Mayberry town drunk Otis Campbell ("The Andy Griffith Show") picks a lousy time to take a drive out to Los Angeles, California. He had told Mayberry Sheriff Andy and Deputy Barney a few years earlier that he was never going to drive another car (after purchasing an old Hot Rod and then selling it almost immediately.) This was because he loved drinking alcohol so much and the two - driving and alcohol - just don't mix. But now, here he is, drunk and driving. Oh, Otis... There shall be one vacant chair. Officers Malloy and Reed follow in the footsteps of Officers Taylor and Fife. They haul 'ol Otis off to the slammer. (Though there probably weren't going to be any dynamite-loaded goats trying to share his cell in the L. A. lock-up!)
Detective Bill Gannon ("Dragnet") aka, Colonel Sherman Potter ("M*A*S*H") aka, Actor Harry Morgan, has chosen a terrific time to take a stab at directing a television half hour police drama. He handles the action, the as-written boredom (Malloy and Reed spend a good portion of the episode complaining to each other that "business" hasn't been all that thrilling lately,) the production and actors quite well. That is, once you realize that this episode, shown late in the first season, was quite possibly the second or so episode of the series to be filmed.
As it is, there are a few stand-out moments which give clear indication that this was filmed very early in season. For some unknown reason it was held back for broadcast. The most notable in-story indication of this is when Sergeant MacDonald informs Reed - to put Reed in his place after he offers his unwanted two-cents worth - that he's only been on the job for three weeks. That three weeks statement is very much at odds with a whole lot of events which have transpired over the past 18 episodes or so.
A production-wise indication of this episode having been one of the very first filmed, is the use of "clashing" moments within the same segment. By this I mean switching from outdoor location shots to obvious indoor studio shots within the same conversation. This can be seen in the segment featuring the man and woman who are complaining about the evil, glue-sniffing hippies who are standing on the otherside of the street over by the park. This switching back and forth from location to studio to location to studio is quite jarring. The studio lighting comes no where near to matching the location lighting.
This segment was actually filmed for the very first, pilot episode of the series. It actually sets up what is in fact the final segment of that episode. Here, the woman with the complaint is Thelma Martin. Back in the pilot episode, the final segment finds Malloy and Reed sent to a park late at night where 30 hippies are gathered. Three of them have guns and a shotgun. They are shooting wildly from a barbecuing hut. Another Officer remarks that a woman, Thelma Martin, has been injured. Malloy and Reed look to one another, obviously recognizing the name. Then too, when Reed captures the hippies, they are the same hippies that are seen in this episode.
Besides all that, there's the entire scene in which M & R work to save a suicidal man from jumping off the outside ledge of a multi-story apartment building. Malloy's behavior is very much at odds with how the character has developed within the 18 or so episodes since the show's premiere. Joining the man out on the ledge is simply too "Super-Cop". Like something that a Cop in a 1950's police drama might do so the show could demonstrate to viewers how incredibly heroic their character is. At this point in time for "Adam-12", neither Malloy nor Reed have to prove themselves like that. Besides all that, risking one's life by climbing out onto a building ledge as Malloy did, just simply isn't intelligent nor proper police procedure. Also, the outside action on the ledge isn't filmed very well. When the suicidal man and Malloy tussle on the ledge, Malloy swinging the man past himself and back through the window, it looks as if there's actually enough room on the ledge for the two men to have a nice dance.
Setting aside all that "filmed early in the season" stuff, this is still a darn good episode of Adam-12. Though Malloy and Reed may be bored with the little bits of inactive Police work they're dealing with, the episode is not at all boring for the viewer.
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