POLICE WOMAN: SMACK (TV)
Summary
One in this series of police dramas concerning the cases of Sgt. Pepper Anderson and her team of investigators.
A teenager named Jerry is ambushed by a pair of men at a high school baseball stadium at night. One of them, Mickey, beats up Jerry for being a “fink,” despite the other man’s attempt to reason with him. A passerby hears Jerry’s cries for help and rushes to aid him, but only arrives in time to see Jerry fall from the top of the stadium to his death. The police investigate the death, at first believing it to be a suicide. One of Jerry’s classmates speaks to Sgt. Crowley, declaring that Jerry did not take his own life and that it was well-known that he was a drug pusher. Pepper is working undercover at the school, posing as a physical education instructor, and has been there for a few weeks as part of an investigation into narcotics activity at the school. She is working alongside coach and ex-professional basketball player Sam Jennings, who was the other person involved with Mickey during Jerry’s death. Sgt. Crowley takes her aside, where she notes that Jerry’s death was not a suicide, and he was likely killed to prevent him from divulging information on the drug ring. She determines that he was a loner and had few friends, other than a girl named Monica and a chemistry teacher named Mark Ciprio, who was the man who overheard Jerry’s encounter on the night of his death.
Sgt. Crowley questions Mark, who tells him that he was Jerry’s friend and came from a “broken home.” Sgt. Crowley notes that Jerry was rumored to be both a drug pusher and a drug addict himself, but Mark claims not to know anything about that. Pepper gets another officer, an eager young woman named Linda Daniels, to go undercover alongside her, but another officer warns her against doing so, noting that narcotics work is dangerous. Mark is secretly approached by Mickey, who asks him to speak to his boss, and threatens him if he doesn’t comply. He gets Mark to drive off with him, secretly followed by Royster. Royster returns to the office to deliver his report: Mickey is in the employ of a major narcotics supplier, and Sgt. Crowley hopes to use this as an opportunity to arrest him. Sgt. Crowley assigns Pepper to investigate Mark further, and asks Linda, now disguised as a teenager, to see what she can learn from Monica and possibly try to set up a false drug purchase. He warns her not to take unnecessary risk without checking with the department, and that she’ll be monitored constantly.
The next day, Pepper discovers a pair of students beating a boy in the boy’s bathroom and breaks up the fight. She fights back, but before the conflict can escalate Mark enters and gets the boys to go away. That night, Pepper comes to visit Mark, clearly drunk. She joins him and eventually gets him to reveal that he is considering resigning from the school. He blames himself for Jerry’s death and breaks down crying when he starts talking about it; Pepper tries to comfort him. The next day during class Linda enters in her student guise and is seated next to Monica. Soon Linda attempts to befriend Monica, and at lunch manages to get her to agree to set up a drug buy for her. Pepper meets up with Mark again, who apologizes for his behavior. He invites her out to dinner and she accepts. Unbeknownst to them, Eric Miller, a student at the school and the son of a city councilman, is also dealing drugs around the school.
Monica sets Linda up with Sam, who agrees to meet with her after school. Via her wire, she passes on information to Royster and Styles. After school, Pepper comes across a group of girls struggling in the women’s locker room; one of them is the girl Eric sold drugs to, who is screaming and incoherent. Pepper calls for an ambulance and brings Eric to police headquarters, having traced the drug sale back to him. Linda goes out with Monica and Sam to a bar downtown, still monitored by Royster. Sam explains that he got addicted to painkillers to cope with the aftereffects of a disastrous knee surgery. Finally he agrees to help her set up a deal and talks to his associate Willie at the bar. Willie recognizes Linda as a police officer, much to Sam’s concern. Sam calls Mickey, who promises to deal with her, although Sam doesn’t want any “rough stuff.” Sam tells Monica to drive off, and she leaves observed by Royster and Styles. They chase after Sam and Linda, leaving in another car. However, Sam manages to elude them.
Sam brings Linda to Mickey, who attacks and kills her, sending a wave of grief throughout the police department. Royster and Styles question Mark, who discovers Pepper’s true identity. He admits that he was at the stadium when Jerry was killed, and knew about Jerry’s drug involvement. He attempted to get Jerry to quit, and had recently gotten a phone call from Jerry saying that he wanted out but was afraid that his employers would retaliate. He went out to the stadium to meet with him, but got there too late and Jerry was killed. He confirms that the killer was Mickey, and reveals that they were neighbors growing up. Mark also reveals that he worked for Mickey’s employer as a chemist in college, making and refining drugs for street sale; he did it to pay for his ill wife’s extensive medical treatments, but that she died anyway and he quit shortly thereafter. Now Mickey is trying to get Mark to work for him again, threatening to reveal Mark’s activities to the school, hence prompting Mark’s decision to resign. He is willing to testify against the drug ring and Sgt. Crowley decides to make a bust against the operation, accompanied by Pepper.
They arrive at the headquarters, only to find the ringleader has already been apprehended and Sam and Mickey have engaged in a fight inside. Sam has Mickey cornered in the basement with a gun, intending to shoot in revenge for killing Linda. He leads the police on a chase throughout the facility, and Pepper reveals her identity to Sam. They try to convince Sam not to kill Mickey, as they need him alive to testify and bring down the drug ring. They manage to talk Sam down and he gives himself in. Eric is questioned by Styles, and he finally admits to taking part in the drug sales, much to his father’s horror. Sgt. Crowley and Pepper note that he will likely be let off with a reduced sentence, striking a sour note in their victory. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: NBC
- DATE: November 30, 1999 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:50:04
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:57358
- GENRE: Drama, police/detective
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, police/detective
- SERIES RUN: NBC - TV series, 1974-1978
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- David Gerber … Executive Producer
- Douglas Benton … Producer
- George Lehr … Associate Producer
- John Newland … Director
- Robert Collins … Created by
- Richard Bluel … Writer
- Patricia Fielder … Writer
- Richard Shores … Music by
- Morton Stevens … Theme Music by
- Angie Dickinson … Cast, Sgt. Suzanne "Pepper" Anderson
- Earl Holliman … Cast, Sgt. Bill Crowley
- Charles Dierkop … Cast, Royster
- Ed Bernard … Cast, Styles
- William Shatner … Cast, Mark Ciprio
- Brenda Sykes … Cast, Linda Daniels
- Barry Livingston … Cast, Eric Miller
- Robert Sampson … Cast, Mickey Ross
- Smokey Robinson … Cast, Sam Jennings
- Jamie Donnelly … Cast, Monica
- Ben Hammer … Cast, Walter Miller
- Anne Seymour … Cast, Mrs. Goddard
- Mwako Cumbuka … Cast, Willie
- Ray Vitte … Cast, Ron Daniels
- Tracy Bogart … Cast, Bonnie
- George Garro … Cast, Stemper
- Dick Anders … Cast, Carver
- Jonas Agee … Cast, Jerry Cook
- William Sims … Cast, Patrolman
- Thomas Evans … Cast, Phil
- Jamie Reidy … Cast, Dennis
- Collis White … Cast, Ted
- Wade Graham … Cast, Officer
- Linda Gillin … Cast, Helen