Cindy takes a Seaside cab (555-9837) to Delman's warehouse.

S05E06: In Case of Madness

Desi Arnaz (presumably Jr.) is listed in the ASCAP database for at least one TSoSF cue, so perhaps he is (at least partially) responsible for the songs heard in this episode.

Arnaz was only about 23 at the time and doesn't seem old enough to have a kid the age of Palmer's.

Some of the band members drive a Ford Econoline van painted with flames.

Palmer takes a cab (plate WKJ 649) from the Towne House hotel (where he is living), which is across the street from the Orpheum.

Stone's calling card lists ROOM 553 but Homicide is in Room 450.

Sheryl seems to be more of a groupie (although the band may use her as a gofer). She drives a pink VW Beetle. The car that kills her is a blue Ford, plate VKC 742

In addition to the songs, the band plays a bit of instrumental music when Palmer is absent. The synopsis mentions "a montage of several songs for 47 seconds (it seems much longer)" but the montage lasts a full 2.5 minutes, so it is in fact much longer than 47 seconds! Shortly after this recording session, Lois is listening to one of the songs on an LP (clearly not a test pressing) but how could this be possible so quickly?

S05E07: “Till Death Do Us Part”

Act I (which is much longer than most other first acts in the fifth season) shows some action in Morristown NJ and Chicago IL (with title cards identifying these locations) before returning to San Francisco — this is unusual for the series.

The car used by Stone and Robbins has plate 909 PRR; it was 907 PRR in recent episodes.

Sekulovich is seen in the background at Homicide.

Stone leaves the final safe house in a different car than the one he used to get there. How does the hitman masquerading as a milkman know which apartment Maggie Jarris is in?

The synopsis says Stone's phone has been tapped early on, but don't the hitmen call there just to see if someone is home? (They do this at one of the safe houses as well.)

S05E08: Child of Anger

Bernie the ME makes a brief appearance. Stone and Robbins appear to be driving the tan Ford (plate 907 PRR) that was blown up with a car bomb in the previous episode. (According to script dates, "Child of Anger" may have been shot first.)

After watching a TV report about Melanie's confession, Frank Kyd knows details (like her picking out the right gun) that don't seem like they would have been released to the press.

Stillman's car is a Porsche 911 Targa convertible, plate CHD 375.

There is a non-process driving shot, not with the cops, but with the two hoods who killed Stillman.

Sekulovich has a couple lines of dialogue in this episode, although he is not listed in the end credits.

S05E09: Hot Dog

This is the only time Darleen Carr has special guest star status.

Stone and Robbins have their gumball lit up before they get a radio call about the holdup. They just picked up their new car (plate 415 IVY) that morning, so presumably this episode was supposed to immediately follow “Till Death Do Us Part” (S05E07), in which their previous vehicle was blown up with a car bomb (although script dates indicate "Hot Dog" was shot much earlier in the year).

The motorcycle chase in Act II is right out of CHiPs (which would premiere following season).

Jeannie again drives a blue car with plate WKJ 649, but her traffic ticket lists the plate as 444 EIK. She later tells Stone she ran into Larry Wilson "this afternoon" but the time on her ticket is 11:45 a.m. The ticket reveals that Stone lives at 762 Maryvale (although the street number 768 is on his door — and in fact the location for Stone's house was 768 De Haro Street) and that Jeannie's birthday is 8/16/54 (which would make her 22 — this seems too young based on how old she must have been in the first season). The episode begins on 10/7/76.

The synopsis mentions the robbers use a truck, but it's an Econoline van.

Richard Markowitz recorded his score for this episode on August 16, 1976. It includes some electric piano and saxophone "love music" for Jeannie and Larry, but the transitional cue from their smooching to Homicide the next morning is tracked in.

Stone says he has been on the force 24 years at this point, but at the end of the second season he had been on the force for at least 23 years. Jeannie tells Stone she will say "yes" if Larry Wilson proposes to her: this seems awfully fast — they've been on two dates and first met a mere 48 hours ago!

