by Bruce Eder
review
This episode, written by Abby Mann, was an exceptionally good and intensely violent and dramatic installment of the series, carried mostly by Kevin Dobson's and Telly Savalas's performances. The plot line and the denouement, however, were a very direct rehash of an episode of the 1960's TV series N.Y.P.D. entitled "Boys Night Out", which originally aired on March 11, 1969. In that half-hour show, it was young detective Johnny Corso (Frank Converse) who encounters a boyhood friend who is leading a violent hold-up gang -- the same set-up and conflict, the same final confrontation in a hotel etc., and even a nearly identical shootout, only told in 30 minutes of airtime.
