Dog and Cat is an American television series that aired on ABC on Saturday night at 10:00 p.m. Eastern time in 1977.
Premise Sgt. Jack Ramsey (Lou Antonio), an undercover detective with the Los Angeles Police Department, teams up with a partner named J.Z. Kane (Kim Basinger). Together they form a relationship based on friendship and trust (completely platonic) that leads them to capture many of L.A.'s criminals. Lieutenant Arthur Kipling (Matt Clark) is their boss.
"Dog and Cat" is a slang term used by police officers to denote a male-female partnership. The show is especially remembered for the car that Kim Basinger used in the series: a souped-up Volkswagen Beetle with a Porsche engine.
Production history Lawrence Gordon pitched the show to ABC, who bought it. He took it to Paramount, who produced it. The show was one of the first supervised by Brandon Tartikoff when he was at ABC.
It replaced Most Wanted which moved to Monday night.Changes in ABC's TV Schedule: Broadcast Notes By John Carmody. The Washington Post, 10 Dec 1976: D11.
Walter Hill wrote the pilot which was then rewritten and Hill took credit under a pseudonym. Reviewing Hill's pilot script Filmink wrote "for all of Hill’s stylistic uniqueness on the page, [it is] a perfectly serviceable ‘70s American cop show. It moves along at a brisk pace and is logically worked out... Its chief flaw, in our opinion, is that Hill doesn’t do much with the central concept."
Reception Critical The New York Times described one of the earliest episodes, "Live Bait", about a rapist, as "a particularly repulsive tale" and thought the male lead was a rip-off of Baretta and the female lead too obviously inspired by Charlie's Angels.TV WEEKEND by JOHN J. O'CONNOR. New York Times, 4 Mar 1977: 70.
The Washington Post said Antonio does "a nice, grumpy job" and Basinger was "a little saltier than Angie Dickinson's Pepper" but liked the fact it was not overly violent and "had a sense of humour. It could be around in the fall".'Dog and Cat' by John Carmody. The Washington Post, 5 Mar 1977: B8.
Filmink argued the lead actors were not well cast as a team.
Ratings The first episode after the pilot was meant to be "Live Bait" (directed by Steve Stern, written by Rudolph Borchert), about a rapist. However it was changed to be about a corrupt policeman. It got a 40% rating and was the 23rd most watched show of the week.Viewers Mad at Newsbreak, Los Angeles Times, 17 Mar 1977: f17.
Joel Silver reported that Walter Hill's original pilot script inspired Shane Black to write Lethal Weapon.
Credits
Directed by: Bob Kelljan Writing credits (in alphabetical order) Heywood Gould Tom Greene Walter Hill William Keys Owen Morgan (also story) Henry Rosenbaum Credited cast Lou Antonio as Jack Ramsey Kim Basinger as Officer J.Z. Kane Matt Clark as Lt. Arthur Kipling Charles Cioffi as Ralph Travan Richard Lynch as Shirley Dale Robinette as Nicholas Evans Janit Baldwin as Roeanne Lee Peters Geoffrey Scott as David Storey Lesley Woods as Velma Matt Bennett as Gonzo Walt Davis as Trog Dick Wesson as Zink Kauffen The rest of cast listed alphabetically: Lynn Borden as Mavis Richard Forbes as Earl Seagram James Hall as Frank Dianne Kay as Connie Frank McRae as Morgue Attendant Catherane Skillen Jim Storm as Change Maker Ken Sylk as Doty Betty Thomas as Waitress
Episode guide
References
External links
Dog and Cat at CTVA Review of pilot