Beginning as an “ABC Movie of the Week”, The Rookies is an American police drama that ABC created in response to a piqued interest in the realistic depiction of police officers. After the success of Adam-12, networks wanted to follow a similar idea but better humanize the character of a police officer by showing the struggles of a younger generation living and working after Vietnam and college. The show focuses on three rookie officers: Mike Danko (Sam Melville), a former Marine adjusting to civilian life; Willie Gillis (Michael Ontkean), a recent college graduate; and Terry Webster (Georg Stanford Brown), a black officer who joined the force through a special minority recruitment program. Their supervisor, Lieutenant Eddie Ryker (Gerald S. O’Loughlin), provides guidance and support as they go through their first years on the force. The show also features Jill Danko (Kate Jackson), Mike Danko’s wife, who is a registered nurse, adding another layer to the storytelling. Each episode showcased highly dramatized versions of police cases and activities, often intertwined with the off-duty lives of the officers and their families.