Police Shows Take Charge on TV This Weekend

If you believe in the old saw, “There’s never a cop around when you need one,” then tune in this weekend. Cops--and cop shows--abound, the most unconventional of which is CBS’ “Max Monroe: Loose Cannon,” premiering tonight and starring former Los Angeles deejay Shadoe Stevens.

Stevens has an unusual background. His real first name is Terry, which was disclosed in a CBS biographical sketch that says the Jamestown, N.D., native had his own show on a local radio station, “Spin With Terry,” when he was just 11. At 10, he had built his own radio station, drawing the interest of officials at station KEYJ.

Hitting the radio big time as a disc jockey in Los Angeles in the early 1970s, at KROQ-FM and then KMET-FM, Stevens subsequently became the voice of the national broadcast “American Top 40” and moved into television, most recently as announcer (and sometimes square occupant) of “Hollywood Squares.”

He also has been a successful producer of commercials through his company, Shadoevision.

On Saturday and Sunday, the irreverent young cop genre gives way to the stylish “old cop” genre.

On Saturday comes Telly Savalas as “Kojak” in the latest of the rotating “ABC Mystery Movie” dramas. He is investigating the killing of a police officer suspected of being on the take.

On CBS Sunday, Richard Crenna returns for a third TV-movie turn as New York police Detective Frank Janek in “Murder in Black and White.” He is investigating the murder of a police commissioner. Diahann Carroll co-stars as the victim’s widow.

Crenna first created the compelling character in 1985 in “Doubletake” and continued the role in “Internal Affairs” last season.