Mod Squad, The


The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation Presents

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About

From Wikipedia:

The Mod Squad is a television series that ran on ABC from September 24, 1968 until August 23, 1973. This series starred Michael Cole, Peggy Lipton, Clarence Williams III and Tige Andrews. The executive producers of the series were Aaron Spelling and Danny Thomas.

Plot

The Mod Squad was a police drama that featured three young, hip crime fighters. One White, One Black, One Blonde, was the promotional hype-line. The casting was intended to appeal to a youthful, counterculture audience. The basic premise was that the youthful investigators were offered work fighting crime as an alternative to being incarcerated themselves. The show's primary gimmick centered on the three cops using their youthful, hippie personas as a guise to get close to the criminals they investigated. The show was moderately popular during its initial run of five seasons and 123 episodes. Tige Andrews (Captain Adam Greer), Michael Cole (Pete Cochran), Peggy Lipton (Julie Barnes), and Clarence Williams III (Linc Hayes) starred. The show portrayed a multicultural society and dealt with issues of racial politics, drug culture, and counterculture.

The show was loosely based on Bud Ruskin's experiences in the late 1950s as a squad leader for undercover narcotics cops, though it took almost 10 years after he wrote a script for the idea to be given the greenlight by ABC television studios.

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Highlights
Harve Bennett on the elements that made The Mod Squad a groundbreaking show
01:34
Rita Lakin on being story editor for The Mod Squad, and on her duties on that show
05:43
Aaron Spelling on executive producing The Mod Squad
05:00
Howard Anderson Jr. on creating the opening titles for Mod Squad
02:06
Earl Hagen on creating the theme song for The Mod Squad
02:29
Ruth Engelhardt on packaging The Mod Squad produced by Aaron Spelling and Danny Thomas
03:29
Who talked about this show

Howard Anderson, Jr.

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Howard Anderson Jr. on creating the opening titles for Mod Squad
02:06

Larry Auerbach

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Larry Auerbach on his business relationship with Aaron Spelling
03:49

Earl Bellamy

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Earl Bellamy on directing The Mod Squad
04:11
Earl Bellamy on directing Clarence Williams III on The Mod Squad
02:17

Harve Bennett

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Harve Bennett on the genesis of The Mod Squad
04:38
Harve Bennett on the elements that made The Mod Squad a groundbreaking show
01:34
Harve Bennett on working with Aaron Spelling on The Mod Squad
05:36
Harve Bennett on the cast of The Mod Squad
04:06
Harve Bennett on writing The Mod Squad
02:53
Harve Bennett on The Mod Squad's effect on popular culture
01:50

Ruth Engelhardt

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Ruth Engelhardt on packaging The Mod Squad produced by Aaron Spelling and Danny Thomas
03:29

Leonard Goldberg

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Leonard Goldberg on his working relationship with Aaron Spelling on The Mod Squad
01:03

Leonard H. Goldenson

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Leonard H. Goldenson on the success of Aaron Spelling's Mod Squad
00:42

Earle Hagen

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Earl Hagen on creating the theme song for The Mod Squad
02:29
Earl Hagen on pressure to score The Mod Squad with a more rock and roll sound
03:58
Earl Hagen on using different types of beats for different scenes on The Mod Squad and on the band he used for the show
07:52

Rita Lakin

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Rita Lakin on being story editor for The Mod Squad, and on her duties on that show
05:43
Rita Lakin on learning about production while working on The Mod Squad
01:41

Nolan Miller

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Nolan Miller on working on The Mod Squad
03:08

Della Reese

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Della Reese on guest-starring on The Mod Squad, and on making the transition from singing to acting
02:53

Stanley Ralph Ross

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Stanley Ralph Ross on writing for a The Mod Squad episode guest-starring Louis Gossett, Jr.
01:24

Howard Smit

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Howard Smit on doing makeup for The Mod Squad
04:39
Howard Smit on the cast of The Mod Squad, including Peggy Lipton
02:51
Howard Smit on working with Sammy Davis, Jr. as a guest star on The Mod Squad
02:57
Howard Smit on going on location with The Mod Squad, and on the end of the show
04:11

Aaron Spelling

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Aaron Spelling on executive producing The Mod Squad
05:00

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