Sometimes the Free TV Frontier makes absolutely no sense. I found The Streets of San Francisco on Pluto TV, a five-season legendary procedural starring Karl Malden and Michael Douglas. Fabulous! Except Pluto apparently decided Seasons 1 through 3 were optional and only has Seasons 4 and 5 available.
Where are the first three seasons? Who the hell knows. I eventually found them in that magical repository of forgotten television known as YouTube, but since Iām following the “Ludicrous Rules of FAST TV,” Iām starting with Season 4.
Iām glad Pluto screwed up the order, because this is the show that gave me the name that defines my review philosophy: Technicolor Urgency.
The MontalbĆ”n “What-If”
Before we get to the nitty gritty, I stumbled onto a piece of archive-verified history that blew my mind. Most people know Karl Malden as the face of this show, but Ricardo MontalbƔn (Mr. Roarke himself!) actually filmed a TV movie pilot where he played the San Francisco lead detective.
MontalbĆ”n later revealed that the project eventually became The Streets of San Francisco, but when it went to series, he was passed over for Malden. You can read the full “Smoking Gun” newspaper clipping in our Fantasy Island Season 1 Guide.
A Quinn Martin Production
Before the episode even starts, Iām already having a blast. “A Quinn Martin Production.”
This was a time when an announcer introduced the stars, the guest stars, and the episode title. There are ACT cards. There is an EPILOGUE. It makes the show feel orderly and important. This sent me straight down the Quinn Martin rabbit hole: The Fugitive, The F.B.I., Barnaby Jones, The Untouchables. QM was essentially the Aaron Spelling of the 60s and 70s, and his signature style is what’s missing from the muted TV of today.
Luke Skywalker is Selling Heroin
My accidental introduction was S4E1, āPoisoned Snow,ā which originally aired September 11, 1975. And who suddenly appears? Mark f*cking Hamill.
Two years before Star Wars catapulted him to the stars, heās playing Andy Turner, the troubled teenage son of a police inspector. And hereās the shocker: heās not whiny! I love Star Wars, but Luke Skywalker could whine with the best of them. Here, Hamill has a grit that surprised me. Also lurking in the shadows is future General Hospital legend Anthony Geary, years before “Luke and Laura” became a household name.
Real Asphalt and Tainted H
The story is dark. A cop named George Turner, blinded by revenge, dumps cyanide into a bag of heroin to “clean up” the streets. Naturally, his own son (Hamill) ends up with the poisoned supply. Itās a full circle tragedy.
The cinematography is the star here. The colors pop, the buildings look lived-in, and you can practically smell the exhaust from those enormous 70s gas-guzzlers. A car chase in this show can last 10 minutes and never feel like “watching water boil.” Itās Technicolor Urgency ā high stakes, real San Francisco locations, and zero CGI.
Why FAST TV is the Superior Experience
Watching this on Pluto reminded me that I don’t hate commercials; I hate shitty commercial placement. The Streets of San Francisco was built for broadcast. The story is designed to “breathe” between the acts. I can get up, grab a snack, or check on my cat Lucy (the real-life “Demon Child”) and come back for Act II without losing the rhythm.
Compare that to paying $15/month for a streamer that smacks you with a mid-sentence ad, and Iāll take the Free TV Frontier every single time.
š„ Our Verdict: WATCHABLE. Old-school, gritty, and alive. Iām staying on Pluto for the rest for Season 4 and 5, then Iām taking the YouTube detour to see how this all began.
