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POLICE STORY

"Love, Mabel"

Original air date Nov 26, 1974
Directed by Robert Collins
Teleplay by Jerry Ludwig

Cast
William Shatner as Keitlinger
Michael Learned as Linda
Dean Stockwell as Det. Glacino
Peter Brown as Chuck
Larry Storch as Willy
John Russell as Lt. Galvin
Aldo Ray as Capt. Eagle
Royal Dano as Drivas

The dual focus in this episode show is on William Shatner as an officer neglecting his wife (Michael Learned) who turns to the bottle and, of course, the series of murders he's investigating which involve winos. The title "Love, Mabel" refers to the inscription on a stolen wedding ring which is the final evidence needed to convict the wino murderer.

Cast Note: When we asked Peter about it, he said he and John had never done a Police Story together. When we finally found it, we realized why Peter didn't know John was in the same episode. They were filmed separately in completely unrelated small parts with no overlap. Maybe something was cut out from the original concept of the old family friend, but as the episode stands, John's part is just a couple of meaningless walk-ons. Peter's part has a bit more substance.

John Russell is simply an old friend who greets the wife at the station and later has another walk-on scene with a brief interaction with Shatner. Peter is a guy who picks up Shatner's wife in a bar and gets pissed when, after buying her drinks, she changes her mind about spending the evening with him.

Because credits books listed both John Russell and Peter Brown in this 1974 episode of Police Story, we made a special effort to find it.

The wife's drinking had to come to a head which it does when she ends up in jail after making a scene in the bar. She's arrested for public drunkenness after spending the afternoon flirting with Chuck, an attractive but not very honorable guy who insults her when she changes her mind about leaving with him.(Peter Brown vs. William Shatner - sorry we have to wonder why she changed her mind. We suppose because looks and charm aren't everything and Peter was playing a low-life bar scavenger.)

NiteOwl Review: We were disappointed to have a show with both Peter and John Russell but with no interaction that we hardly bothered to follow the plot. Police Story was an anthology show without any regular stars so it would have been easy for them to do a show with Peter and John as partners solving a crime. A major missed opportunity. We do have some major William Shatner fans in our NiteOwls video group, but none of them wrote this review so you're stuck with our grumbling. Peter had a much better part in an earlier Police Story "Gamble." He also appeared in two episodes of Shatner's T.J. Hooker.

Official Peter Brown Fan Site