User Reviews

A hotel manager contacts the police. He's heard about many of his patrons (mostly conventioneers) getting taken in a nearby illegal gambling operation. The problem is, he has no idea where it is. So, Friday and Gannon go undercover--posing as farmers looking to buy some equipment! An odd choice of covers, but even more unusual is Joe's moniker--he goes by the name "Joe Frazier"--the same name as the current heavyweight champ!! Eventually the men learn about the game through a contact and instead of making an arrest, they gamble and keep their eyes open. It seems that the cards are marked and so they're not only running an illegal game but cheating to boot. Eventually, the cops arrest the gang--after Joe makes a love connection of his own! Not a great episode but a welcome relief from all the community relations-type episodes that made the first 2/3 of season 3 pretty forgettable.

By the way, Bobby Troup plays essentially the same character (though not so sympathetic) in this episode as he did in another ("The Bookie"). Yet again, he's a bartender who works for gamblers, though he's a much more minor character in this one. For some interesting reading, check up on Troup and Webb (who directed, produced and starred in this show). Troup was the step-father to Webb's kids and despite this, Webb apparently fostered no ill feelings, as he had him play on "Dragnet" and was one of the stars of "Emergency".

I remember this one very well. Except the forgettable part about where the cops got the lead there was an illegal game going on!

This ep has Friday and Gannon going undercover as farmers at convention. They are using similar but still different names. Joes meets a beautiful blonde lady affiliated with the illegal operation. She is just supposed to lead Joe and Bill to the game but she gets eyes for Joe for real. ( Nothing immature about this-- contrary to what another poster on here said! Is meeting at a dating service for some bizarre reason more grown up to you-- other poster). Once at the game Friday looks it over and learns exactly where it is, when it is again and how hot it is. The next night he returns to the game, the beautiful lady still working there on the illegal payroll ( to Friday's disappointment). The cops bust up the game, everyone gets arrested including the beauty who replies in a loser tone words much like ( or exactly) " What do you know? I kissed a cop!"

The ep plays with more conversational awkwardness than usual.

Friday and Gannon are assigned to sniff out a house in which high-stakes poker is being played illegally. Some young ladies at the bar have been shilling. The victims, if that's what they are, were driven from a hotel hosting a convention of farm equipment salesmen to one of those L.A. houses built on stilts over a hill. They're mission, go undercover, find the game, and "bust it." There are some amusing shenanigans in the opening scenes involving Gannon bragging about his expertise in farm equipment and manipulating events so that his own allergy to fruit appears to be an eccentricity of Friday's. Friday, as usual, assumes a puzzled smile, shakes his head, and shrugs it off.

The mission, of course, is accomplished. And the viewer is taught something about marked cards and shaved dice. There is a human element too. One of the girls who is shilling for the game is a pretty blond who seems genuinely attracted to Joe. Joe like her too. (This is beginning to sound like the third grade, I know.) But in this instance, as in every case, any romantic inclinations on Friday's part is quickly aborted.