Bert D'Angelo/Superstar

Bert D'Angelo/Superstar (shown as Bert D'Angelo in Britain) is an American police drama that aired on ABC on Saturday Nights from February 21 to July 10, 1976. The series was produced by Quinn Martin.[1]

Bert D'Angelo/Superstar
The inspector Larry Johnson (Robert Pine)
StarringPaul Sorvino
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes12 (1 unaired) (list of episodes)
Production
Running time60 minutes
Production companyQuinn Martin Productions
Release
Original networkABC
Original releaseFebruary 21 (1976-02-21) –
July 10, 1976 (1976-07-10)

The series spun off from The Streets of San Francisco, although the episode which introduced the character ("Superstar") had its first airing on March 4, 1976,[2] after the spinoff premiered. It was screened in Britain on BBC1 in the summer of 1976 (curiously, The Streets of San Francisco was an ITV import).

Premise

Bert D'Angelo was a ten-year veteran of the New York City Police Department transferred to San Francisco, "so as to acquaint the San Francisco Police Department with the way things were done back in New York City".[2] He handled a variety of types of cases, including drugs, murders, and robberies.[1]

Cast

Production

The program was "filmed entirely on location in and around San Francisco".[3] Martin was the executive producer.[1] Directors were Harry Falk, Virgil W. Vogel, Michael Caffey, David Friedkin,[4] and William Hale.[2] Writers were Larry Alexander, D. C. Fontana,[4] and Marion Hargrove.[5]

Critical reception

Critic John Camper of the Chicago Daily News found little positive about the program as he wrote, "YOU try to think of something interesting to say about it."[6] He noted about D'Angelo, "With practically no evidence he intuits the entire convoluted murder plot by the end of Act iV".[6]

Dwight Newton, writing in the San Francisco Examiner, compared Bert D'Angelo to the film Dirty Harry (1971), dubbing D'Angelo "Dirty Bert" because the TV character bent rules like the film character did.[7] Newton described the show as "similar slop" to the film and called the program a "garbage-heap clinker".[7] He praised Sorvino for his performance: "Sorvino imbues his cop role with vitality, finesse, humaneness and, when called upon, great roaring fervor".[7]

Episodes
No.TitleOriginal air date
1"Murder in Velvet"February 21, 1976 (1976-02-21)
After a woman is murdered, D'Angelo discovers evidence that implicates a close friend in the crime.
2"Cops Who Sleep Together"February 28, 1976 (1976-02-28)
An investigation into the death of a newlywed policeman is hampered when his widow, who's also a police officer, seeks revenge.
3"Men with No Past"March 6, 1976 (1976-03-06)
Three seemingly ordinary men are murdered in a professional manner, resulting in the discovery by D'Angelo that the killer is a hit man eliminating former government informants.
4"The Brown Horse Connection"March 13, 1976 (1976-03-13)
D'Angelo receives help from a Mexico City policewoman in the search for a mysterious bomber intent on blowing up a convention of law enforcement officials.
5"The Book of Fear"March 20, 1976 (1976-03-20)
After a young girl is tortured and murdered while trying to escape from a call girl ring, D'Angelo makes an effort to find the mysterious head of the operation.
6"A Noise in the Street"March 27, 1976 (1976-03-27)
An international hit man and his girlfriend hold a priest hostage while taking refuge in a church.
7"A Concerned Citizen"April 3, 1976 (1976-04-03)
A hijacking ring turns to murder, resulting in D'Angelo being assigned to help break it up before another death occurs.
8"Flannagan's Fleet"June 5, 1976 (1976-06-05)
In order to fund the buying of guns and other war supplies, a mercenary group plots to rob several armored cars.
9"What Kind of Cop Are You?"June 12, 1976 (1976-06-12)
The death of a vagrant becomes a top priority when evidence points to the involvement of organized crime loan sharks.
10"Scag"June 19, 1976 (1976-06-19)
D'Angelo is in a race with a desperate man to be the first to find a cache of heroin worth over $1 million.
11"Serpent's Tooth"July 10, 1976 (1976-07-10)
Two feuding organized crime families are ready to go to war with each other unless D'Angelo can find a way to stop it.
12"Requiem for a Rip-Off"Unaired

References
  1. Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle F. (June 24, 2009). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present. Random House Publishing Group. p. 126. ISBN 978-0-307-48320-1. Retrieved September 21, 2022.
  2. Etter, Jonathan (11 July 2015). Quinn Martin, Producer: A Behind-the-Scenes History of QM Productions and Its Founder. McFarland. pp. 174–176. ISBN 978-1-4766-0506-7. Retrieved September 21, 2022.
  3. "Sorvino Starring in New Series". The Daily Herald. Utah, Provo. February 16, 1976. p. 31. Retrieved September 22, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. Terrace, Vincent (September 22, 2021). Encyclopedia of Television Miniseries, 1936-2020. McFarland. ISBN 978-1-4766-8735-3. Retrieved September 22, 2022.
  5. Heil, Douglas (March 1, 2002). Prime-Time Authorship: Works about and by Three TV Dramatists. Syracuse University Press. p. 24. ISBN 978-0-8156-2879-8. Retrieved September 22, 2022.
  6. Camper, John (February 27, 1976). "A Critic's Life Isn't Always Great Fun". The Parsons Sun. Chicago Daily News. p. 19. Retrieved September 22, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. Newton, Dwight (February 23, 1976). "Dirty Harry, Dirty Bert". The San Francisco Examiner. p. 15. Retrieved September 22, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
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