Kojak - Seige of Terror

This was the first episode to be shown after the pilot movie of the long running series, Kojak and guest stars a young Harvey Keitel as a desperate armed robber. The episode was viewed as part of the season one box-set currently available from Universal Playback.

Now obviously I was aware of Kojak (who isn't?) but I don't think I've really seen it since I was a kid. It was never one of my favourite shows as I much preferred the all action type of show and it may have been too intense and gritty for my tastes at the time. The 1970's New York streets look as if they are covered in a grey slime and the characters are all presented as real people.

I do remember Kojak appearing in a comic I used to read - that would be the short lived Target which launched and died in 1978.

So in a sense, although I knew all the catch phrases and the basic premise, I was coming to the series fresh. The first thing that struck me is how gritty and realistic the first episode was.

After a armed robbery, followed by an excellently filmed car chase that plays out like a small screen Bullit, a group of robbers, led by a very young Harvey Keitel hold up in a store with hostages, including a cop they have shot. Kojak and his team are outside trying to negotiate with the men and secure the release of the hostages. However time is running out - the armed men have given a deadline when they will start killing hostages and to make time even tighter the cop who had been shot previously is slowly bleeding to death.

It's all played dead seriously with a brilliant performance from the young Keitel - watching this at the time I wonder how many people would have realised what a massive talent he would become, but the signs are surely there in the way he pulls off the character of lowlife with some good qualities. The ending is absolutely unexpected and incredibly suspenseful as Kojak walks from the store, a dead cop over his shoulder, willing the men to gun him down.

An excellent episode and thanks to the modern world and DVD box sets I can now enjoy the entire first season at my leisure. It'll be interesting to see how the show developed - there are none of the shows trademarks in this first episode - no lollypops and no, "who luves ya, baby's". And none of the regular cast are really fleshed out, other than Kojak of course. Stavros (actually Telly's brother George Savalas) is even here billed under the name Demosthenes and not referred to by name in the episode.

A great 70's style cop thriller.

And to end on a Kojak joke - There are two flies on Kojak's head and one Say's to the other, 'Smile we're on Telly.'