Kojak came at a perfect time for Savalas and cop dramas in general. The actor's career was slumping in the early '70s (he'd just appeared in the Italian horror film Lisa and the Devil), and he quickly put his personal stamp on the role with street-wise sarcasm and trademark lollipops (a perfect prop that Savalas adopted to quit smoking). Consistently well-written, the series was realistically rooted in a broad spectrum of New York City crime. These qualities attracted plenty of fresh and established talent, and these 22 well-preserved episodes include guest appearances by Harvey Keitel, James Woods, Richard Jordan, Hector Elizondo, John Ritter (in one of his first TV roles), Paul Michael Glaser, Dabney Coleman, Tina Louise, and a host of familiar TV veterans. For this debut season, Savalas won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, and Kojak ran for five well-rated seasons, followed by several TV-movie revivals in 1985, 1989, and 1990. The enduring popularity of Kojak was further proven when the show was revived yet again in March of 2005, with Ving Rhames in the title role. --Jeff Shannon

Description
Emmy and Golden Globe winner Telly Savalas is back as Lieutenant Theo Kojak, television's greatest detective, in the unforgettable homicide series Kojak. He's got style, street smarts and a penchant for lollipops, and he's hitting the gritty streets of New York City in pursuit of some of television's toughest criminals. Relive all his smart, edgy adventures in the mystery series that People Magazine raves is "a TV classic: slick, well-plotted and entertaining." And now, it's an open-and-shut case with all 22 Season One episodes available on DVD for the first time ever!