When Police Woman hit screens across North America in 1974 it proved to be the first of its kind in that it was really the first ever network drama to put a woman in the lead. Angie Dickinson, of Big Bad Mama and Point Blank proved to be simultaneously smart, tough, sassy and sexy and she had what it took to hold the attention of the viewing public that year and the show rose in popularity throughout the first season after the character debuted in a single episode of Police Story (also appearing in this set, thankfully).

Dickinson proved to be a good choice for the lead, as she had the charisma to carry the show even though at times it was bogged down with some ridiculous side plots and hokey sounding dialogue. Parts of the show haven't aged well, but then again that's where a lot of the charm from these seventies cops series comes from, but most of the central storylines hold up reasonably well more than thirty years after the fact. Every week Dickinson, as Sgt. Pepper Anderson, would be faced with a new crime to solve and with the help of her fellow cops Joe Styles (Ed Bernard) and Pete Royster (Charles Dierkop) and the assistance of Lt. Bill Crowley (Earl Holliman) she would set out to clean up the streets of Los Angeles. The show wasn't afraid to tackle controversial subject matter such as rape, sexual assault, drug use and murder and at times it proved to be surprisingly violent and in your face in its depiction of how the criminal underworld operates. This, combined with Dickinson's sex appeal, caused the network to tone things down a little bit in the succeeding seasons of the series, and the tamer it got the less interested the viewing public became, making seasons two through four (the last) of less interest despite a few shining moments here and there.

Spread across five discs, this set contains the first season in its complete form and is made up of the following episodes in the following order:

The Gamble (Police Story): This is the two hour pilot episode that started it all. Here, Dickinson's character is named Lisa Beaumont and not Pepper Johnson but she's more or less the same person despite the later name change that would be incorporated into the show (at Dickinson's request). In this episode, she's got to figure out who is behind an illegal gambling ring that plays for the highest stakes of all. Good thing she's got her pal Crowley to help her out as she's going to need a hand cracking this case wide open.

The End Game: Now named Pepper and with Crowley played by Earl Holliman, she and he must head out into the Los Angeles streets and track down five hoods who have robbed a bank and taken a few hostages before those hostages end up getting themselves raped and possibly even killed.

The Beautiful Die Young: There's a modeling school operating on the seedy side of town that looks to be legit enough, but Pepper soon finds out that this is simply a front to get girls to be used in smut movie shoots and she aims to put a stop to this once and for all.

Warning: All Wives... : An unknown assailant is breaking and entering into homes and raping and assaulting married woman throughout Los Angeles. The media is going nuts and the city isn't happy about this at all. Pepper will have to use her head to figure out what it is that all the women have in common and use that knowledge to figure out who the dastardly perpetrator really is so she can lock him away.

Seven-Eleven: In order to stop a drug smuggling ring, Pepper goes undercover as an airline stewardess in hopes of getting hooked up with the smugglers who are using this as a way to transport their contraband.

Anatomy Of Two Rapes: Pepper's spidey sense starts to tingle when two women come into the station, both victims of rape. What's the connection? What is it leading to? And who is behind it all? Pat Morita of The Karate Kid shows up in this episode.

It's Only A Game: Pepper and Crowley are hot on the heels of a drug cartel and about to bust it wide open like a melon until an older cop from a different part of the force is assigned to help them out and proves to be more than they bargained for and possibly up to no good.

Fish: The mistress of a high up mafia boss winds up in jail and Pepper sees this as a great opportunity to go undercover and work her for information while she's serving time in the big house. It all goes smoothly until someone busts Pepper and exposes her as a cop – inmates don't much like cops, and Pepper finds that out the hard way. Look for a guest appearance from the one and only Dr. Joyce Brothers in this episode.

Flowers Of Evil: A rest home for senior citizens seems innocent enough from the outside but when some of the old folk start dropping off at an unusually high rate, Pepper is called in to investigate and she doesn't much like what she finds.

