SQShowSquad
CalendarSign inJoin
The Rookies
RELEASED·SERIES·EN

The Rookies

Mon, Sep 11, 1972
  • Drama
  • Crime
Series · Synopsis

Synopsis

The Rookies is an American crime drama series that aired on ABC from 1972 until 1976. It follows the exploits of three rookie police officers working in an unidentified city for the fictitious Southern California Police Department.

Where to watch

Streaming on

  • Philo↗
Cast

Top of the call sheet

  • Georg Stanford Brown
    Georg Stanford Brown
    as Terry Webster
  • Sam Melville
    Sam Melville
    as Mike Danko
  • Bruce Fairbairn
    Bruce Fairbairn
    as Chris Owens
  • Kate Jackson
    Kate Jackson
    as Jill Danko
  • Gerald S. O'Loughlin
    Gerald S. O'Loughlin
    as Lt. Ed Ryker
Related

If you’re into this…

  • T. J. Hooker
    T. J. Hooker
    1982 · series
  • Bad Girls
    Bad Girls
    1999 · series
  • Hill Street Blues
    Hill Street Blues
    1981 · series
  • Matlock
    Matlock
    2024 · series
  • Carl Weber's The Family Business
    Carl Weber's The Family Business
    2018 · series
  • Power Book IV: Force
    Power Book IV: Force
    2022 · series
  • Hidden Assets
    Hidden Assets
    2021 · series
  • The Tower
    The Tower
    2021 · series
  • L.A.'s Finest
    L.A.'s Finest
    2019 · series
  • New York Undercover
    New York Undercover
    1994 · series
SQShowSquad
CalendarSign inJoin
Episodes

4 seasons · 93 episodes

Ended · 93 aired
Season 1
23 episodes · 23 aired
▾
  • E1
    Concrete Valley, Neon Sky
    Aired · Tue, Sep 12, 1972 · 60m

    In the introductory episode of the series, the presence of several street gangs contributes to a tension-filled atmosphere. The Rookies are assigned with the challenge of maintaining order amongst the rivaling street gangs, with Willie Gillis arising as the mediator between the gangs.

  • E2
    Dead, Like a Lost Dream
    Aired · Tue, Sep 19, 1972 · 60m

    Cops vs. cops as internal-affairs personnel investigate rumors of police shakedowns. Prime suspects: Ryker's rookies.

  • E3
    The Informant
    Aired · Mon, Sep 25, 1972 · 60m
  • E4
    The Commitment
    Aired · Mon, Oct 2, 1972 · 60m
  • E5
    Covenant with Death
    Aired · Mon, Oct 9, 1972 · 60m
  • E6
    Time is the Fire
    Aired · Mon, Oct 16, 1972 · 60m
  • E7
    The Bear That Didn't Get Up
    Aired · Mon, Oct 23, 1972 · 60m
  • E8
    Dirge for Sunday
    Aired · Mon, Oct 30, 1972 · 60m
  • E9
    The Good Die Young
    Aired · Mon, Nov 13, 1972 · 60m
  • E10
    To Taste of Terror
    Aired · Mon, Nov 20, 1972 · 60m
  • E11
    A Deadly Velocity
    Aired · Mon, Nov 27, 1972 · 60m
  • E12
    A Bloody Shade of Blue
    Aired · Mon, Dec 11, 1972 · 60m

    This episode centers on a pair of masked thugs who are on a vendetta to kill police officers. In the opener, they are on a rooftop and shoot a guy named Karl Miller that they assumed was a cop, because they had previously (not shown) seen him dressed as a cop from a masquerade party. The SCPD investigates the motive of the thugs, who target Officer Terry Webster as their next victim. They shoot at him in his police car, shattering the windshield glass into his eyes, temporarily blinding him. During his hospital stay, he bonds with a nurse, Lynn Everett. She helps him and they form a friendship. After Terry is released from the hospital--his eyes still bandaged--he and Lynn go on a picnic, where the criminals chase them down, with the intention of killing Terry, so he can't identify them. Lynn calls for help, Terry helps subdue the thugs and he regains his sight at the end. This episode is very touching and emotional, from Terry being scared that he may never see again, to Lynn sharing that she led a sheltered life and had never communicated with a black person before and didn't know how to. This is one not to be missed!

