For me Adam-12 was one of those shows that aired during the lunch hour when I had just enough time to run home from school and kick back for a half hour. When I look back now, I had no clue that the popular ‘60s cop show was created by legendary TV lawman Jack Webb from Dragnet. Having revisited the series with the recent Shout factory release of Adam-12: Season 2, the Webb angle is clearly obvious in its snappish dialogue and similar "just the facts" tone. Created by Jack Webb back in 1967, Adam-12 went on to become a huge hit for seven seasons, with actors Martin Milner and Kent McCord in the roles of Los Angeles cops Pete Malloy and Jim Reed.

Although many of today’s contemporary cop and forensics shows draw inspiration from real life cases, Adam-12 set the standard 40 years ago. The most startling and notable aspects of the various plot lines are how Malloy and Reed were patrolling the streets of L.A. during one of the most volatile eras in U.S. history. In fact, you can blanket that for the entire run of Adam-12, which spanned the assassinations of both Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, the Vietnam War, the early Cold War, the Kent State shootings, the simmering deceit within the Nixon administration, the rise of biker gangs, and the birth of the drug addled Hippie generation.

At the same time, the first two seasons of Adam-12 sprung to life during the terrifying summer of the Zodiac killer in northern California. In the second episode of the season, a connection can surely be made since Malloy and Reed go on the hunt for a criminal that’s stalking a local lover’s lane. It’s funny; I never looked at it like that until just recently. Although you can notice many layers of the era throughout the season, most evident is the explosion of counter-culture drug use. After all, it was the same year as Woodstock. At least four episodes deal with narcotics and people baked out of their minds on various ‘60s substances.

Sure, Adam-12 is dated and now retroactively hokey but for a classic TV to DVD release Shout Factory has gone the extra mile for true fans of the series. Included are a variety of special features that add something new to an old series. Not only do fans receive commentary tracks from several real life members of the LAPD (a must listen experience since you get to hear the many changes in law enforcement between now and then), a high quality gallery of historic police location shots, a pop-up "Ride Along Fact Track" that parallels the show with the actual law, and a "Tour of Reed & Malloy’s Training Center". Since most classic shows on DVD are devoid of any extras at all, it should be mandatory that something new be added as an extra selling point. In a day and age when many TV shows are extra heavy, old shows like this need something new.

Although the 26 episodes are great and look fantastic on DVD, the only disappointing thing about the 4-disc set is the fact that no one connected to the series appears anywhere in the extras. Aside from a possible look back at the real actors behind Malloy & Reed, even the presence of Kent McCord, since it was Stephen J. Cannell’s first writing gig, it would have been cool to see at least an intro or a few thoughts about his experience on the show. Still, if you’re a fan of one of the greatest cop shows of all time, and the classic line "One Adam-12, One Adam-12", you won’t be disappointed.