Sam (1978 TV series)

For the British television series, see Sam (1973 TV series).

Sam is an American crime drama television series that aired on the CBS network from March 14 to April 18, 1978. It told the story of a Los Angeles police officer, Mike Breen (played by Mark Harmon), and his specially-trained police dog, Sam, a Labrador Retriever.

Synopsis

In the series, Sam assisted Breen in cases such as rescues, drug smuggling, and bomb threats. Also starring were Len Wayland as Breen's supervisor, Captain Tom Clagett, and Gary Crosby as Captain Gene Cody.

Production notes

Sam was the brainchild of legendary TV producer Jack Webb, whose Mark VII Limited packaged the show for Universal Television. Much like Webb's earlier Adam-12, several incidents per episode were featured. Further, Wayland and Crosby appeared in numerous Mark VII productions previously. James Doherty and Leonard B. Kaufman were the producers; Webb and Paul Donnelly served as executive producers. Only six episodes were broadcast.

CBS aired Sam as a replacement series for the 1977 Celebrity Challenge of the Sexes. Sam aired opposite ABC's popular sitcom Happy Days (a show that occasionally alluded to Webb's most famous series, Dragnet); Happy Days easily outranked Sam in the ratings, with Project U.F.O. (on Sundays) also having better ratings during the season.

This would be the last television series to debut that was produced by Jack Webb. Also, the final television appearance of Vivian Vance (I Love Lucy) was featured in episode #1.6.

References

• Classic TV Archive
• Terrace, Vincent, Encyclopedia of Television Series, Pilots and Specials 1974-1984, New York: Zoetrope, 1986.

External links

• Sam at IMDb