Downtown

1 9 8 6 (USA)
14 x 60 minute episodes

John Forney (Michael Nouri) is a veteran undercover detective with Unit 6 of the Metro Division of the LAPD in this CBS crime drama series.

After 14 years on the job, Forney is tasked with the role of Special Parole Officer and assigned to the Los Angeles Special Projects Field Office at 3391/2 East Front Street. There he is assigned to watch over four felons: Jesse Smith, Harriet Conover, Terry Corsaro and Dennis Shothoffer.

Jesse (Mariska Hargitay) is a beautiful and rebellious girl who grew up in Oakland, California, with six brothers. “They were Hell’s Angels”, she says, “and three joined the Marines”. Jesse is a karate expert but has been arrested on numerous occasions for assault and battery.

Harriet (Millicent Martin) is a genteel British socialite and expert con artist. She was initially arrested for selling beachfront property that was actually underwater.

Terry (Blair Underwood) is a street-wise black youth with an arrest record for car theft.

Dennis (Robert Englund) believes he is a nobody. To overcome his feelings of inadequacy, he pretends to be someone else to feel important.

He was arrested for impersonating a doctor and performing three operations.

John calls his charges “Losers – all eight balls who are like children. Once the nursery door is opened, they run loose and get busted for the same thing they were put away for in the first place”.

He now has to keep four criminals out of trouble as an arrest will mean their immediate incarceration.

Harriet’s large home at 145 Mara Linda Lane provides John with a base of operations. The four live together there with Harriet acting as a den mother to the other three. John finds that by incorporating his charges’ unique skills in his undercover work, he can put their bad habits to good use.

Delia Bonner (Virginia Capers) is the head of the Special Parole Program and believes John is the right man for the job. The jails are overcrowded, and releasing less dangerous criminals is one way of easing the burden. John believes that if the jails are overcrowded, they should just build more jails.

The theme tune – Money (That’s What I Want), written by Motown Records founder Berry Gordy – was performed by Ronnie Milsap.

Detective John Forney
Michael Nouri
Jesse Smith
Mariska Hargitay
Harriet Conover
Millicent Martin
Terry Corsaro
Blair Underwood
Dennis Shothoffer
Robert Englund
Delia Bonner
Virginia Capers
Captain David Kiner
David Paymer

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