The Stalking Of Joey Marr: The titular Joey Marr is a key witness in the prosecution of a mob boss and as such, he's under heat from the underworld who want him dead before he can squeal. Pepper gets the honor of bringing him in from his home out of state.

Requiem For Bored Wives: Pepper goes under cover once again as she uncovers some shady details about a blackmail ring operating in and around a yet another group of married women.

Smack: When it's revealed to the police that there's a serious heroin problem at a local high school, Pepper is asked to go undercover as the new physical education teacher to figure out who is behind it and how to stop it before some dumb kid overdoses on H! Believe it or not, Smokey Robinson has a small part in this episode.

The Child Buyers: One of Crowley's best friends freaks out when his grandson gets kidnapped and so he and Pepper are called in to figure out what's going on. What they discover is that there's a child smuggling/selling racket going on right under their noses!

Shoefly: A man who everyone believes to be an honest cop is found guilty of messing around with some important evidence in a fairly high profile trial. Pepper's investigation into why this happened unveils the fact that he just might be the victim of blackmail…. but from whom and for what? Is that Rory Calhoun in this one? It sure is!

Target Black: A black man decides to run for political office in Los Angeles and becomes the victim of some nasty death threats from a racist group who don't want to see him win. Pepper is called in to watch over him and stop the bigots from winning the game.

Sidewinder: A gang of former soldiers aren't quite sure what to do with themselves once they get back from the war and so they turn to crime as a way to make ends meet and get rich quick. Pepper and Crowley have to put a stop to their mercenary operations.

Blast: When a local celebrity turns up dead, the victim of a cold and brutal murder, Pepper knows it's time to go undercover and do her thing to bring the killer to justice and see that he stands trial for his crime. The always slick Robert Vaughn has a cameo role here.

No Place To Hide: The government has got a group of people holed up as witnesses in an important criminal investigation but soon those people start getting killed off and Pepper has to figure out the who and the why before they're all gone!

Nothing Left To Lose: Pepper gets word that an informant for the mob is willing to talk but unfortunately for that guy, the mob gets the same news. The race is on to see who will get to him first, with his life hanging in the balance. Hey look, there's Patty Duke in a supporting part in this episode.

The Company: When a former mob boss' parole comes up and it looks like he's going to be released from the big house, things take a turn for the worse when a killing spree erupts in the underworld. Pepper is called in to investigate.

Ice: Never a dull moment at the L.A.P.D., Pepper and Crowley have to figure out who is behind a recent string of high profile diamond thefts and see that he or she is stopped, but the heists continue and they're not sure where to start.

Bloody Nose: Pepper knows how to work undercover with the best of them so it's quite a shock to her superiors when she catches heat for revealing the identity of another undercover officer and blowing an investigation for him.

The Loner: In the last episode of a the season Pepper's libido kicks into overdrive when she starts to obsess over a former cop who gets caught in the middle of the squabble that erupts between the L.A.P.D. and the local mob, both of whom are seeking out his employer.

All in all this is a fine selection of episodes from a series that emphasizes action more than drama and as such, the episodes that do focus more on the crime solving rather than the character development work better. Dickinson is fun in the role and always looks very sincere even when speaking odd lines here and there and the supporting cast and guest stars are enjoyable as well. The dated aspects such as the fashions, the styles, the slang and the music firmly plant this one in the seventies but for those interested in this set in the first place that likely won't be a problem at all, rather a selling point.

Video:

Each episode is shown in this set the same way that it was shown on broadcast television way back when – in glorious 1.33.1 fullframe, and re-mastered in high definition. Overall quality of the image is very strong, but some of the colors look to have faded a bit and there is some mild print damage evident throughout here and there. Flesh tones look pretty clean and natural though, and the black levels remain pretty stable and solid throughout. Edge enhancement, while present, is hardly overpowering and there weren't any issues with mpeg compression that I could see and there's plenty of both foreground and background detail present in the image.