THE MOD SQUAD
Decades, 12:00 p.m. ET
In 1968, ABC made a brazen attempt to appeal to young viewers – as part of the first overt campaign by a broadcast network to woo that particular demographic – by presenting a new type of cop show. It was one that had a trio of young characters enlisted by Los Angeles police to work undercover… but only with the understanding that they were targeting the evil adults at the top of various criminal enterprises, not people their own age. That wiggle room allowed the three heroes of The Mod Squad – as described in the show’s own promos, “One white, one black, one blonde” – to go about their business without being branded and ostracized as turncoats or narcs. Michael Cole, Clarence Williams III, and Peggy Lipton starred, and it was an early Aaron Spelling TV hit, running for five years. Eventually, Williams would play Prince’s father in Purple Rain, while Lipton, even more memorably, would play waitress Norma Jennings in both the old and new versions of Twin Peaks. This weekend, Decades presents two days’ worth of episodes from The Mod Squad. It’s not a great TV show – but it’s a spectacularly revealing time capsule… Solid!