# Joe Forrester

Joe Forrester is an American crime/drama television series, starring Lloyd Bridges as a uniformed foot patrol officer in a run-down neighborhood of Los Angeles. Patricia Crowley co-starred as Georgia Cameron, Joe's romantic interest. Former NYPD Detective Eddie Egan played Sgt. Bernie Vincent, Joe's supervisor. Dwan Smith played Jolene, a resident of the neighborhood Joe patrolled.

## Character

Joe Forrester's character was introduced on the TV series Police Story, in a special 90-minute episode "The Return of Joe Forrester", written by Mark Rodgers and directed by Virgil W. Vogel, later retitled Cop on the Beat (1975), and syndicated as a TV-movie. In this pilot, Forrester, a second generation policeman, is a plainclothes officer in LAPD's Metro Division who convinces his superiors to put him back in uniform, and back on a foot beat, in a neighborhood beset by a series of armed robberies which are invariably followed by a vicious rape. When the case is solved, Forrester elects to stay in uniform, and on his foot beat, leading to the subsequent series.

## Plot

Forrester is a veteran cop in Los Angeles, assigned to a foot beat. He is a highly respected officer in the community, effectively fighting crime every day because, as a foot patrolman, he is able to keep personal contact with the people he protects, building trust and empathy. Like other cops, he busts thieves, drug dealers, murderers, and other criminals who threaten the residents of his beat.

## Episodes

| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
| 0 | "The Return of Joe Forrester" | Virgil W. Vogel | Mark Rodgers | May 6, 1975 (1975-05-06) |
| 1 | "Stakeout" | Alf Kjellin | Dallas L. Barnes | September 9, 1975 (1975-09-09) |
| 2 | "The Witness" | Unknown | Stephen Dowling | September 16, 1975 (1975-09-16) |
| 3 | "Bus Station" | Alvin Ganzer | Frank Telford | September 23, 1975 (1975-09-23) |
| 4 | "Welcome to the Gardens" | Barry Shear | S.S. Schweitzer | September 30, 1975 (1975-09-30) |
| 5 | "Deadly Weekend: Part 1: Saturday" | Michael O'Herlihy | Mark Rodgers | November 4, 1975 (1975-11-04) |
| 6 | "Deadly Weekend: Part 2: Sunday" | Michael O'Herlihy | Mark Rodgers | November 11, 1975 (1975-11-11) |
| 7 | "Powder Blue" | Alvin Ganzer | Dallas L. Barnes | November 18, 1975 (1975-11-18) |
| 8 | "Target: Mexican Syndicate" | Richard Benedict | Irv Pearlberg, Mark Rodgers | November 25, 1975 (1975-11-25) |
| 9 | "No Probable Cause" | Alexander Singer | Mark Rodgers, Norman Jolley, Frank Telford | December 2, 1975 (1975-12-02) |
| 10 | "The Best Laid Schemes" | Alf Kjellin | Dallas L. Barnes | December 9, 1975 (1975-12-09) |
| 11 | "The End of Summer" | Unknown | Stephen Dowling | December 16, 1975 (1975-12-16) |
| 12 | "Fashion Mart" | Unknown | Mark Rodgers | December 23, 1975 (1975-12-23) |
| 13 | "Fire Power" | Unknown | Orville Hampton, Frank Telford | January 6, 1976 (1976-01-06) |
| 14 | "An Act of Violence" | Alf Kjellin | Dallas L. Barnes | January 13, 1976 (1976-01-13) |
| 15 | "The Answer" | Unknown | Rick Kelbaugh, Mark Rodgers | February 2, 1976 (1976-02-02) |
| 16 | "Squeeze Play" | Barry Crane | Walter Dallenbach | February 9, 1976 (1976-02-09) |
| 17 | "A Game of Lose" | Alf Kjellin | Robert Dellinger, Mark Rodgers | February 16, 1976 (1976-02-16) |
| 18 | "Hard Core" | Alf Kjellin | Calvin Clements, Sr. | February 23, 1976 (1976-02-23) |
| 19 | "Girl on a String" | Alvin Ganzer | Stephen Dowling, Mark Rodgers | March 1, 1976 (1976-03-01) |
| 20 | "The Promised Land" | Unknown | Dallas L. Barnes | March 8, 1976 (1976-03-08) |
| 21 | "Pressure Point" | Unknown | Jack Miller | March 22, 1976 (1976-03-22) |
| 22 | "The Boy Next Door" | Unknown | Dallas L. Barnes | May 3, 1976 (1976-05-03) |