The synopsis says Marty is "hanging out" at the third motorcycle shop visited by Stone and Robbins, but the employee interviewed by the cops treats Marty as the owner or manager.

S05E10: Castle of Fear

Stone calls Holmer "Jim" in the squad room but later tells Mossman his name was "William Holmer." Sekulovich is at the scene when Stone arrives (and has one line).

Stone shows Mossman two photos: not an ID that would hold up in court, although of course Mossman was lying anyway.

Stone tells Robbins to look for Herrick at a bar first thing in the morning but wouldn't a cop killing generate more urgency? (Herrick turns up at the Garnet bar and grill.) A pool cue to the arm seems to hurt Robbins a lot more than it should but maybe this was the arm where he got shot in "No Minor Vices" (S05E05).

Duane Tatro's score is OK. There is no act-in music for Act IV.

The plate on Stone's car has reverted to 907 PRR. Herrick is seen driving an older car, plate 104 JZQ.

Stone radios for a "special force unit, code 3" during the climactic shootout. He seems rather sympathetic toward Mossman, given that Mossman killed a young homicide inspector

I don't know that I would describe Hatch's performance as "very good" but it's not bad compared to his usual uncharismatic acting.

S05E11: One Last Trick

Chris Kazan, who received story credit and is one of three writers credited with the teleplay, is the son of director Elia Kazan; this is his only TV credit. The original title for this epsiode may have been "Turning the Trick."

Sekulovich is on the scene interviewing a witness but has no dialogue. Stone calls him an "officer" and he doesn't seem to have sergeant stripes.

Joy Adams lived at 1212 California.

Stone calls Robbins "Speedy."

The business card for CPA /tax consultant A.D. Fletcher lists his address as 1850 Kearney St. (yet another use of this address in the show, although as Mr. Mike points out the location as seen in the show is actually near 2330 Polk Street) and this phone number is 555-2121.

Deirdre Berthrong, who played 17-year-old Sheila, was 24 at the time.

Mr. Mike asks, "By the way, how does Nick know to come and bail her out?" Presumably she used her "one phone call" to ask Nick to bail her out, as a way of getting back into his world without raising suspicion.

Mr. Mike also asks, "Would a tax preparer have this kind of access?" Presumably Fletcher called in a favor to a former IRS co-worker.

S05E12: Monkey Is Back

Once again, Fred Sadoff is listed in the opening credits. This is his last appearance on the show as Lenny Murchison (although this episode might have been shot before "The Thrill Killers," which was his only other season-five appearance).

Robbins lives at the top of a very steep dead-end street. We see his Ford Bronco for the first time since the season premiere. He has just returned from a 20-mile backpacking trip.

Stone has a picture of his deceased wife Helen on his desk (where the picture of Jeannie usually is). The plate on his car is 907 PRR.

Contrary to the "More Trivia," while the phone book has mostly real-looking numbers, a Frederick Ness, 309 18th Ave, has phone 555-9387. Joseph Ness is listed at 1850 Kearney St (yet another use of this address on the show) with number 421-4701. This is not the number Belasco dials.

There is a non-process shot of Stone and Robbins tailing a stolen car with plate 594 VUB .

When Belasco shoots the banker in the YMCA sauna, the muzzle flash of the zip gun appears to have been created with some sort of post-production special effect.

Bill Tanner makes a brief appearance.

When Belasco looks up Alex Poore in the phone book, there appear to be some fake names in bigger font below some actual phone book entries in the standard phone-book font. Belsaco writes down 1732 Washington for Alex Poore's address, but the phone book says 1520 Rosman Ave.

Poore was born January 16, 1938, and died March 5, 1976, which was "two months ago" so the time frame for this episode is May 1976 (probably around the time the episode was shot), but some of the fifth-season episodes already broadcast took place several months after this.

The reunion takes place at the St. Regis Hotel.

Robbins is left handed.

[Roy DeSoto]

S05E13: The Cannibals

The initial murder takes place at or near 423 Miles Ave.

The scene in which Stone interviews an ex-con while riding through a car wash is very cool.

