The Streets of San Francisco

Produced by the legendary Quinn Martin—whose TV empire included The Untouchables, The Fugitive, Cannon, and more—and based on Carolyn Weston’s novel Poor, Poor Ophelia, The Streets of San Francisco stands today as one of the most solid, no-nonsense police procedurals of the 1970s. It’s probably best remembered as the series that launched a young Michael Douglas—son of film legend Kirk Douglas—into stardom, and as the signature TV role of veteran actor Karl Malden.

Set against the stunning backdrop of the Bay Area, the series centered on widower Mike Stone (Malden), a seasoned San Francisco Police Department inspector in the Bureau of Inspectors. Stone is paired with Steve Keller (Douglas), a college-educated but green detective whose book learning often collided with real-world policing. Their boss, the no-frills Lieutenant Lessing, was played by Lee Harris.

The show opens on a grim, personal note: the murder of a fellow cop and longtime friend of Stone’s. When Stone promises the dead man’s widow that he’ll “get the punk who did it,” the tone is set. From there, The Streets of San Francisco delivered a steady stream of memorable plots, including murders tied to clergymen from the same seminary, a longshoreman stealing cobra venom, and a female impersonator who develops what TV Guide famously described as a “murderous split personality.” Like Quinn Martin’s The F.B.I., the series also doubled as a rolling commercial for the Ford Motor Company—Stone and Keller cruised the streets in hulking Ford LTDs, while villains reliably drove Fords, Lincolns, or Mercurys.

Beyond the reasonably plausible scripts and the postcard-perfect San Francisco locations, the real magic was the chemistry between Malden and Douglas. Their working relationship—part professional partnership, part father-and-son dynamic—gave the show its emotional core and helped build a large, loyal audience. At its peak in the mid-1970s, The Streets of San Francisco ranked as ABC’s third-most-popular series.

In 1976, Douglas left the show to pursue what became a hugely successful film acting and producing career; he was notably one of the people behind the scenes of the Oscar-winning One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. His character, Steve Keller, was written out in the fourth season finale when he was shot and wounded by Susan Dey (post-Partridge Family, pre-L.A. Law). After recovering, Keller decides to leave the SFPD and become a teacher. Douglas later tipped his hat to his TV roots in 2002 with a playful guest appearance on Will & Grace, where he portrayed a gay police investigator with a crush on Will.

Douglas was replaced by Richard Hatch—later of Battlestar Galactica fame—as Inspector Dan Robbins, Mike Stone’s new partner. But the dynamic changed noticeably. Many fans felt Hatch was nowhere near as compelling as Douglas, and ratings slipped. ABC canceled the series in 1977, ending its five-year run.

Along the way, The Streets served as a showcase for a remarkable parade of guest stars, including Nick Nolte, Dabney Coleman, Leslie Nielsen, Cheryl Ladd, Ned Beatty, and a young bodybuilder destined for action-movie superstardom: Arnold Schwarzenegger.

In many respects, The Streets of San Francisco was a quintessential 1970s drama, presenting police work and morality in stark black-and-white terms. But it was the pairing of Karl Malden and Michael Douglas—grounded, human, and quietly affecting—that elevated the show and secured its place as one of the era’s most memorable police procedurals.