Season Four of Streets of San Francisco finds veteran SFPD homicide detective Mike Stone (Karl Malden still on the job with his youthful partner Steve Keller (Michael Douglas. So strong was the rapport between the two stars both on and off the camera that, when Douglas exited the program the following season to concentrate on the production end of show business, it was a blow from which the series never recovered. Highlights this season include the famous episode wherein Detective Stone dons the white makeup and red nose of a circus clown to ferret out a murderer under the big top, and guest star Bill Bixby's Emmy-nominated turn as a pathetic loser who aspires to join the force--and turns to murder when he is rejected. But the series' biggest selling card during Season Three is its impressive array of strong female characters: Stefanie Powers as a foul-mouthed convict's wife, Vera Miles as the tormented leader of a group of rape victims, Meg Foster as a feisty murder witness, Diane Baker as a "progressive" police inspector who briefly falls in love with Mike Stone, and Ina Balin as the fiercely progressive secretary of a mean-spirited radio personality (played by a pre-Dallas Larry Hagman). Also given a few choice moments to shine are a number of actors on the verge of stardom: Mark Hamill (Star Wars' Luke Skywalker) and Anthony Geary (General Hospital's Luke Spencer) in the season opener, and John Ritter, Sorrell Booke and Gordon Jump, future TV stars on Three's Company, Dukes of Hazzard and WKRP in Cincinnati respectively, all showing up in the episode "Murder by Proxy". And let's not forget Paul Sorvino as a rule-bending New York detective in an episode designed as the pilot for the Streets of San Francisco spinoff series Bert D'Angelo Superstar. Though it remained on ABC's Thursday lineup during its fourth season, Streets of San Francisco moved to an earlier timeslot, which may or may not have been the reason that the series jumped to Number 26 in the overall network ratings.
by Hal Erickson
synopsis
