TV Tuesday

Just the facts, m'am…

Whether it was Barney Fife with one bullet in his pocket, or Lt. Columbo's "Just one more thing…", we could be sure in the old days that TV cops would wrap everything up neatly in 30 to 60 minutes. These days it may take a few episodes, but TV's top cops still manage to right most of the world's wrongs.

1. Who is your favorite (past or present) TV cop?

Andy Taylor, of course. 1st runner up: Joe Friday.

2. Which TV cop do you think was the most crooked, or the most inept?

Probably Roscoe P. Coltraine from "The Dukes of Hazzard"

3. Which TV show had the best ensemble cast of police officers?

"Hill Street Blues" (big shock)

~Bonus~ You need to hire a bodyguard for yourself. Which TV cop do you choose?

Well, if it was going to be a really really long deep undercover bodyguard duty with no other human interaction...um, probably Kim Delany's character from "NYPD Blue" ;) But if I really needed someone to protect me I'd pick Bobby Simone from "NYPD Blue".

Thanks for playing… Let's be careful out there!

TV Note: Thursday and Friday this week at 10/9 p.m. central, Court TV is running a 2-part documentary called "Just the Facts", dissecting the accuracy of Hollywood's depiction of police work. "Police work is years of boredom punctuated by seconds of sheer terror," says Bill Davis of the California State Police. Doesn't quite seem that way on TV, does it?