David Cassidy: Man Undercover (1978) - "Running the Hill" w/ Marla Dawson

Show Notes

Marla joins the show to discuss 70s style policing and terrible color palate with David Cassidy: Man Undercover (1978)

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Watch: YouTube
Aired: November 2, 1978
Episode Run: 10 Episodes

Created by: Richard Fielder

Directed by: Bernard McEveety (Combat, Gunsmoke, How the West Was Won, Bonanza)

Written By: Sean Baine (Walking Tall the TV series, RoboCop: The Series, TJ Hooker)

Official Description: Twenty-something officer Dan Shay operates undercover in the Los Angeles youth scene.

Cast:

David Cassidy … Dan Shay
Simon Oakland … Sgt. Abrams
Wendy Rasttatar … Joanne Shay


Fun Facts:

• This show was a spinoff of the show Police Story via a backdoor pilot. In the episode “A Chance to Live” Officer Dan Shay goes undercover at a high school to infiltrate a drug ring. 
• Cassidy got an Emmy nomination for Best Dramatic Actor for the role
• There is actually a dedicated website for the show at chezgrae.com/dcmu. Looks like a geocities site
• This show was an inspiration for 21 Jump Street, as it was created by writers from this show
• Cassidy had a rampant alcohol problem. In 2017 he announced that he had developed dementia and fell off stage. He also announced his liver was failing. In 2018 he was hospitalized for liver and kidney failure and placed. Doctors hoped to keep him alive long enough for a transplant but he died 3 days later, 47 years to the day after “I Think I Love You” hit #1 on the charts.
• His daughter is Katie Cassidy, Laurel from the CW Arrowverse. But the two never had a relationship and she was raised by her mother.
• His final words were to Katie on his deathbed: “So much wasted time”

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What is The Pilot Project?

Sometimes the worst TV is the best TV. Each week Dustin and Marc look back at a failed show from TV history.