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Crime · 1970s

The 1970s account for 17 of the 337 crime shows here, and 17 opening sequences.

ABC carries the most, with seven.

17 shows17 sequences

Still from the opening titles of Columbo1 sequence

Columbo

1971–2003NBC / ABCCrime

Twenty-four seconds, and for much of the run no sequence at all — a series confident enough to open on the murder and let the detective arrive late.

  • Season 1
Still from the opening titles of The Rockford Files1 sequence

The Rockford Files

1974–1980NBCCrime

A telephone rings, an answering machine picks up, and a stranger leaves a message that is usually bad news and occasionally a joke at Rockford's expense. Then the theme starts. The private detective is introduced by the people avoiding him.

  • Seasons 1–6
Still from the opening titles of CHiPs1 sequence

CHiPs

1977–1983NBCCrime

California Highway Patrol motorcycle officers, filmed almost entirely on freeways.

  • Season 1
Still from the opening titles of Starsky & Hutch1 sequence

Starsky & Hutch

1975–1979ABCCrime

Two Bay City detectives and a red Ford Torino with a white stripe.

  • Season 1
Still from the opening titles of Hart to Hart1 sequence

Hart to Hart

1979–1984ABCCrime

A wealthy married couple who solve murders, introduced by their own butler in voiceover.

  • Season 1
Still from the opening titles of The Sweeney1 sequence

The Sweeney

1975–1978ITVCrime

The Flying Squad in a Ford Granada, and the series that made British police drama violent.

  • Season 1
Still from the opening titles of S.W.A.T.1 sequence

S.W.A.T.

1975–1976ABCCrime

The original, cancelled after two seasons over its violence, and remembered mostly for a theme that reached number one.

  • Season 1
Still from the opening titles of The Streets of San Francisco1 sequence

The Streets of San Francisco

1972–1977ABCCrime

Karl Malden and a young Michael Douglas, shot on location throughout.

  • Season 1
Still from the opening titles of Quincy, M.E.1 sequence

Quincy, M.E.

1976–1983NBCCrime

A Los Angeles medical examiner who investigates, and the ancestor of every forensic procedural since.

  • Season 1
Still from the opening titles of Barnaby Jones1 sequence

Barnaby Jones

1973–1980CBSCrime

Buddy Ebsen as a retired investigator who comes back to work after his son is killed.

  • Season 1
Still from the opening titles of Baretta1 sequence

Baretta

1975–1978ABCCrime

An undercover detective and a cockatoo, with a Sammy Davis Jr. theme.

  • Season 1
Still from the opening titles of McCloud1 sequence

McCloud

1970–1977NBCCrime

A New Mexico marshal seconded to the NYPD, part of the rotating NBC Mystery Movie wheel.

  • Season 1
Still from the opening titles of Cannon1 sequence

Cannon

1971–1976CBSCrime

William Conrad as a private investigator, the first Quinn Martin series built around a heavy-set lead.

  • Season 1
Still from the opening titles of Charlie's Angels1 sequence

Charlie's Angels

1976–1981ABCCrime

Three detectives working for a voice on a speakerphone, and a title sequence that explains the entire premise in narration before a scene is played.

  • Season 1
Still from the opening titles of Kojak1 sequence

Kojak

1973–1978CBSCrime

New York in the seventies, a lollipop, and a brass theme that has aged considerably better than the decade around it.

  • Season 1
Still from the opening titles of The Professionals1 sequence

The Professionals

1977–1983ITVCrime

Two CI5 agents and the controller who points them, in the ITV action series that spent a decade being complained about.

  • Season 1
Still from the opening titles of The Protectors1 sequence

The Protectors

1972–1974ITV (ITC)Crime

Robert Vaughn and Nyree Dawn Porter as international investigators, in half-hour episodes shot across Europe.

  • Season 1