Throwback Thursday: One Adam 12

It was a year of wonder entwined with fear, 1968. the United States was embroiled in a conflict in Vietnam, the USS Pueblo and its 83 man crew are taken prisoner by the North Koreans for violating territorial waters. Martin Luther King, Robert Kennedy, and Andy Warhol are shot and killed. The Soviet Union invades Czechoslovakia. The Summer Olympics are held in Mexico city. Apollo 7 and Apollo 8 are launched into space, serving as stepping stones to the moon.

On network television a new police drama premiered. Malloy, an experienced cop ready to retire after his partner's untimely death, is partnered with Reed, a rookie who proves himself worthy enough for Malloy to stay on. Thus One Adam 12 is born and would run for seven seasons, bringing a degree of sanity to a world that at times seemed like it was teetering on the brink.

I was only ten at the time and the show offered a respite from the terrors that lurked beyond my door. An avid reader I had taken to reading the daily paper, and watching the evening news with my dad. The biggest topic of course being the daily toll of killed and wounded from the war in Vietnam, along with combat footage from the field.

After a daily dose of a world gone mad was it any wonder that a show like One Adam 12, where it seemed the most complex issues were resolved in half an hour, would prove to be a safe haven from the insanity that is life.