In 1975, Martin Milner (right) and Kent McCord (left), Officers Malloy and Reed on
Adam-12 (1968-75) came to Rock Island to speak on the importance of staying in school. My friends and I were star-struck by the two celebrities, but we found their message somewhat square.
No wonder.
Adam-12 was the product of Jack Webb's Mark VII productions, kin to super-square
Dragnet, so as the patrol cops cruised around Los Angeles, nabbing shoplifters, burglars, drug addicts, and various troubled kids, they preached a message of conformity: keeping your hair short, doing your homework, avoiding motorcycles, rock music, and the wrong crowd, and above all, finding the One. The ongoing plot arc involved Officer Reed getting married and having a baby.
Beefcake was minimal. This was not the
L.A. of Chips; apparently there was no beach, and the cops were rarely off duty. But Kent McCord (left) was cute, and there were a number of cute teen guest stars, including Barry Williams,
Craig Hundley,
Mark Harmon, and David Cassidy.
And it was always thrilling to see the closing clip of a beefy, sweating hand chiseling the Mark VII logo -- a glimpse of beefcake potential, like the opening of
Mission: Impossible.
But there was ample gay-vague content. Martin Milner often imbued his characters with unstated homoerotic desire, as in the subtext-heavy (and revealing swimsuit-heavy)
Route 66.
His Officer Malloy was the seasoned cop who, at first, wasn't entirely happy at the prospect of being saddled with the rookie Reed. But as they patroled the well-scrubbed, semi-mean streets of L.A., he developed an affection for the young officer that can easily be read as unstated desire.
Malloy seems uncomfortable during the endless discussions of Reed's marriage, his wife's pregnancy, and various baby problems. Is he recognizing the emptiness of his own single life? Or is he jealous that Reed loves someone else?
Malloy gets girlfriends of his own twice during the series, but is he actually interested in them, or is he trying to follow his own rule: don't make waves, conform, obey the
Tripods?
Watch the episode entitled "Search". Malloy is in a car crash at night in Griffith Park and the cops send out search parties to find him. Reed is obvioulsly distressed and begs his watch commander to give him a cruiser to go search on his own, saying "We're close. Real close." That is one of the hottest lines I have ever heard spoken by a man. Talk about subliminal homo-eroticism......Just hot!
ReplyDeleteI saw the episode and you are right about the way those lines are spoken- they were a classic tv bromance
DeleteMalloy always drove the cruiser. I don't think he ever let Reed drive.
ReplyDeleteHe let him drive in one episode. Actually, he was forced to because he forgot to renew his driver's license, so sargent wouldn't let him drive.
DeleteSeveral cute boys appeared in episodes, Barry Williams comes to mind.
ReplyDeleteMalloy had chances at hot looking women...one kept at him even buying him a car... told her she was a turnofg
ReplyDelete