Ronny lives in room 429 at the Ben-Hur Apartments.

The business card of Bernard Rizino, "investment counselor," has his address as 150 Colle Street, phone 415-555-8300.

Dave Bradley is a US Marshal who "doesn't have any investigative authority in this case." He and his security team haven't lost anyone yet.

The final safe house is room 502 at the Ather Stone Hotel.

Tanner's car has plate 894 PRR.

S05E14: "Who Killed Helen French?"

The original title of this episode was "Helen French Is Missing" (no quotes in the actual title), which makes a lot more sense, because Helen French wasn't actually killed. The quotes in the title may imply that this is a question that is being asked by a character in the show rather than a question being asked by the show (to skirt around it misleading the audience to hide the twist). The script date in the Bob Jeffers collection at UCLA is 4/28/1976, which would make it one of the very first episodes shot for the fifth season.

Stone says it's been 12 years since he worked with vice.

Helen French "married the first man who stole her innocence" and has type O blood.

This is John Kerr's final appearance as ADA Gerald O'Brien and his first appearance since season three.

The judge's name is Farley Baker.

Doug French (full name: Douglas M. French) has a slow-motion flashback of murdering his wife. After his car is impounded by police, he drives a different car with plate 537 NGR. He withdraws the $5,000 from the Bank of Canton of California on 10/7/1976 (this would mean the events of this episode are happening at the same time as "Hot Dog" [S05E09]).

Sekulovich isn't seen but Stone tells him to book Susan Ross; Sekulovich (offscreen) says, "OK, Lieutenant."

Robbins is wearing a three-piece suit when he meets Angela in a hotel room (he usually favors a V-neck sweater over a shirt with no tie).

The synopsis says Robbins asks Angela to do something "actually 'kinky kinky'," but he says "not 'kinky, kinky'."

I would give this episode at least 2.5 stars (maybe 3) but I suppose this may depend on how well you accept the big twist at the end.

S05E15: "A Good Cop ... But"

The captain in this episode is not identified by name, but it's not the same actor who plays Captain Devitt in the next episode to be broadcast. It sounds like Lamber calls him "Ken" but the subtitles say "captain" at this point. The nameplate on his office door appears to read "Captain Mason" or something like that.

Judge Dudley Cramer presides over Birmingham's arraignment and preliminary hearing.

The concern about Lambert being gay is that someone on the jury might hold it against him, but there is no jury for a preliminary hearing, so why do they need to stall? As long as they find Moonshine by the trial they would be OK. (Although it would be wise to get his testimony on the record in case he gets "wasted" or disappears before the trial.)

Eddie Rodriguez calls his fellow cop "Detective Price," but shouldn't it be "Inspector Price"?

Ernie Bell drives a car with plate 894 PRR. He and Lambert attended the academy together and have been partners for five years.

Abe Johnson calls Lambert "Officer Lambert" not "Inspector Lambert" and so does Billings.

This is the first appearance of ADA Gerald Billings (although the character also appears as a non-DA lawyer in "Breakup" [S05E21], which was likely filmed much earlier). Might this originally have been Gerald O'Brien in the script? There are three ADAs this season, all with the first name Gerald! John Kerr, who played ADA O'Brien, was actually attending law school around this time and later became a practicing civil trial attorney. One episode in which he appeared was shooting at the same time as a law-school exam period and he had to get special permission to reschedule his exams. Perhaps he was simply no longer available and his character became Jerry Baker and then Jerry Billings when the ADA role was recast.

S05E16: Hang Tough

Inspector Eddie Boggs is four months shy of a pension after 20 years of service (if he takes early retirement).

His partner, Stan Michaels, asks why he wants to "snowflake" Spider, which apparently is slang for "planting evidence on him."

There is a new/different ME in this episode (not Bernie).

Lt. John Hanley, head of narcotics, goes to law school at night. A hooker refers to an Inspector Jenkins in vice.

Spider says, "somebody must have zapped her," referring to Amanda and apparently means gave her an overdose of heroin.