  • E13
    A Very Special Piece of Ground
    Aired · Mon, Dec 18, 1972 · 60m
  • E14
    Rabbits on the Runway
    Aired · Mon, Dec 25, 1972 · 60m
  • E15
    Tarnished Idol
    Aired · Mon, Jan 8, 1973 · 60m
  • E16
    Crossfire
    Aired · Mon, Jan 15, 1973 · 60m
  • E17
    Snow Job
    Aired · Mon, Jan 29, 1973 · 60m
  • E18
    Point of Impact
    Aired · Mon, Feb 5, 1973 · 60m
  • E19
    Three Hours to Kill
    Aired · Mon, Feb 12, 1973 · 60m
  • E20
    The Wheel of Fortune (a.k.a.) The Wheel of Death
    Aired · Mon, Feb 19, 1973 · 60m
  • E21
    Life Robbery (a.k.a.) Tribute to a Veteran
    Aired · Mon, Feb 26, 1973 · 60m
  • E22
    A Farewell Tree From Marly
    Aired · Mon, Mar 5, 1973 · 60m
  • E23
    Easy Money
    Aired · Mon, Mar 19, 1973 · 60m
Season 2
23 episodes · 23 aired
▾
  • E1
    Cauldron
    Aired · Mon, Sep 10, 1973 · 60m
  • E2
    Margin for Error
    Aired · Mon, Sep 17, 1973 · 60m
  • E3
    Deadly Cage
    Aired · Mon, Sep 24, 1973 · 60m
  • E4
    Frozen Smoke
    Aired · Mon, Oct 1, 1973 · 60m
  • E5
    Get Ryker
    Aired · Mon, Oct 8, 1973 · 60m
  • E6
    Cry Wolf
    Aired · Mon, Oct 15, 1973 · 60m
  • E7
    A Matter of Justice (a.k.a.) Justice for Jill Danko
    Aired · Mon, Oct 22, 1973 · 60m
  • E8
    Blood Brother
    Aired · Mon, Oct 29, 1973 · 60m
  • E9
    Code 261
    Aired · Mon, Nov 5, 1973 · 60m
  • E10
    Prayers Unanswered, Prayers Unheard
    Aired · Mon, Nov 12, 1973 · 60m
  • E11
    Down Home Boy
    Aired · Mon, Nov 19, 1973 · 60m
  • E12
    Lots of Trees and a Running Stream
    Aired · Sun, Dec 2, 1973 · 60m
  • E13
    Another Beginning for Ben Fuller
    Aired · Mon, Jan 14, 1974 · 60m
  • E14
    Sound of Silence
    Aired · Mon, Dec 17, 1973 · 60m
  • E15
    Trial by Doubt
    Aired · Mon, Jan 7, 1974 · 60m
  • E16
    The Authentic Death of Billy Stomper
    Aired · Mon, Jan 14, 1974 · 60m
  • E17
    The Late Mr. Brent
    Aired · Mon, Jan 28, 1974 · 60m
  • E18
    The Teacher
    Aired · Mon, Feb 4, 1974 · 60m
  • E19
    Eyewitness
    Aired · Mon, Feb 11, 1974 · 60m
  • E20
    Something Less Than a Man
    Aired · Mon, Feb 18, 1974 · 60m
  • E21
    Rolling Thunder
    Aired · Mon, Feb 25, 1974 · 60m
  • E22
    Time Lock
    Aired · Mon, Mar 4, 1974 · 60m
  • E23
    Death Watch
    Aired · Mon, Mar 18, 1974 · 60m
Season 3
24 episodes · 24 aired
▾
  • E1
    An Ugly Way to Die
    Aired · Mon, Sep 9, 1974 · 60m
  • E2
    Key Witness
    Aired · Mon, Sep 23, 1974 · 60m
  • E3
    Legacy of Death
    Aired · Mon, Sep 30, 1974 · 60m
  • E4
    Death at 6 A.M.
    Aired · Mon, Oct 7, 1974 · 60m
  • E5
    Walk a Tightrope
    Aired · Mon, Oct 21, 1974 · 60m
  • E6
    Judgment
    Aired · Mon, Oct 28, 1974 · 60m
  • E7
    Johnny Lost His Gun
    Aired · Mon, Nov 4, 1974 · 60m
  • E8
    Prelude to Vengeance
    Aired · Mon, Nov 11, 1974 · 60m
  • E9
    Vendetta
    Aired · Mon, Nov 18, 1974 · 60m
  • E10
    The Old Neighborhood
    Aired · Mon, Nov 25, 1974 · 60m
  • E11
    A Test of Courage
    Aired · Mon, Dec 2, 1974 · 60m
  • E12
    The Assassin
    Aired · Mon, Dec 9, 1974 · 60m
  • E13
    Blue Christmas
    Aired · Mon, Dec 16, 1974 · 60m
  • E14
    Take Over
    Aired · Mon, Dec 30, 1974 · 60m
  • E15
    The Saturday Night Special
    Aired · Mon, Jan 13, 1975 · 60m
  • E16
    The Hunting Ground
    Aired · Mon, Jan 20, 1975 · 60m
  • E17
    Solomon's Dilemma
    Aired · Mon, Jan 27, 1975 · 60m
  • E18
    Angel
    Aired · Mon, Feb 3, 1975 · 60m
  • E19
    The Sheild
    Aired · Mon, Feb 10, 1975 · 60m
  • E20
    S.W.A.T. (1)
    Aired · Mon, Feb 17, 1975 · 60m
  • E21
    S.W.A.T. (2)
    Aired · Mon, Feb 17, 1975 · 60m
  • E22
    A Deadly Image
    Aired · Mon, Feb 24, 1975 · 60m
  • E23
    Cliffy
    Aired · Mon, Mar 3, 1975 · 60m
  • E24
    Nightmare
    Aired · Mon, Mar 17, 1975 · 60m
Season 4
23 episodes · 23 aired
▾
  • E1
    Lamb to the Slaughter
    Aired · Tue, Sep 9, 1975 · 60m

