Remembering "Serpico" the TV Series

In 1973 a movie called Serpico starring Al Pacino about the corruption whistler-blower NYPD cop Frank Serpico came out. To this day it remains a classic flick with one of Pacino's best early career performance (it came out between the first two Godfathers).

Then in 1976 a TV series called Serpico starring a guy named David Birney about an NYPD cop named Frank Serpico who busts other corrupt cops came out, ran for 15 episodes, got cancelled, and was promptly forgotten.

This being Mr NYC, I'm naturally interested in little forgotten cultural nuggets like this. And even though it wasn't a great show, it's certainly an interesting late 1970s slice-of-life. The show's pilot aired in April 1976 and then for half-a-season from September 1976 to January 1977.

Interestingly enough (for me) the show aired at the same time the recently deceased Jimmy Carter was elected and when yours truly was born. It also went off the air at the start of one of the most consequential years in NYC history. 

If you have any interesting in watching this show, you can actually see the whole series here. And believe it or not, as of this writing, Frank Serpico is still alive at the age of 88!