---
title: "Kojak"
year: 1973
kind: "series"
canonical: "https://film.one/tv/kojak"
fi1m_score: 80
critics_reviews: 2
published: "2026-09-16T16:48:09.140071+00:00"
updated: "2026-09-16T16:48:09.631581+00:00"
region: "US"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Kojak (1973)

Created by Abby Mann · 1h 00m · MPA TV-PG · Crime, Drama, Mystery

**Fi1m score: 80** · Critics: 2 of 6 reviews so far

*In a sentence:* Telly Savalas makes a lollipop look like standard police equipment

> Telly Savalas makes *Kojak* worth returning to, and the street-level New York atmosphere gives him somewhere convincing to work. Some of the police drama has dated; the quiet charisma and moral complications have worn better.

## Synopsis

New York in the 1970s is the setting for the police work of Theo Kojak (Telly Savalas), a man with a supply of lollipops and a wardrobe of suits. His working world includes Frank McNeill (Dan Frazer), Bobby Crocker (Kevin Dobson) and Sgt. Stavros (George Savalas). Criminal investigations take the series into the city’s streets, where the pursuit of offenders brings questions about right and wrong. Kojak wants to solve the cases in front of him; what counts as justice is not always as straightforward as identifying a culprit.

## Review

*Kojak* is worth watching for Telly Savalas, but there is enough going on around him to reward more than an interest in its leading man. Abby Mann’s crime series puts a quietly commanding policeman into a grubby New York and gives him cases with some moral difficulty. We recommend it, with a caveat: its central policeman can be so reassuring that those difficulties lose some of their force. The street-level roughness is persuasive, though it does not make every police story feel less familiar.

Telly Savalas plays Theo Kojak with a quietness that makes the suits and lollipops seem incidental, however readily they catch the eye. We were more absorbed than we expected, because that unforced authority makes the policeman worth watching even before a case has become interesting. There is humour in the contrast between the sweet and the job, but the performance does not depend on it. A more insistent actor would make the character’s recognisable habits exhausting; here we are happy to spend time with him.

The supporting cast gives that pleasure some substance. Dan Frazer as Frank McNeill, Kevin Dobson as Bobby Crocker and George Savalas as Sgt. Stavros help the programme feel inhabited beyond its title character. We would not pretend that the balance is equal: Telly Savalas remains the main attraction. Still, their presence matters, because police work becomes less convincing when everyone around the lead seems to have been employed solely to receive instructions.

The New York atmosphere does considerable work, too, with cinematographers including Sol Negrin and Gerald Perry Finnerman contributing to the series. Its street-level photography gives the police stories a useful roughness, while the grubby production design prevents the smart suits from making everything look comfortable. We believe in the place before we have decided what we think of the case. That matters in a procedural, where the surroundings have to remain interesting even when the route through an investigation is familiar.

The lean episodes are another advantage, and editors including Louis San Andres and Richard Marks keep the storytelling direct. There is satisfaction in a programme willing to get on with an investigation instead of treating every piece of information as a grand revelation. John Cacavas supplies the music; we would put the acting and photography ahead of it among the reasons to return. The series is most persuasive when it allows the case and the people involved to occupy our attention without much ceremony.

The qualification is that a strong central performance can also make a difficult story too comfortable. *Kojak* has moral complications, but we sometimes find ourselves accepting its policeman’s authority more readily than considering the trouble in front of him. That is where the datedness shows most clearly for us, rather than in the clothes or the pace. Abby Mann’s creation offers enough uncertainty to be interesting, although we would welcome more occasions when the star’s confidence failed to settle ours.

There is no need to treat this as a historical assignment, or excuse its shortcomings simply because it comes from 1973. The attraction remains straightforward enough for anyone who enjoys a police procedural. We would start with an episode and let Telly Savalas make the case for another. Leave a little time between them if the reassuring familiarity begins to outweigh the interest in the crime.

*Fi1m score 80, published 16 September 2026.*

### Reviews we read (2)

- **The AV Club**, Noel Murray (90/100, inferred): The review praises Telly Savalas's quiet charisma and the series' lean, well-written episodes with gritty '70s New York atmosphere and scuzzy production design. It singles out the strong street-level feel and standout guest performances like James Woods in one episode. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/kojak-season-one-1798200557)
- **The Guardian** (75/100, inferred): Kojak remains a gripping police procedural despite some dated elements, and is surprisingly morally complex. It features lollipops, great suits, and early appearances by future stars like Sylvester Stallone. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2010/mar/26/kojak-your-next-box-set)

