Maddyclassicfilms Kojak was created by Abby Mann and it stars Telly Savalas, Kevin Dobson, George Savalas and Dan Frazer.The series is about the weekly life of the detective squad at New York's Manhattan South led by Lt Theo Kojak(Telly Savalas)a Greek American who's as tough as nails,honest,incorruptible,romantic and loves lollipops.His most famous quote is of course"who loves ya baby"? He's aided by Detective Bobby Crocker(Kevin Dobson,)Captain Frank McNeill(Dan Frazer),the plant loving Detective Stavaros played by Telly's brother(George Savalas),Detective Saperstein(Mark Russell)and Detective Rizzo(Vince Conti).The episodes are all shot in an almost documentary style which gives each one an air of authenticity.Great stories,characters and lots of action and Kojak bringing down the bad guys. Kojak's relationship with Crocker is interesting, Kojak is part mentor and part older brother to the younger man and as the series goes on these two become very close. Crocker is very impulsive and hot headed and Kojak knows how to calm him down and get him to take a step back and look at a situation before rushing straight into it. Kojak may be gruff and tough but when he has the time he always makes sure he tells Crocker and the others how much they mean to him and he always has their backs through the tough times.The series was filmed on location in New York and is filled with interesting characters, stories and lots of action. Kojak is a great series that's highly recommended.

lfowden84 It was my mother's favorite show on TV.Her, being part Greek born in Egypt she and her friends found Kojak very sexy.I enjoyed his quirky remarks,his lollipop and his poor poor brother Stavros. Stavros of the talking to the plants guy! Everyone in the series shone,not so much for any violent stunts or microscopic dissecting of a cadaver(like the CSI of todays TV),no they were entertaining and spellbinding simply by solving crimes,witty dialogue and astute observations of human behavior.No DNA or gleaming forensic rooms with computers etc,these men solved crimes methodically and with common sense. I have purchased series one of this show and would love to see the rest of series two to five released on DVD.Would make a great birthday present for Mum. Millie

Pocketplayer kdoc (writing in all caps evidently is considered shouting here, so the station name is lower case) in the LA area is showing Kojak, Mission Impossible and a host of other classic shows. I video tapped every MI episode taking about six months because I never saw it on TV being too young. I have enjoyed them, but not as much as I would have thought. I think I inflated the romance of this show. Then I needed another show to absorb...and I watched an episode of Kojak. I was hooked.What turned me on to Telly were the obvious movies like Dirty Dozen and Kelly's Heroes...but I caught Sol Madrid on Turner Classics and thought it was very good.Watching Telly as Kojak is the closest to a perfect TV character there ever was. His total confidence, deep voice, humor, free floating spirit with family values (deep down a good man with a hard exterior) is as good as it gets. The supporting cast is excellent…George Savalas was great…perfect compliment to Telly. Lastly, all these classics are living history of what NY looked like. For LA, it's Emergency and Adam-12.Telly was the best TV character I ever saw for a dramatic performance. He's the Archie Bunker of cops!

fmcvett1 The technical adviser, Detective Burton Armus was the guy that gave Telly the idea about the lolly pop. Burton was a detective working out of the 7th district homicide squad and advised the show. He went on in the film and TV industry as writer and director. A very special gut and I was proud to work with him for the short time I was there( the squad ). I met Telly on two occasions and when I told him that I was NYCPD he shook my hand and said he liked and respected our department. He was much like Jack Webb, anyone who met him , liked him because he was real. Hope the new show will be worth watching. We know it won't be the same, what re-make is?