    When burglar Brad Gifford is arrested, his cop-hating, now orphaned son, Jody, is taken to Lambert Hall where he is befriended by Ryker, a former orphan himself. Jody is just beginning to trust and like Ryker when his father escapes custody and comes for him.

  • E2
    Reading Writing and Angel Dust
    Aired · Tue, Sep 16, 1975 · 60m

    After the tragic death of a bright high school student, the Rookies put in a team effort to get the pushers off the school campus. They get some help from a pusher who is pretending to scorch for the source.

  • E3
    One-Way Street to Nowhere
    Aired · Tue, Sep 23, 1975 · 60m

    Mike is critically injured when he tries to capture the leader of a militant group and Terry is taken hostage.

  • E4
    Someone Who Cares
    Aired · Tue, Sep 30, 1975 · 60m

    An unidentified nine-year-old girl is accidentally hit by a car after two hedonistic "swinging single" men spike her lunch with narcotics. Before she dies, she begs Terry for help. Terry, reluctant to let her die a Jane Doe, investigates.

  • E5
    Ladies Day (a.k.a.) Ladies Kill, Too
    Aired · Tue, Oct 7, 1975 · 60m

    Jill Danko is working in a women's prison, fighting an outbreak of diphtheria. In order to protest for better food and working conditions, inmates take Jill and Dr. Malcolm hostage.

  • E6
    Reign of Terror
    Aired · Tue, Oct 14, 1975 · 60m

    Young crooks Pat Stevens and Glen Barton rob ticket agent Brewster and shoot rookie Chris. The scene is witnessed by mailman Charlie Brooks, who is adamant about not getting involved.

  • E7
    Death Lady
    Aired · Tue, Oct 21, 1975 · 60m

    A female officer is blamed for her partner's death during a jewelry store robbery. With her new partner, Mike, she sets out to solve the crime and prove her worth to the police department.

