| Amy Prentiss | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Police drama |
| Created by | Francine Carroll |
| Starring |
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| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 3 |
| Original release | |
| Network | NBC |
| Release | December 1, 1974 (1974-12-01) – February 2, 1975 (1975-02-02) |
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Amy Prentiss is an American police drama television series that originally aired on NBC.[1]
Amy Prentiss was a spinoff of Ironside[2] (the pilot was a two-hour episode of that show) and like that series was set in San Francisco. NBC executives initially rejected the program as a series, but high ratings for the pilot changed their minds.[3]
The show aired as part of the NBC Mystery Movie in 1974–1975,[4] replacing Hec Ramsey,[5] but was canceled after three 2-hour episodes.
Jessica Walter stars as Amy Prentiss, a relatively young investigator who becomes the first female Chief of Detectives for the San Francisco Police Department following the previous chief's death. She is a single mother whose husband died in a plane crash. Prentiss faced opposition from other police officers and from officers' wives.[2]
Helen Hunt, in an early recurring role, plays Prentiss' pre-teen daughter, Jill.[6] Other actors and the characters they portrayed are Steve Sandor as Tony Russell, Arthur Metrano as Rod Pena, Johnny Seven as detective Contreras, and Gwenn Mitchell as Joan Carter.[4]
Guest stars in the series' brief run included William Shatner, Cameron Mitchell, Ron Thompson, Don Murray, Joyce Van Patten and Jamie Farr.[citation needed]
In 1975, Walter won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series for her work in Amy Prentiss.[7]
The pilot for this series was the two-part Ironside episode "Amy Prentiss," a.k.a. "The Chief" (May 23, 1974).
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Baptism of Fire" | Jeffrey Hayden | Michael Butler, Christopher Trumbo | December 1, 1974 (1974-12-01) | |
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Amy assumes her duties as San Francisco's first female police chief. Her first assignment: an old friend is suspected of murder, and a mad bomber is striking the city.
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| 2 | "The Desperate World of Jane Doe" | Andrew V. McLaglen | Elinor Karpf, Steven Karpf | December 22, 1974 (1974-12-22) | |
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A party host passes out to find a strange, very dead woman in his apartment and himself as the prime suspect. Amy also takes on some phony checks and a cat burglar.
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| 3 | "Profile in Evil" | Unknown | Unknown | February 2, 1975 (1975-02-02) | |
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Amy's quarry is a renegade cop who killed a drug dealer and the fellow officer who witnessed his crime.
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