1 9 7 4 – 1 9 7 5 (USA)
1 x 90 minute episode
22 x 60 minute episodes
Based on a novel by Dorothy Uhnak, Get Christie Love debuted on ABC on Wednesday 11 September 1974, and sought to cash in on the renown of such tough Blaxploitation cookies as Cleopatra Jones(1973) and the legendary Pam Grier’s Coffy(1973).
Former Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In bikini girl Teresa Graves starred as the titular cop – a beautiful, street-savvy woman working undercover with the Special Investigations Division of the LAPD who spoke softly (“You’re under arrest, Sugar”) but dispatched bad guys with brutal violence.
Once a “street kid”, Christie grew tired of being a “down thing” and decided to become a policewoman. Now she fought evil-doers with karate chops and kicks and even tossed one character 15 floors to his death.
Her tough, no-nonsense boss, Lieutenant Matt Reardon (Charles Cioffi), attempted to keep Christie under control and out of danger, but she pretty much went her own way (“I got news for you, Lieutenant – Christie Love isn’t a quitter, Sugar, she intends to fight!”)
Unfortunately, Teresa Graves became a devout Jehovah’s Witness and insisted that the intended sex and violence of the series be toned down big time.
Her contract stipulated that she was to be released from shooting two days per week at 5.00 pm (most shows rehearse and film until 8.00 or 9.00 pm) to give her ample time to pursue her Bible studies and read Awake, the Witness magazine.
It was further stipulated that Christie would never kill anyone on the show, never tell a direct lie, and that no profanity was to be uttered.
As a result, the show didn’t click with the intended audience and the programme was taken off the schedule in July, being described by one critic as having “all the humour of Shaft and all the devil-may-care breakneck action of Mary Tyler Moore.”
Teresa Graves died in 2002, aged 54, from injuries sustained in a house fire.
Detective Christie Love Teresa Graves
Lt. Matt Reardon
Charles Cioffi
Capt. Arthur P. Ryan
Jack Kelly
Detective Steve Belmont
Dennis Rucker
Detective Valencia
Scott Peters
Detective Joe Caruso
Andy Romano
Sgt. Pete Gallagher
Michael Pataki
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Her tough, no-nonsense boss, Lieutenant Matt Reardon (Charles Cioffi), attempted to keep Christie under control and out of danger, but she pretty much went her own way (“I got news for you, Lieutenant – Christie Love isn’t a quitter, Sugar, she intends to fight!”)