  • E8
    Measure of Mercy
    Aired · Tue, Oct 28, 1975 · 60m

    The Rookies must investigate a robbery at Memorial Hospital. The blood bank was robbed and its contents sold to the black market, leaving an infant at the hospital on the critical list.

  • E9
    A Time to Mourn
    Aired · Tue, Nov 4, 1975 · 60m

    Chris' sister makes a surprise visit on her brother. He is suspended after conducting an unauthorized bust of the man who molested her.

  • E10
    The Torch Man
    Aired · Tue, Nov 11, 1975 · 60m

    An ex-convict out on parole desperately wants to go straight, but is sought after by his ex-cellmates to use his safe-cracking abilities in a robbery.

  • E11
    Invitation to a Rumble
    Aired · Tue, Nov 18, 1975 · 60m

    Terry is run down by a car driven by the leader of a street gang in his old neighborhood. When one of the members of the gang is overheard calling for an ambulance, he is forced to kill Terry or he will be killed by the gang for betrayal.

  • E12
    Reluctant Hero
    Aired · Tue, Nov 25, 1975 · 60m

    A rookie accidentally overpowers a professional assassin and is named "hero." The assassin vows to kill the rookie and escapes with Jill as a hostage, offering to exchange her for the rookie.

  • E13
    Dead Heat
    Aired · Tue, Dec 2, 1975 · 60m

    Chris and Terry have their patrol car stolen by teenage vandals while investigating a major robbery in a department store, and three heavily armed killers trap them there.

  • E14
    The Voice of Thunder
    Aired · Tue, Dec 9, 1975 · 60m

    After a series of Sunday bombings of porno bookshops and massage parlors sweep the city, Chris and Terry recognize the same girl at the scene of each incident. The dangerously schizophrenic top fashion model believes she is being instructed by a supreme being.

  • E15
    The Code Five Affair
    Aired · Tue, Dec 16, 1975 · 60m

    The rookies stake out an abandoned factory where a heroin deal is about to take place, and are able to seize the drugs and arrest all but one man. This man must get the heroin back from the police.

  • E16
    Shadow of a Man
    Aired · Tue, Dec 23, 1975 · 60m

    Forest, a tough career cop, takes $10,000 from the scene of a robbery after his partner is killed by the robbers. Lt. Ryker puts an undercover investigator on the case to retrieve the money.

  • E17
    Eye for an Eye
    Aired · Tue, Dec 30, 1975 · 60m

    A man who was forced to spend eighteen years in prison for a crime he did not commit is determined to get the men who framed him.

  • E18
    Sudden Death (a.k.a.) Return From the Past
    Aired · Tue, Jan 6, 1976 · 60m

    Mike, a former helicopter pilot in Vietnam, becomes the prey of a deranged ex-POW who blames the policeman for his capture by the Vietcong.

  • E19
    From Out of the Darkness
    Aired · Tue, Jan 20, 1976 · 60m

    Terry vows to find the murderer of Dan Kennedy, a retired cop turned security guard. Dan was the father of a blind girl, Terry's former girlfriend.

  • E20
    The Mugging
    Aired · Tue, Jan 27, 1976 · 60m

    After a woman is fatally assaulted by three junkies, her son, a doctor in the same hospital where Jill works, announces his intention to get revenge against the three, who were released from jail on a technicality.

  • E21
    Blue Movie, Blue Death
    Aired · Tue, Feb 24, 1976 · 60m

    The Rookies are given undercover assignments in order to smash a syndicate-owned porno film company responsible for the deaths of some of its actors.

  • E22
    Deliver Me From Innocence
    Aired · Tue, Mar 2, 1976 · 60m

    A frightened sixteen-year-old boy is forced to take the blame for the crimes of a junkie he has become mixed up with. The two had committed a burglary and escaped after killing a cop. The boy is Terry's current girlfriend's brother.

  • E23
    Journey to Oblivion
    Aired · Tue, Mar 30, 1976 · 60m

    A gambler kills his creditor and is witnessed by Jill Danko, whom he and his accomplice must now do away with.