## Details

- **Created by:** Abby Mann
- **Creator:** Abby Mann
- **Director:** Jeannot Szwarc, Charles S. Dubin, Sigmund Neufeld Jr., Russ Mayberry, Nicholas Sgarro, Leo Penn, Jerry London, Telly Savalas, David Friedkin, Daniel Haller, Ernest Pintoff, Edward M. Abroms, Gene R. Kearney, Richard Donner, Joel Oliansky, Jim Benson, Charles R. Rondeau, William Hale, Allen Reisner, Christian Nyby, Paul Stanley, Alex March, Seymour Robbie, Andy Sidaris, Harvey S. Laidman, Gary Nelson, John Meredyth Lucas, Noel Black, Robert Day, Sutton Roley, Joseph Sargent
- **Writer:** Gene R. Kearney, Jack Laird, Chester Krumholz, Burton Armus, James M. Miller, Morton Fine, Robert W. Lenski, Stephen Downing, Joseph Gunn, Joe Gores, Robert C. Dennis, William P. McGivern, Albert Ruben, Alvin Boretz, Alvin Sapinsley, Halsted Welles, Eric Kaldor, Charles Sailor, Ross Teel, Rift Fournier, Michael Kozoll, Jerrold Freedman, Mark Rodgers, Jack Epps Jr., Michael I. Wagner, Leon Tokatyan, Peter S. Fischer, Oliver Crawford, Don Rene Patterson, Robert Foster, Art Eisenson, Donald P. Bellisario, Andy House, Joel Oliansky, Charlene Bralver, Steven W. Carabatsos, Michael Grais, George Bacos, Abby Mann, James Bonnet, Anthony Spinner, Mark Weingart, Ray Brenner, Bob Bralver, Harriet Margulies, David Taylor, Robert E. Swanson, Dallas L. Barnes
- **Story:** Matthew Rapf, Eric Kaldor, Charles Sailor, Robert Malcolm Young, James Duff McAdams, Gene R. Kearney, Robert C. Dennis, William P. McGivern, Ross Teel, Rift Fournier, Michael Kozoll, Jerrold Freedman, Mike Frankovich Jr., Brian McKay, Marvin Kupfer, Arthur E. McLaird, John Meredyth Lucas, Charles Watts, William A. Schwartz, Mark Victor
- **Teleplay:** Gene R. Kearney, Morton Fine, Jack Laird, Chester Krumholz, Robert C. Dennis, William P. McGivern, Mark Rodgers, Barry Trivers, Robert Hoskins, Richard DeLong Adams
- **Cinematography:** Charles Correll, Sol Negrin, Gerald Perry Finnerman, John McPherson, Vilis Lapenieks, Robert E. Collins, John Elsenbach, Frank Beascoechea
- **Editor:** Sigmund Neufeld Jr., Jim Benson, Larry Lester, Donald Douglas, John Kaufman, Diane Adler, Leon Ortiz-Gil, Eric Albertson, Patrick McMahon, Robert L. Kimble, Anthony Redman, Jerrold L. Ludwig, Sidney Katz, Ronald LaVine, Richard Marks, Tim Shoemaker, Robert Q. Lovett, William Mandell, Howard B. Anderson, Bill Brame, Louis San Andres, Fred Baratta, Barbara Marks, Larry Strong, Robert F. Shugrue, Chuck McClelland, Gene Ranney, Virginia Katz
- **Music:** John Cacavas
- **Producer:** James Duff McAdams, Jack Laird
- **Cast:** Telly Savalas as Theo Kojak; Dan Frazer as Frank McNeill; Kevin Dobson as Bobby Crocker; George Savalas as Sgt. Stavros; Kene Holliday as Assistant D.A. Dunn; Kitty Winn as Carla Magid; Maria Schell as Sister Lepar Angelica / Princess Viva Dushan; Priscilla Barnes as Sally Addison / Vicki Addison
- **Runtime:** 1h 00m
- **Certificate (MPA):** TV-PG
- **Release (the US):** 24 October 1973
- **Genres:** Crime, Drama, Mystery

## Where to watch in the US

- The Roku Channel: free, hd
- Apple TV: buy, sd

*Checked 2026-09-16.*

Also available in: US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## If you liked this

- *The French Connection* (1971), Fi1m 85: A rougher New York police story, with less reassurance in its leading man. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-french-connection.md)
- *The Sweeney* (1975), Fi1m 84: London police work with abrasive personalities and a similarly grubby sense of place. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/tv/the-sweeney.md)
- *High and Low* (1963), Fi1m 90: A criminal investigation whose difficult moral choices matter as much as its clues. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/high-and-low.md)
- *Prime Suspect* (1991): For another commanding lead in a police workplace that resists easy comfort.
- *Memories of Murder* (2003): A darker procedural that keeps questioning the competence behind the badge. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/memories-of-murder.md)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/tv/kojak