For years I've been waiting for KOJAK to come to home video in any form. Now Universal is finally putting it out in a box set scheduled for a late March release.
The late, great Telly Savalas -- a former educator turned actor, was memorable in a wide range of guest roles in the 1960s, particularly guest starring on such TV series as "The Untouchables", "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour", "The Fugitive", "The Twilight Zone". and a two-part episode of "The Man from U.N.C.L.E.". In features he was memorable in the Clint Eastwood anti-war comedy-drama "Kelly's Heroes".
But when Telly first played Lt. Theo Kojak in a 3 hour TV movie called "The Marcus-Nelsen Murders" in 1973, both a weekly series and a TV icon was born.
Filmed to a great extent in New York City, KOJAK lasted 5 years, and featured fairly early guest apperances by such actors as Sylvester Stallone, Harvey Keitel, and in two of the last episodes in 1978 veteran Danny Thomas showed up in a rare dramatic part along with a non-actor playing himself entertaining in Las Vegas....Liberace!
Telly Savalas even got to direct a few episodes, including "Azure Dee" in 1975 -- which he also sang the lyrics too and quite beautifully at that. I think he had a musical record album out at the time as well. Azure Dee was a story about a hooker whom Kojak once busted years earlier. He feels somewhat responsible for her recent death.
A female suspect once appropriately called Kojak "A Greek bowling ball". Savalas shaved his head, which had already been mostly bald since he began acting in the late 1950s. Shaggy haired brother George Savalas played the hefty and somewhat dense Detective Stavros, a regular since the series began (although he was originally billed as Demosthenes at the start of the first act until the 2nd season).
Kevin Dobson was the equally streetwise, but more impatient Lt. Bobby Crocker, Kojak's right-hand younger partner. The series was one of the more violent but realistically portrayed police dramas. Kojak was seen all over New York either sucking lollipops or smoking mini cigars.
Both of those items, along with Theo's wit and charm and the one-liners delivered so well by Savalas were surprisingly missing when Telly returned to play Kojak in two TV movies in the mid 1980s, the first and better of which was the Soviet themed "Kojak: The Belarus File". The other was "Kojak: The High Price of Justice" in 1987.
Things weren't much different on another network: ABC in 1989-90 for 6 two-hour Mystery Movie episodes airing once a month alternating with the new Columbo movies. In the newer version, Kojak was too serious, but he was always worth watching. He had also been promoted to Inspector by that time. Andre Braugher got his start as Kojak's new partner, but Kevin Dobson (plus hairpiece) returned to guest in just 1 episode as Bobby Crocker, now retired from the police force to become a successful lawyer. Other than that, Savalas was the only actor to return from the old series since his brother George had died a few years earlier.
And now Ving Rhames is playing Kojak in a new series produced for USA Network that not surprisingly premieres the same month the first season comes out on DVD. As was the case of Police Squad's Peter Lupus (as Sgt. Nordberg) on TV being played by O.J. Simpson in the Naked Gun feature films or Will Smith portraying Robert Conrad's James West character in the uncalled for Wild Wild West feature remake or even Cedric the Entertainer as "The Honeymooners" Ralph Kramden (when nobody can replace Jackie Gleason), Ving Rhames comes to TV to remind us that....
When you go black, you're Lt. Kojak!
