# Kojak (1973)

> A bald, lollipop-sucking New York police detective with a fiery sense of justice takes on the city's crime.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/3397

## Facts

- Seasons: 5
- Episodes: 118
- Episode runtime: 60 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: crime, drama
- Created by: Abby Mann
- Network: ABC, CBS
- Cast: Telly Savalas, Dan Frazer, Kevin Dobson, George Savalas, Kene Holliday, Kitty Winn, Maria Schell, Priscilla Barnes
- TMDB rating: 7.1/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069599/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: moderate
- Complexity: simple
- Violence: moderate
- Tone: gritty, confrontational, wry, swaggering, tense

## What critics say

Audiences broadly remember the early seasons of Kojak fondly for Telly Savalas's commanding lead, though later seasons are rated noticeably lower.

## Synopsis

Kojak (1973-1978) is an American network police procedural created by Abby Mann for CBS and ABC. Telly Savalas plays Theo Kojak, a bald, lollipop-sucking New York City detective with a fiery, righteous streak, while Dan Frazer as Frank McNeill and Kevin Dobson as Bobby Crocker work the same cases alongside him. Across five seasons and 118 hour-long episodes, the engine is a steady stream of individual crimes that Kojak must crack through street contacts, interrogations and stubborn persistence against bureaucratic obstacles and a city full of petty and violent offenders. Each episode is largely self-contained, with a case-of-the-week structure rather than a continuing storyline. The series is set in 1970s Manhattan, with its gritty streets, precinct offices and late-night stakeouts giving the show a grounded, documentary-leaning texture. Its tone is blunt, confrontational and sometimes wry, with a swagger that comes from its lead rather than from any stylish flourish. Fans of Columbo, Hill Street Blues and Starsky and Hutch will find resonance in its classic police drama.

## Shows like Kojak

- [Homicide: Life on the Street (1993)](https://ember.film/tv/4245)
- [Crime Story (1986)](https://ember.film/tv/2820)
- [Starsky & Hutch (1975)](https://ember.film/tv/1444)
- [NYPD Blue (1993)](https://ember.film/tv/178)
- [Dragnet (1951)](https://ember.film/tv/3536)
- [Baretta (1975)](https://ember.film/tv/3058)
- [Columbo (1971)](https://ember.film/tv/825)
- [Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999)](https://ember.film/tv/2598)
- [McCloud (1970)](https://ember.film/tv/9577)
- [In the Heat of the Night (1988)](https://ember.film/tv/814)

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