FRIDAY HALL OF FAMER 07/19/19 - SGT. SAM STONE

For this week’s Friday Hall of Famer, we’re doing a call-back crossover with an earlier entry from this month….

From Wikipedia:
‘Felony Squad’ is a half-hour television crime drama originally broadcast on the ABC network from September 12, 1966, to January 31, 1969, a span encompassing seventy-three episodes.  

The program starred Howard Duff (as Sergeant Sam Stone) and Dennis Cole (as Detective Jim Briggs) as investigators in a major crimes unit. The setting was an unidentified West Coast city (background scenes obviously show Los Angeles, and L.A. City Hall is shown at dusk in the final scene of the opening credits). Duff's character was the veteran who was teaching his younger partner the nuances of life in this new facet of police work. Another main character was desk sergeant Dan Briggs (portrayed by Ben Alexander), the father of Cole's character.

The final episode of the series was part of a crossover with the ABC legal drama ‘Judd, for the Defense’, starring Carl Betz. The stunt also proved to be no more effective for ‘Judd’, which was cancelled at the end of its season after a two-year run.

Our inductee is of course Detective Sergeant Sam Stone, because of the three main characters, he’s the only one to appear in three different TV series, the main requirement for membership in the Television Crossover Hall of Fame.  Desk Sgt. Dan Briggs only had ‘Felony Squad’, while his son Jim Briggs did make the crossover to ‘Judd For The Defense’.  

But Sgt. Stone had one more trick up his sleeve….

‘Batman’
“The Impractical Joker” (1966)

From the IMDb:
Window Cameo in which Howard Duff portrays his character of Det. Sgt. Sam Stone.

There are a few other possibilities for theoretical connections for Sgt. Stone.  First up is what was probably meant as a reference to the TV series….

‘The Rockford Files’
“The Prisoner of Rosemont Hall” (1978)

From the IMDb:
When Jim confronts Leslie in Paul's apartment she exclaims, "And where do you come off breaking in and then asking questions like somebody out of ‘Felony Squad’?"

The intention of the writer could have been a reference to the TV show.  But within Toobworld, she could have meant the actual Felony Squad and that “Somebody” could have been Sam Stone.  In her past, unseen on our TV screens back in the Trueniverse, Leslie Callahan could have crossed paths with Stone.

Here’s a theory of relateeveety: Sgt. Sam Stone of Los Angeles could have been related to Detective Lt. Mike Stone who working ‘The Streets of San Francisco’, perhaps even brothers.  You never know.  Like Mushie Muskrat would say, “It’s pozz’ble, just pozz’ble.”

Actually, I’m going to make the claim that they were cousins, because I have another candidate for Sam Stone’s brother… twin brother, in fact.

Going back to ‘The Rockford Files’, Howard Duff played a con man named Edward J. Marks in “There’s One In Every Port”.  And while he had a daughter named Christine Marks, it still could be that he adopted that surname at a much younger age and conferred it upon his daughter.  Probably the one good thing he may have done to keep his twin brother from being linked to his name, should any scandal occurred while he was grifting in the Los Angeles area.

At any rate, we don’t have to depend on those tenuous connections.  Detective Sgt. Sam Stone has earned the right for inclusion well an truly on his own.

Welcome to the Hall, Sgt. Stone!