Bert D’Angelo/Superstar (1976)
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Debuting February 21, 1976. ABC, 10/9pm Central
This Quinn Martin series was a spin-off of The Streets of San Francisco. In the Streets episode “Superstar,” Bert D’Angelo (Paul Sorvino) clashes with Lt. Detective Mike Stone and Inspector Steve Keller while following a suspect from New York to San Francisco. After the case is solved, the NYPD transfers D’Angelo to the SFPD. The new series had D’Angelo handling various cases, including drugs, murders, and robberies, in San Francisco. Inspector Larry Johnson (Robert Pine) was D’Angelo’s partner, and Captain Jack Breen (Dennis Patrick), their boss.
Like Streets, the series was filmed in San Francisco and the surrounding areas. Several notable directors and writers contributed to the show, including Harry Falk, Virgil W. Vogel, Michael Caffey, David Friedkin, William Hale, Larry Alexander, D.C. Fontana, and Marion Hargrove. Despite an intriguing premise and talent behind the camera, Bert D’Angelo/Superstar received mixed to negative reviews. Dwight Newton of the San Francisco Examiner likened D’Angelo to Dirty Harry, calling him “Dirty Bert” due to his rule-bending tendencies, which seems to be what they were going for.
The book Quinn Martin, Producer reports that some found Sorvino difficult to work with, such as director William Hale and UPM Bob Jeffords. Michael Caffey, who directed Vic Morrow on Combat and William Conrad on Cannon, said that Sorvino “did pretty much what I asked him to do,” and “knew everything”. Collin Wilcox-Horne, a guest star on ep “Men with No Past”, admired Sorvino and thought that he was the greatest actor she had ever seen.
12 episodes were produced with one left unaired. The show did well overseas, rating #1 on the BBC when it aired in Britain. It does not seem to have ever been rerun in the US, and episodes are incredibly hard to find, although one captured from a 16mm print is up on YouTube.
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