Robbins sends Boot Wilson's photo and description to local airfields, but wouldn't they know which plane (N6725X) was registered to him and find the plane and lock it up or something?

Wilson's Tucson PD mug shot number is 204507.

The Tri Star Airport must be in Marin County, because Stone and Robbins cross the Golden Gate Bridge on their way there.

The tracked music for the cops chasing the plane is from Richard Markowitz's motorcycle-chase cue from "Hot Dog."

S05E17: Innocent No More

Stone cooks Chicken Kiev for Jeannie.

Paul T. Brown is age 15. Helen King was 65. Billy Wilson is 16, but Mark Hamill was 25 at this point!

Bill Tanner and Sekulovich (who has his sergeant stripes back) are both in this episode.

The K BAY-TV car has the slogan "Now News" on the side.

ADA Jerry Billings makes another appearance.

Stone had the picture of Helen in his living room framed "20 years ago."

Jeannie is 5'2".

Stone wears a SF Giants cap at the beach, along with an outfit that only someone of his generation would consider appropriate for jogging. Jeannie is wearing an Arizona State track suit and T-shirt. Stone tells Jeannie he is 56; Malden was 64 by this time.

Billy Wilson's trial date is set for March 10 (which was a couple weeks after this episode aired.) Billy drives an older car.

The synopsis says Brewster "will be presiding over Billy’s trial" but this is not the case. Brewster is "presiding over the juvenile docket this month" and can therefore assign a judge to the case who he perceives will be most lenient.

The synopsis says Henry Brown is "Billy’s brother" but this is incorrect: he is Paul's brother.

Mr. Mike asks: "Who is the person who gets into the police car at 14:25 outside King’s place? It is not King, but a younger man." This guy is the eyewitness who almost ran down Tommy Dido; he is going downtown to help create a police sketch of the teen.

S05E18: Once A Con

The bus at beginning is a University Special route of Municipal Transit Lines. The murder takes place "at the southeast section of the campus where Bundy crosses Fielder." These streets seem to be bogus. The university is unnamed but the exterior scenes seem to be shot at SFSU, including many shots of a building featured in the climactic final chase at the fictional Rutledge University in Judgment Day" (S04E19).

Mary Wilson was going to be 21 next month; she was doing a paper on 19th century puppetry and was from Wisconsin. Her murder took place on 10/10/76, which would be right at the end of the events in "Hot Dog" (S05E09) and during the events of.

Young's SFPD booking photo number is 02754. His birthday appears to be 2/3xxx, which doesn't make sense if this means February 30 or 31; if it means February 193x, it still doesn't make much sense because John Rubinstein was born in 1946. Rubinstein was about 30, although his character is about 25.

Raymond B. Vasquez's booking photo number is 50724 (a premutation of Young's!) and Frank Q. Jackson's is 04547.

Tina Harrington and Jackie Collins live in apartment 12 of the Palms Apartment at 114 University Ave (also a bogus SF address, although this address exists in Berkeley near the marina).

Stone shoots out a tire on Judd Davis' car (plate 204 MLZ) when he tries to get away.

Stone says "Mr. Colgate?" then Sgt. Sekulovich brings in Davis, which doesn't make any sense. Who is Colgate?

Stone busted Young when he was 17 and two more times by 21, which was four years ago; Young has spent six of his seven adult years behind bars. Stone works homicide, so what did he bust Young three times for? The last time was for armed robbery, but if a death was involved Young would likely be serving a much longer sentence.

Jackie Collins (wouldn't this have been a recognizable name in 1976?) is a grad student.

Walter Young's address is listed in student records as 422 Monterey Blvd 3, San Francisco CA 94127 (is this the Camino State Prison?) and his ID number (which may be his SSN) is 570620084 (this is a valid SSN issued in CA in 1961). His schedule lists four business classes and a seminar in technology development, yet Collins says his record shows he should be at the physical therapy gym.

Stone types with two fingers

Young's girlfriend is Lisa Deming (not Denning, as in the synopsis); Miss Brown is the police stenographer who takes down her statement.

ADA Jerry Billings is in this episode.

