Guest Who: Hammer Time!

There have been countless TV series devoted to police work, from the procedural (Dragnet) to the family friendly (Adam-12) to the hip (The Mod Squad) and beyond. However, 1972 brought about the exemplary anthology series Police Story, peppered with top writers, directors and performers who brought an edgy, adult, sometimes bleak, angle to the proceedings. With a (nearly always) different cast each week, there was freedom to present practically any type of story. There were some topics covered that episodic TV had heretofore barely allowed, especially with the gritty handling afforded them here. I can't forget to mention the arresting music for the series as well. The gallery of actors and actresses who pop up on the show make it a joy to behold, but this time we're going to zero in on one who certainly caught our eye. It was the very first episode of the series, following the pilot, and was directed by John Badham (who six years later would helm a little something called Saturday Night Fever!)

The ostensible star of this installment is James Farentino, a busy actor of the 1960s and '70s who also later popped up in the second season of Dynasty. Playing an undercover cop who is trying to infiltrate a prostitution ring, he goes ALL-IN with the deliciously crazed clothing options of the early-'70s. One could look far and wide and come up empty-handed when trying to out-do some of the get-ups he has on here. Interestingly, he also plays opposite one of his ex-wives, Elizabeth Ashley, and they even have a love scene, despite having divorced seven years prior!

It's 1972, baby, and no one has ever been able to truly duplicate that overall look and vibe of the people, places and things. Today's cameras always make it all look too glossy and nice (and sharp.)

The photo with the little boy in his arms is of the character's ordinary street clothes. I included that because of the fit of his jeans. You might recognize buxom Francine York in the happenin' yellow ensemble.

Take note of The Underworld's favorite extra, Leoda Richards, in the thick of things above-left as always! While the lower-left outfit was one of the more eye-popping, I really dug this blue see-through shirt, open to the navel...! One of my very earliest posts at Poseidon's Underworld zeroed in on this 1970s look.

This being the '70s, it seems like every third character is sporting a bulge (another one of my earliest observations, which spawned a whole series of posts on the same theme.) The actor above, Eric Server, was playing a character called "Royster," who would later figure prominently in a Police Story spin-off.

Here we have Charles Dierkop who, interestingly, would take over the character of "Royster" in a later episode of Police Story and then carry it on to the spin-off show Police Woman, which starred Angie Dickinson. Dierkop is also sporting some revealing jeans, as he nearly always did on the show. But these are really just appetizers prior to the main course, which is about to be served...

Special guest star in this episode, and playing the villain of the piece, is Fred "The Hammer" Williamson. Williamson was a pro football player (known for hammering his opponents on the field with a swift arm chop!) who retired in 1968 and followed the lead of Jim Brown by turning to acting for a second career. He had a recurring role on Julia as Diahann Carroll's handsome boyfriend and later became a key figure in the Blaxploitation genre of tough-ass action flicks.

Here, he's a highly-charming, yet highly-dangerous, pimp with a penchant for roughing up the women around him. Here, he's even wielding the knife end of a corkscrew to show Farentino what can happen to those who cross him.

This moment, the first real scene with Williamson, was the one that was eye-popping. Greeted by the undercover Farentino (who is accompanied by Ed Bernard, who would also become a regular on Police Woman), Williamson is working one jaw-dropping white-on-white combo.

Hammer time, indeed!

It takes a lot to draw attention away from Bernard's funkalicious outfit, but Williamson manages to do so. Did I mention his character's name is "Snake McKay?!"

During a side-view, we can make out his tighty-whitey briefs.

Only in the '70s, folks...

Even when he's dressed in traditional men's wear, he got a fair amount of torque going on the crotch. He's seen here with Elizabeth Ashley. The clothes sprinkled throughout this episode are about a captivating as the story line.

Here we find Mr. Slick in one incredible jacuzzi...

The one concession to television standards and practices is that his woman is wearing a bikini. You know in their own backyard she'd at least be topless in the real world.

Williamson had, at this time, gone from supporting parts in movies such as MASH (1970) and starred in a couple of his own, notably Hammer (1972), but would very soon explode as a go-to guy in a whole series of rough and ready, lowdown action flicks. Many of these, albeit not for every taste, are among the mostly highly-regarded of the genre. 

He also, soon after this, would become one of the earliest male celebs to pose semi-nude for Playgirl. (In its earliest days, the famous men often showed almost everything instead of everything, though that would soon change - as when Williamson's peer Jim Brown posed a year later in 1974.)

You didn't really think I was going to wrap this up without presenting a couple of examples from that shoot did you?

I wouldn't dare caption this any further... Ha ha!

The End!