A barber, who was rejected for the Police Academy, buys a uniform and begins impersonating a policeman. All goes well until he shoots an armed robber who bears an amazing resemblance to Dustin Hoffman.
A police drama filmed entirely in New York City. The show was initially 30 minutes long during the first season (1958-1959). The second season didn't start until 1960, when it was expanded to an hour. The series was famous for their signature closing of every episode, "There are 8 million… More stories in the Naked City, this has been one of them"
A police drama filmed entirely in New York City. The show was initially 30 minutes long during the first season (1958-1959). The second season didn't start until 1960, when it was expanded to an hour. The series was famous for their signature closing of every episode, "There are 8 million… More stories in the Naked City, this has been one of them"
There are eight million stories in the naked city.... hide show
this has been one of them. Those were the words of narrator Lawrence Dobkin at the end of each episode of this classic police drama which aired during the 1958-59 TV season and once again from 1960-63. Except that the show was more than just a straightforward, conventional police drama. The scripts themselves concentrated mainly on character with just enough action thrown in at the right moments.
Naked City was something we don't see much of on television these days--intelligent drama for thinking adults. It wasn't **** for the MTV crowd. Not all its episodes had pat endings where the good guys won and the bad guys lost. Quite often, the line between the good guys and the bad guys was blurry. Many of the villains were often just flawed human beings instead of being totally evil while the good characters often had flaws that got them into trouble in the first place. Just like real life in many instances.
John McIntire and James Franciscus starred in the first incarnation of Naked City while Paul Burke and Horace McMahon appeared in the second. Nancy Malone lent fine support in the latter incarnation as Burke's girlfriend, an aspiring actress. Many episodes incorporated the private life on the officers into the storyline which helped the viewers to see them as human beings. This is in direct contrast to other classic crime dramas such as The Untouchables, Hawaii Five-O, and Dragnet.
Approximately 60 episodes of Naked City have been released on DVD so far though none are from the 1958-59 season. Check it out if you get a few extra bucks to spend. It puts these cardboard, cookie cutter shows like the various Law and Order and CSI franchises to shame.
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