Stone's attitude here seems to be at odds with his attitude in the previous episode, where he wanted to lock up all the juvenile punks as adults and throw away the key.

The synopsis says Young "must return to jail every night," but it's a prison (not a jail); it also says Young "returns to jail later than he should" on the night of the murder, but Officer Nelson threatens that if he ever signs in late, he'll "be back in the yard" so he can't have returned late.

After this episode, ABC put TSoSF on "hiatus" for several weeks. "From This Moment On," a special featuring music of Cole Porter, aired on Thursday, March 10, then on March 17 a new program, WESTSIDE MEDICAL (which had had a "preview" two nights before), took over the time slot for five weeks. A Frank Sinatra special aired on April 21, then TSoSF returned on April 28 to complete its run through June 9. TSoSF repeats aired for a couple weeks after that, then ABC burned off more of the 13 WESTSIDE MEDICAL episodes they had ordered.

S05E19: Interlude

Robert Drasnin's original score (his only one of the series) is not very interesting but he does open Act I with a clanging rhythm that plays off the cable car bell (which can be heard "in the clear" at the beginning of Act III, which has no act-in music). This is quite late in the season for an original score (compared to past seasons), but this episode was likely shot earlier than some of the ones that aired before it.

The assistant DA in this episode (S05E19) is Jerry Blake, but the assistant DA featured in S05E15, S05E17 and S05E18 is Jerry Billings (who also appears, but not as a DA in and S05E21, which was likely shot much earlier). The script for this show in the Bob Jeffers collection at UCLA is dated 7/15/1976, which is about three months before the date on the script for S05E15. Could this script originally have been intended to feature Billings in some sort of "character arc"? Or maybe it was supposed to be Jerry O'Brien, who showed up as the ADA in S05E14, which was likely shot before any of these others?

Stone suggests Jerry Blake do the exact same thing he criticized Jerry Billings for doing in the previous episode (pretending he has more evidence than he does to pressure a defendant into agreeing to a plea deal).

The killer in this episode is Roger Callaway (misspelled "Kellaway" several times in the synopsis).

Robbins had a lunch date with someone named Judy.

Carolyn Blake drives a station wagon with plate 758 PFU.

Fred "Dawson" (the pseudonym used by Dawes) supposedly lived in Mill Valley, but this address must have been bogus because Mill Valley is in Marin County, so Stone and Robbins wouldn't have been called to investigate this death (nor would Bernie the ME, who turns up a couple times in this episode).

The big-band music playing on the LP in Dawes' penthouse apartment is the same as the music playing on an LP at the beginning of "Who Killed Helen French?" (S05E14). The same tune is playing when Stone arrives on the scene — was the turntable set to repeat somehow?

The Blakes' anniversary date is set for the Marie-Olese restaurant at 7:30.

Carolyn Blake doesn't seem to notice the first two or three times Roger calls her "Amy."

Jerry Blake's personalized plate is BLAKE 7 (this seems rather dangerous for an ADA who might be the target of people he prosecutes) and the plate on the car driven by Roger when he tries to run over Jerry is EMX 8Q4.

The place where Roger approaches Carolyn as her son plays is the "southwest corner of Jefferson Park," which presumably is Jefferson Square Park. The address for the Blake residence, 121 Coast Street, appears to be bogus. It is supposedly around the corner from the intersection of "Ellis and Bates"; there is an Ellis Street about a block away from the park, but no Bates.

Calloway might have gotten one gun from Dillworth but where did he get the second gun that he uses to threaten the Blakes in Act V?

Theoretically Roger could have gone back to Carolyn's place after killing Dawes and then tailed her to the park, but this is not well explained.

S05E20: Dead Lift

Joe Schmidt is an American citizen and served in Vietnam. He encounters Irene Lupoff near Stow Lake. His landlord at the Graystone Hotel, which is at 1140 K Street, is Tom Lawler (an alcoholic). While working out he wears a tanktop that says "ACB Gym." His previous landlady is Mrs. Beauchamps.

