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Kojak was a 1970s police procedural drama. The series is set in New York City's Thirteenth Precinct. It revolves around the efforts of the incorruptible Lt. Theo Kojak (Telly Savalas), a tough, bald New York City policeman who was fond of lollipops and for using the Catch Phrase, "Who loves ya, baby?" Lt. Kojak displayed a dark, cynical wit and a tendency to bend the rules in order to bring a criminal to justice. In the early episodes of the series, Kojak smoked heavily; in order to reflect the anti-smoking sentiment gaining momentum on American TV, the writers decided that Kojak had quit smoking. He began sucking on lollipops as a substitute, which became a trademark of the character.
The series was rebooted in 2005 starring Ving Rhames in the title role, but was axed again after a single ten episode season.
Not to be confused with Kolchak.
- Addiction Displacement: Kojak's lollipops. They became an icon for the revival.
- Bald of Awesome: An early example.
- Big Applesauce
- Catch Phrase: "Who loves ya, baby?"
- Detective Drama
- Everybody Owns a Ford
- New York City Cops
- Not Himself
- Oral Fixation Fixation: the switch to the ubiquitous lollipops.
- Police Procedural
- Quip to Black: Kojak has an early version in most episodes.
- Real Life Relative: George Savalas has a supporting role as Det. Stavros.
- Revival: The series was brought back for two TV movies in the mid 80s and then brought back for a sixth seasons consisting of 5 movie length episodes that featured Kojak in the rank of Inspector as part of The ABC Mystery Movie in 1989 along side a revival of Columbo as part of that series.
- Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: leans to the cynical side. The 1970s was a time of rising crime in New York City, and the show reflected the frustration.
- Spin-Off: Theo Kojak began life as the lead character in The Marcus-Nelson Murders, a TV movie loosely based on a real-life double murder. In this (and the pilot episode of his titular series), his name is alternatively spelled "Kojack".
- Sweet Tooth: Kojak and his lollipops, as always.
- Waistcoat of Style: For a guy who constantly complains about his $240-a-week-after-taxes job, Kojak sure can afford some nice threads.