The Streets of San Francisco: The Runaways

The Streets of San Francisco: The Runaways
ABC
December 6, 1973
Crime Drama
DVD
B-

Regular cast:

• Reuben Collins as Inspector Bill Tanner
• Michael Douglas as Inspector Steve Keller
• and Karl Malden as Detective Lt. Mike Stone

Also, Ben Niems, who plays Mr. Chelsey the Pharmacist, and Ty Henderson, who's Sumner Stamp the Newspaper Carrier here, both had nameless roles earlier in the year, while the Diner Owner was Jon Principe's fourth small role on the show.  Ted Gehring is Alvin Sparling here and would play Bert four years later.  Claire Brennen's part as Susie is her second of five on the show.

The strangest thing about the cast in hindsight is they've got a pre-CHiPs Larry Wilcox as George Morgan (a role he'd return to in '76), but it's a post-My-Three-Sons Barry Livingston who gets the special guest star credit, as George's brother Jack.  Jeanette Nolan, the other guest star, as Judge Millie Cox, at least had a film career going back to the '40s, although I don't get the impression she was ever a household name.

When I started this episode (the first of Volume Two of Season Two), I thought If nothing else, I can enjoy the wah-wah pedals and San Francisco locations in the opening credits.  But I actually liked it, from the easy chemistry between Douglas and Malden to the plot about the judge who's trying to help three young runaway siblings.  Although I'm using the crime drama tag, as there's a murder, a kidnapping, and child abuse, I found the violence mild compared to some of the stuff I've had to sit through lately.  The writing, by Robert Malcolm Young (his fifth of ten scripts), was more intelligent than I expected and the series is based on a novel by Carolyn Weston.  And, yes, there are a lot of San Francisco locations.

This is the middle of seven episodes directed by Seymour Robbie.