Bob Andrews is running the police gym. Robbins drives a green Ford, plate 913 PRR. Stone calls him "Danny" once.

Schmidt's job at the Art Institute pays $10 an hour but Judith gets him a job at the Hoefer Dietrich Brown ad agency paying $300 a day.

Sekulovich has one line in this episode. (The subtitles spell his name Sekulavich, but Stone clearly says Sekulovich — he should know!)

Joe gets second place in the Mr. San Francisco contest, which earns him a large trophy. Afterwards he goes with Judith and her rude friends to the Irish Embassy pub and restaurant.

A Golden Gate cab has phone number 421-4701.

S05E21: Breakup

Does the title refer to the breakup of the marriage between Charlie and Ethel Finn?

Lawyer Lawrence Drake drives a Mercedes, plate 847 OJN; Betts tries to run him down with a light blue 1969 Ford, plate 871 FLL .

Stone knows Drake from the latter's eight years as a deputy DA. He has also previously met Drake's partner, Gerald Billings, who seems to be the same lawyer (played by the same actor) who has been an ADA in three previously aired episodes. This episode has one of the earliest script dates (4/28/1976) in the fifth season (even before the two-hour opening episode that introduced Robbins) and may have been the first (or at least one of the first) to be filmed, so it was likely originally scheduled to air much earlier in the fifth season. When Billings turns up as an ADA (in S05E15, S05E17 and S05E18), he appears to have been at that job for a while. Is there some missing origin story where his law partner's murder drove him to leave private practice and go to work for the DA's office? These other episodes appear to have been filmed toward the end of the production cycle (the date for the S05E15 script is 10/12/1976). Confusing matters further is S05E20, which has an ADA named Jerry Blake (with a script dated 7/15/1976).

Are Stone and Robbins initially investigating this case because it involves an attempted homicide or because it involves an ex-DA? Or both?

Sekulovich has two lines in this episode. Stone has a picture of Helen on his desk.

Betts drives a bluish-green Ford Ranchero (plate 92 165W) to the hospital. There is a 42-second reverse tracking shot of Betts walking down hospital corridors

At the beginning of Act IV, Stone and Robbins are leaving a restaurant and juice bar. Stone tried steamed eggplant for lunch. Stone's usual lunch is tuna fish on white. (The "More Trivia" says "they have a drink made out of steamed eggplant" but I don't think this is correct, steamed eggplant would be an entree.)

The "More Trivia" also says "the music is just stock" but this is not the case: the episode has an original score by John Elizalde (although at least one transition cue is tracked). Ordinarily an episode airing this late in the season wouldn't have an original score, but this episode was likely shot toward the beginning of the production cycle (and some of Elizalde's music from this score may have been tracked into episodes that ended up airing earlier).

Betts' mug shot photo has number 52647.

The empty lot where Charlie Finn contemplates suicide is referred to by his son as "Brandy Lane."

S05E22: "Let's Pretend We're Strangers"

The public defender's full name is Susan Kay Harper. Stone already knows her, of course.

Robbins' attire doesn't seem appropriate for court when Harper calls him as a witness

The electric piano and saxophone love music from "Hot Dog" is tracked in for Robbins and Harper's first date and later relationship scenes.

The mugshot for Billy Martin (that certainly would have been a familiar name in 1976!) has number 52704.

Tanner is mentioned and heard over the radio but not seen.

When Martin breaks into Harper's office, he pulls several files for her current clients out of her desk: Hugh Kelly, 1850 Kearney St.; Howard Hester, 1621 Booth Ave.; and Harvey Robinson, 1900 Filbert St. #3-C.

Martin turns himself in to Sekulovich, who apparently is working the night shift.

We see Robbins' Ford Bronco for the third and final time.

Harper calls Robbins "Clark Kent" so he calls her "Lois."

Dorsey Chandler says he found the mask in the garbage can with the jumpsuit but didn't creep remove it in Valerie's apartment and toss it?

Harper's public defender office is in room 414 if the Holbrook Building at 1 Sutter Street, in the vicinity of 58th and Sutter Street.

