The Streets of San Francisco

In 1972 Quinn Martin was back at home on ABC with the Streets of San Francisco. Karl Malden played Det. Lt. Mike Stone and Michael Douglas was Inspector Steve Keller. They were a contrast in the ways they approached crime detection. Stone was a 23 year veteran of the force and Keller was a college educated man who preferred modern methods. They worked well together and learned from each other. In 1976 Keller left the force to pursue teaching as a career. Actually we all know that Michael Douglas left to make movies and the rest is movie history. Douglas was replaced by Richard Hatch as Inspector Dan Robbins. A year after the show was canceled Hatch went on to Battlestar Galactica and various films and made for TV movies like Deadman’s Curve as Jan Berry and in Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen as Chan’s #1 son. The film met with protest from Asian Americans as none of the key roles were played by Asians they were either Americans or British. He currently has a reoccurring role in the new Battlestar Galactica. Karl Malden didn’t fare as well on TV series after the show was cancelled in 1977. He tried another series called Skag but it was quickly canceled. He had roles in many big budget films like Beyond the Poseidon Adventure, Meteor, The Sting II, Nuts etc. He did do an episode of the West Wing but his biggest success on TV other then Streets was for American Express ads. Usually the ads would show someone who lost their credit card while on vacation. Since it wasn’t American Express it wouldn’t be replaced. Mr. Malden would then show up dressed as Mike Stone but he was never addressed as such. He explained how they should have had American Express. Then he would utter what became his catch phrase. “Don’t leave home without it.” In the early 90’s Mr. Malden did return to the character of Mike Stone in the TV movie Return to the Streets of San Francisco. He was the only character from the series that came back and now was partnered with a young female Inspector who was even more involved in taking care of her health then his previous two partners. For some reason I only seem to remember her always trying to get him to try bottled water and he would politely say no. The movie was pretty good but not as good as the series. While the series was good its title made it the butt of a joke between me and my cousin Randy. Every once in awhile we would talk about our favorites shows. When police drama came up we would always say they never show police drama in a small town like ours. One time one of us said I can see it now the show is The Streets of Erlanger and all the action scenes take place at Dunkin’ Donuts.
Karl Malden won the Oscar for best supporting actor in A Street Car Name Desire and an Emmy in 1976 for outstanding lead actor in a drama. In 2004 Michael Douglas presented him with a lifetime achievement award. In an early TV Guide interview Mr. Malden was asked what advice he would give to anyone starting out in the entertainment field. In keeping in mind that the actor’s life is not having steady work he said his advice was to seek another profession.
You can go here to Richard Hatch's official site.