By Forris Day Jr.
Undercover cops have never been so cool..or potentially stoned as they were in the great TV show that ran from 1968 – 1973 called “The Mod Squad”. The show was produced by Aaron Spelling. It centers on three hippie undercover cops, Peter Cochran (Michael Cole), Julie Barnes (Peggy Lipton) and the ever cool Linc Hayes (Clarence Williams III). Linc was so cool he could jump off a boat into the water, tumble over fences while in pursuit of bad guys, and narrowly avoid being hit by cars during foot chases yet never loose his shades. These agents were cooler than ice. Can you dig it? Sorry but I have to throw some 70s slang in here.
The show was a hit when I was a kid and I remember watching it while growing up so I am pretty excited that it has been released in it’s entire 5 season run in one huge 39 DVD box set. The show touched on many of the social issues of the time. Racism, drugs, rioting were all fair game for the storyline of “The Mod Squad”. The show is a quintessential snapshot of the early 70s with the far out clothing, the groovy pads and cool muscle cars that will make any car lover drool. Maybe avocado appliances will never be as popular as they once were but I see no reason why “The Mod Squad” will ever really go out of style. The stories are as relatable today as they were back then in the sense that we as humans still have lots of work to do to make this a better world. Too deep perhaps?
I got my hands on a disc from season 5 and enjoyed every episode. I even got my wifey, Renee to sit down and catch the episodes with me and she agrees that “The Mod Squad is indeed “far out man”. I say, save up some dough, snag the box set and throw on some comfortable threads and veg out to some episodes of “The Mod Squad”.