By the time The Mod Squad ended its five-season run, I was just about ready to turn two years old. So I never got to watch it during its first run, nor did it ever seem to air in reruns in my area, and I’ve never checked out the DVDs. I’m sure that its hip, mod, whatever-you-call-it style would seem wildly antiquated these days, so I will probably never choose to explore it. But as a kid, I liked the title (which sounded like my favorite Saturday Morning program The Monster Squad), I liked the MAD Magazine parodies of it, and I was familiar with it gracing the cover of TV Guide, which I collected for a short time.
But regardless of whether I knew or liked the show, I wasn’t going to miss the opportunity to greet two of the three principals when they made an appearance at the October 9, 2010, Hollywood Show in Burbank. Michael Cole portrayed the white lead crime fighter Pete Cochran, who was pretty much a normal guy, save for his afro. Cole had a limited career of lots of guest appearances ranging from The Love Boat to Murder She Wrote to a part in Kevin Costner’s Mr. Brooks.
He was a very nice guy and wasn’t charging for a photo with him if you purchased a photo. In fact, his handler was pontificating how this should be the standard. My friend Steve Cox was waiting in line with me, having him sign his Mod Squad comic book, and he knew this handler. This handler spoke to the handler of Peggy Lipton and we got the same deal.
Michael Cole with Steve’s cool comic book
I guess the afro wasn’t necessarily a product of the late 60’s
Peggy Lipton was trying to charge 15 additional dollars to get a photo with her. She may have thought she was considerably more famous since she was there for both the Mod Squad reunion and the Twin Peaks reunion. She played the young, lovely female contingent of the hip copsters, Julie Barnes. Her film career was not that expansive either, but she did enjoy a successful recording career, landing three of her songs into the Billboard charts. She went on to play Norma Jennings in Twin Peaks.
If she looked this good at age 64, I’d love to have met her when she was 22
Clarence Williams III, the black contingent of the Mod-men, is alive and well, but was not in attendance at this show.
Celebrities of the Fall 2010 Hollywood Show will continue…
Hi,
I was there too. Great blog. congrat.
Jorge
Jorge
May 8th, 2011
Great pictures. Good to know Michael’s out-&-about these days. I interviewed him in the early 1990s, & found him to be delightful, introspective & highly intelligent. Hope to see more & more of him.
Linda J. Alexander
January 10th, 2012