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Lloyd 'Happy Trails' Farley: the man, the myth, the legend. What can be said about this amazing - and humble - man that hasn't been said before? Or, more accurately, what can be said in public? Born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Lloyd is a master of puns and a humorist, who has authored one pun book to date - Pun and Grimeish Mint - and is working on a second. His time with Collider has allowed Lloyd's passion for writing to explode, with nearly 1,000 articles to his name that have been published on the site, with his favorite articles being the ones that allow for his sense of humor to shine. Lloyd also holds fast to the belief that all of life's problems can be answered by The Simpsons, Star Wars, and/or The Lion King. You can read more about Lloyd on his website, or follow his Facebook page and join the Llama Llegion. Happy trails!
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The crime drama is one of television's longest-running and most popular genres, with every new year bringing with it at least one new series that hopes to stand out amongst the crowd. One way that is often used to draw attention to a new crime series is a unique "hook," something that gives the tried and true police drama a twist. But for every High Potential, where the hook – a high-potential intellectual single mother helps the LAPD — complements the engaging case of the week, there's a Cop Rock, where the hook – a musical police drama — overshadows the story being told.
Simply put, the police dramas that succeed and are recalled fondly are those that remember an engaging story must always come first, not the hook. And one of television's greatest police shows is remembered for that very reason, 51 years after it aired its final episode. It featured a memorable, charismatic lead who used brains and initiative instead of bullets and physicality. The character is Chief Robert T. Ironside (Raymond Burr), left paralyzed from the waist down by a sniper's bullet, and he is the protagonist of the 1967-1975 eight-season classic, Ironside.
'Ironside' Was a Welcome Change From the Typical Police Procedural
Image via NBCFresh off his successful run as the titular character in Perry Mason, Raymond Burr turned from defending those accused of crimes to someone seeking crime perpetrators as former San Francisco Police Department Chief Ironside. In the show's pilot, which aired as a television movie, Ironside, a Navy veteran and a member of the force for 25 years, is forced to retire after a sniper's bullet hits him in the spine, paralyzing him from the waist down and relegating him to a wheelchair.
But the wily Ironside doesn't let that stop him, and tricks his friend, Police Commissioner Dennis Randall (Gene Lyons), into creating a new position, a "special department consultant," and appointing it to Ironside. To assist him in his investigations, Ironside has Det. Sgt. Ed Brown (Don Galloway) and plainclothes officer Eve Whitfield (Barbara Anderson) assigned to his private law enforcement team, and takes on a former delinquent, Mark Sanger (Don Mitchell), as his assistant (Sanger would eventually attend law school and join the SFPD in the series' sixth season). With his team pulled together, they search for, and find, the man who shot Ironside. From that point on, Ironside would use his keen investigative skills and intellect to solve crimes every week, a welcome change from what we were used to with the genre.
'Ironside' Was a Groundbreaking Police Procedural in Many Ways
Image via NBCWhile not definitively the first, Ironside is one of the earliest American primetime series where the lead character has a physical disability, and one of a handful where the disability doesn't define the character, or turn them into a PSA for empathy. Ironside didn't fall into despair and self-pity, but approached his disability with quiet dignity and a strength of character. That is what defined Ironside, not the fact he was wheelchair-bound. But that is not an easy trait to communicate from a wheelchair, and it can be argued that without Raymond Burr, Ironside simply wouldn't work. Burr had earned a lot of goodwill from his Perry Mason days, and with his deep, commanding voice and presence, he brought a depth, believability, and respect to the character that a lesser actor would have trouble bringing to life.
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But the strength of Ironside is the fact that it placed the story above the hook of Ironside's physical disability. These were smart storylines, well-written pieces that focused on detective work as opposed to violence, psychology as opposed to gunfire. They explored real world problems like drug addiction, while the premise allowed for pointed commentary about the rights and representation of others. It also tackled discrimination and racism – not just in storylines, but in its cast. Ironside's Black character, Mark Sanger, had a redemptive arc from delinquent to lawyer that was almost unheard of at the time.
Ironside was groundbreaking on multiple levels, with a legacy that stretches well after its final episode aired 51 years ago. The idea of a "special consultant" for the police has enjoyed a renaissance of sorts, with both High Potential and Elsbeth featuring lead characters that have the same role. And series like Will Trent, which recently aired its well-received Season 4 premiere, keeps the spirit that Ironside created, of having a lead character who doesn't let his disability, in this case dyslexia, deter him from his investigations as a Special Agent in the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. That legacy doesn't happen if Ironside didn't last (like its 2013 reboot, cancelled after airing only four episodes), so it stands to reason that a great police show would go on to inspire other great police shows in its wake.
Ironside
Release Date 1967 - 1975-00-00
Directors Don Weis, Abner Biberman, Anton Leader, Charles S. Dubin, John Florea, Barry Shear, Richard Benedict, David Friedkin, Leslie H. Martinson, Ralph Senensky, Russ Mayberry, Alf Kjellin, James Sheldon, Jeannot Szwarc, Allen Reisner, Daniel Petrie, Daniel Haller, Corey Allen, Bruce Kessler, Alvin Ganzer, Boris Sagal, William A. Graham, Robert Scheerer, Robert Day
English (US) ·