{{Short description|1975–1976 television series}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}} {{unsourced|date=April 2026}} {{Infobox television | image = | caption = | genre = Police procedural Comedy-drama | runtime = 44 minutes (per episode) | creator = | executive_producer = David Gerber | starring = Lloyd Bridges<br>Pat Crowley<br>Eddie Egan<br>Dawn Smith | composer = Robert Drasnin | open_theme = Richard Markowitz | country = United States | network = NBC | company = David Gerber Productions<br>Columbia Pictures Television | first_aired = {{start date|1975|9|9}} | last_aired = {{end date|1976|5|3}} | num_seasons = 1 | num_episodes = 23 | list_episodes = | related = ''Police Story''<br>''Police Woman''<br>''David Cassidy: Man Undercover'' }}
'''''Joe Forrester''''' is an American crime/drama television series, starring Lloyd Bridges as a uniformed foot patrol officer in a run-down neighborhood of Los Angeles. Patricia Crowley co-starred as Georgia Cameron, Joe's romantic interest. Former NYPD Detective Eddie Egan played Sgt. Bernie Vincent, Joe's supervisor. Dwan Smith played Jolene, a resident of the neighborhood Joe patrolled.
== Character == Joe Forrester's character was introduced on the TV series ''Police Story'', in a special 90-minute episode "The Return of Joe Forrester", written by Mark Rodgers and directed by Virgil W. Vogel, later retitled ''Cop on the Beat'' (1975), and syndicated as a TV-movie. In this pilot, Forrester, a second generation policeman, is a plainclothes officer in LAPD's Metro Division who convinces his superiors to put him back in uniform, and back on a foot beat, in a neighborhood beset by a series of armed robberies which are invariably followed by a vicious rape. When the case is solved, Forrester elects to stay in uniform, and on his foot beat, leading to the subsequent series.
== Plot == Forrester is a veteran cop in Los Angeles, assigned to a foot beat. He is a highly respected officer in the community, effectively fighting crime every day because, as a foot patrolman, he is able to keep personal contact with the people he protects, building trust and empathy. Like other cops, he busts thieves, drug dealers, murderers, and other criminals who threaten the residents of his beat.
==Episodes== {{Episode table |overall= |title= |director= |writer= |airdate= |episodes= {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=0 |Title = The Return of Joe Forrester |DirectedBy = Virgil W. Vogel |WrittenBy = Mark Rodgers |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1975|5|6}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor= }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=1 |Title = Stakeout |DirectedBy = Alf Kjellin |WrittenBy = Dallas L. Barnes |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1975|9|9}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor= }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=2 |Title = The Witness |DirectedBy = |WrittenBy = Stephen Dowling |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1975|9|16}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor= }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=3 |Title = Bus Station |DirectedBy = Alvin Ganzer |WrittenBy = Frank Telford |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1975|9|23}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor= }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=4 |Title = Welcome to the Gardens |DirectedBy = Barry Shear |WrittenBy = S.S. Schweitzer |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1975|9|30}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor= }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=5 |Title = Deadly Weekend: Part 1: Saturday |DirectedBy = Michael O'Herlihy |WrittenBy = Mark Rodgers |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1975|11|4}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor= }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=6 |Title = Deadly Weekend: Part 2: Sunday |DirectedBy = Michael O'Herlihy |WrittenBy = Mark Rodgers |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1975|11|11}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor= }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=7 |Title = Powder Blue |DirectedBy = Alvin Ganzer |WrittenBy = Dallas L. Barnes |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1975|11|18}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor= }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=8 |Title = Target: Mexican Syndicate |DirectedBy = Richard Benedict |WrittenBy = Irv Pearlberg, Mark Rodgers |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1975|11|25}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor= }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=9 |Title = No Probable Cause |DirectedBy = Alexander Singer |WrittenBy = Mark Rodgers, Norman Jolley, Frank Telford |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1975|12|2}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor= }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=10 |Title = The Best Laid Schemes |DirectedBy = Alf Kjellin |WrittenBy = Dallas L. Barnes |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1975|12|9}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor= }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=11 |Title = The End of Summer |DirectedBy = |WrittenBy = Stephen Dowling |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1975|12|16}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor= }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=12 |Title = Fashion Mart |DirectedBy = |WrittenBy = Mark Rodgers |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1975|12|23}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor= }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=13 |Title = Fire Power |DirectedBy = |WrittenBy = Orville Hampton, Frank Telford |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1976|1|6}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor= }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=14 |Title = An Act of Violence |DirectedBy = Alf Kjellin |WrittenBy = Dallas L. Barnes |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1976|1|13}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor= }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=15 |Title = The Answer |DirectedBy = |WrittenBy = Rick Kelbaugh, Mark Rodgers |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1976|2|2}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor= }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=16 |Title = Squeeze Play |DirectedBy = Barry Crane |WrittenBy = Walter Dallenbach |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1976|2|9}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor= }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=17 |Title = A Game of Lose |DirectedBy = Alf Kjellin |WrittenBy = Robert Dellinger, Mark Rodgers |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1976|2|16}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor= }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=18 |Title = Hard Core |DirectedBy = Alf Kjellin |WrittenBy = Calvin Clements, Sr. |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1976|2|23}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor= }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=19 |Title = Girl on a String |DirectedBy = Alvin Ganzer |WrittenBy = Stephen Dowling, Mark Rodgers |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1976|3|1}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor= }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=20 |Title = The Promised Land |DirectedBy = Russ Mayberry |WrittenBy = Dallas L. Barnes |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1976|3|8}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor= }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=21 |Title = Pressure Point |DirectedBy = Jerry London |WrittenBy = Jack Miller |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1976|3|22}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor= }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=22 |Title = The Boy Next Door |DirectedBy = |WrittenBy = Dallas L. Barnes |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1976|5|3}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor= }} }}
== External links == * {{IMDb title|id=0072522|title=Joe Forrester}}
Category:1975 American television series debuts Category:1976 American television series endings Category:1970s American crime television series Category:1970s American drama television series Category:NBC crime dramas Category:Television series by Sony Pictures Television Category:Television series about the Los Angeles Police Department Category:Television shows set in Los Angeles