Robbins shoots Billy in arm, but he was unarmed. (Did he act rashly because he was mad about the guy attacking his girlfriend?)

The synopsis says: "He [Robbins] then offers to buy her [Harper] a drink, and she says OK if he makes that dinner." This is wrong: she offers to buy him a drink and he agrees if she makes it dinner.

The synopsis also says: "He [Billy] then goes to Robinson's house, smothers him while he is sleeping and sets his place on fire after adjusting the clock time. Then Billy goes to a meeting with Harper, creating a perfect alibi for himself." This is also backwards: Martin breaks into Harper's office while she is waiting for him at the diner (likely this diner appointment was a ploy to ensure she would be out of the office), then he shows up late, and then he goes to kill Robinson (which is why he set the clock back).

The review says, "If you look at the scene where Billy runs into him, Robinson barely notices him, and Billy is wearing his mask" but this is not the case. He removes the mask as he is leaving Valerie Foster's apartment, so Robinson could have seen his face in the hallway.

This episode is certainly not one of the better ones, but I might give it 2 stars instead of 1.5.

S05E23: Time Out

The prison inmates escape while in Cowell Hall at California Northern University. (This appears to be UC Davis, which does have a similar-looking Cowell Hall, but the fictional CNU is apparently supposed to be in San Francisco, otherwise Stone and Robbins would not be involved.) The prisoners have been taken here for a "rap session"; it's not clear where this is a "Scared Straight" type of event or if the students are studying sociology or something. (They should have set this in Keller's criminology class at Berkeley!)

The prison station wagon in which the escapees drive off has plate 051 HVF.

Telson was born 1/11/34, which would make him 43 but he seems younger than this; Washington was born 5/21/46; Kraft was born 4/12/38.

Tanner appears quite a bit in this episode.

Kraft carjacks Seaside Cab 68, phone number 555-9837.

There are several pieces of stock footage of Stone and Robbins' car from previous seasons, when it was a darker brown color. The guy driving it at end of Act IV is obviously not Robbins and looks more like Keller! The plate is 199 CTW and the gumball is dead center on the roof, which is not really possible. In Act V the plate is 596 LHC, but in the shots of Robbins actually driving the car has plate 907 PRR.

S05E24: The Canine Collar

The Hillsdale Animal Hospital vehicle is a Ford van, plate 47 065 R.

The ship belongs to the Pacific Far East Line.

Weber lives at 445 Park Presidio. The runaway vehicle that strikes him is a Ford Econoline pickup, plate Q59 104, owned by ZMAY'S Speedy Delivery Service.

Thor Olafson "has been on these ships for 17 years" and "spent half his life on ships."

Betty Richland is the full name of Weber's "friendly neighborhood lady" (Weber's wife died of cancer).

Olafson calls in a fake report about an animal to the address 1838 Carlton.

Weber buries his dog at the Pet's Rest cemetary [sic.]. Stone shows Weber a photo of Olafason wearing the clothes he is wearing THAT DAY — wouldn't Stone have a picture of him in purser uniform?

The Polish sailor who witnesses Andy Wilson's murder at Pier 45 is in the country illegally, according to Tanner. Stone tells Tanner to consider him a refugee and send him to the Polish American Seamen's Association, then tells the sailor, "Děkuji," which means "thank you" in Czech (Malden's mother was Czech). Tanner and the sailor are both smiling — I wonder if this bit was improvised, as it doesn't appear in the subtitles.

Outside Stone's office we can see a board listing the inspectors in the Homicide Division, with Lt. Mike Stone at the top, then D. Robbins, W. Tanner and several other names below those that are hard to make out.

Fred Spears drives a blue Ford station wagon, plate RMR 944.

The dog show looks like its taking place in some auxiliary building near the Cow Palace, rather than at the Cow Palace itself.

In the climactic fight with Weber and Olafson, in the long shot, George Dzundza has clearly been replaced by a stuntman.

This episode could easily have been a BARNABY JONES — it's that bad. It is certainly the worst entry out of all five TSoSF seasons.