# Cop shows in which the main characters rarely or never fire a shot or throw a punch. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 23, 2012, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cop-shows-in-which-the-main-characters-rarely-or-never-fire-a-shot-or-throw-a-punch/619722 "2012-04-23T18:31:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![DonLogan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/51bf81/32.png) [@DonLogan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DonLogan)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cop-shows-in-which-the-main-characters-rarely-or-never-fire-a-shot-or-throw-a-punch/619722/61 "2012-04-27T20:59:44Z")
_ **Cops.** _ ---
**Author:** ![DonLogan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/51bf81/32.png) [@DonLogan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DonLogan)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cop-shows-in-which-the-main-characters-rarely-or-never-fire-a-shot-or-throw-a-punch/619722/62 "2012-04-27T21:12:35Z")
> [@DonLogan](#): > > _ **Cops.** _ Whoops. You **did** say fictional. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cop-shows-in-which-the-main-characters-rarely-or-never-fire-a-shot-or-throw-a-punch/619722/63 "2012-04-27T22:09:46Z")
The cops on NYPD Blue had their guns drawn quite a bit, but they rarely discharged them. The show was on for something like 12 years must have gone through over a dozen detectives and I think the Nicholas Tuturro character was the only one who ever had to shoot anyone. I don’t think Sipowcyz or any of his partners ever had to. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cop-shows-in-which-the-main-characters-rarely-or-never-fire-a-shot-or-throw-a-punch/619722/64 "2012-04-27T22:12:56Z")
I forgot to add that I think increasingly that’s the norm. Yeah, when I was a kid, with the exception of CHiPs the shows often resembled Wild West gunfights(Miami Vice, Starsky & Hutch, T. J. Hooker, to a lesser extent Hill Street Blues) but that’s no longer the case. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cop-shows-in-which-the-main-characters-rarely-or-never-fire-a-shot-or-throw-a-punch/619722/65 "2012-04-27T22:13:52Z")
There was an episode when some guy popped out of a closet with a gun, and David Caruso emptied his pistol at him from about two feet away, and missed with every single shot. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cop-shows-in-which-the-main-characters-rarely-or-never-fire-a-shot-or-throw-a-punch/619722/66 "2012-04-27T22:27:17Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > There was an episode when some guy popped out of a closet with a gun, and David Caruso emptied his pistol at him from about two feet away, and missed with every single shot. I remember that scene. IIRC, he deliberately missed. Also, that and the episode where Martinez killed someone where in the first season and I don’t think they were ever repeated. We did see people shot to death, but other than Martinez I don’t think any of the main characters ever killed anybody and I’m not sure anyone else other than Caruso even discharged their weapon. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cop-shows-in-which-the-main-characters-rarely-or-never-fire-a-shot-or-throw-a-punch/619722/67 "2012-04-27T22:30:37Z")
I don’t think so, It looked to me like he couldn’t believe he’d missed. And the other cops gave him a lot of grief over it. I dunno, maybe the scene is on youtube or something. I’ll look - it’s been a lot of years. ---
**Author:** ![Atomic\_Alex](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atomic_alex/32/175_2.png) [@Atomic\_Alex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Alex)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cop-shows-in-which-the-main-characters-rarely-or-never-fire-a-shot-or-throw-a-punch/619722/68 "2012-05-31T21:33:33Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > Most of the British shows are pretty non-violent. You have to feel sorry for the poor officers detailed Sunhill as their station though, probably the most dangerous place to be a cop in England, if not the world… 😉 I’m referring of course to The Bill which got increasingly over the top as time went on. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cop-shows-in-which-the-main-characters-rarely-or-never-fire-a-shot-or-throw-a-punch/619722/69 "2012-05-31T23:32:46Z")
> [@CaptMurdock](#): > > It wasn’t every episode, but they did have use their guns in the line of duty. One early episode has Reed shoot a man, then have the investigating team interview him afterward. Malloy cautions him, “Don’t let 'em rattle you. This is routine.” In the first season, I remember Reed being kind of a hot dog, using infantry tactics he learned in the military to go after a guy with a rifle, and Malloy chewing him out afterwards. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cop-shows-in-which-the-main-characters-rarely-or-never-fire-a-shot-or-throw-a-punch/619722/70 "2012-05-31T23:45:56Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > I remember that episode! Reed calls his wife to tell her why he was going to be late, and tells her, “I killed a man tonight”, breaking up as he did so. That’s the one! > [@Joey\_P](#): > > The bullet pushed the shelf up and went into the wall behind it. Joe noticed the line on the bottom of the shelf. That’s one of those odd things that’s always stuck with me. Yep. And one of the shooting investigators went on to be the watch commander on Adam-12. Small world. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2012, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cop-shows-in-which-the-main-characters-rarely-or-never-fire-a-shot-or-throw-a-punch/619722/71 "2012-06-01T01:36:05Z")
> [@CaptMurdock](#): > > That’s the one! > Yep. And one of the shooting investigators went on to be the watch commander on Adam-12. Small world. 😉 Very small world. Webb loved to reuse actors. I remember the actor from the fake forest ranger episode was a con man, a doctor, and a lawyer in other episodes. The woman who falsely accused two officers of stealing burial money was also a Gypsy clan leader, a candy store owner, a reporter, and a tambourine shaking con artist. I remember her teeth, with a slight gap in the front. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2012, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cop-shows-in-which-the-main-characters-rarely-or-never-fire-a-shot-or-throw-a-punch/619722/72 "2012-06-01T02:18:50Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Very small world. Webb loved to reuse actors. > > I remember the actor from the fake forest ranger episode was a con man, a doctor, and a lawyer in other episodes. The woman who falsely accused two officers of stealing burial money was also a Gypsy clan leader, a candy store owner, a reporter, and a tambourine shaking con artist. I remember her teeth, with a slight gap in the front. that would be Virginia Gregg, she started in lots of radio work decades earlier. Dragnet (60s), Adam 12 and Emergency shared lots of actors. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2012, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cop-shows-in-which-the-main-characters-rarely-or-never-fire-a-shot-or-throw-a-punch/619722/73 "2012-06-01T03:49:14Z")
While Shawn and Gus never use guns, they also aren’t cops. But I don’t remember a whole lot of gunfire from Juliet or Lassiter on _Psych_. Lassiter likes to pull his out, but I think his actually firing it is few and far between. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2012, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cop-shows-in-which-the-main-characters-rarely-or-never-fire-a-shot-or-throw-a-punch/619722/74 "2012-06-01T04:14:43Z")
> [@Ura-Maru](#): > > _You’re Under Arrest!_ had a few punches and tackles (and one memorable slap) but almost no gunplay. There was one bit with a bad guy with a gun in a hostage situation, (no shots fired) but I don’t think the good guys ever fired a gun when not on a shooting range. > > Paintball guns did see some use, do those count? > > – > Course, there were an absurd number of crazy over-the-top car chases . . . Kosuke Fujishima’s _You’re Under Arrest!_? I have a couple of the manga stories. At least one of the characters seems to share the _mangaka_’s (_mangaka no_?) love of engines. ---
**Author:** ![HelenGawn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@HelenGawn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelenGawn)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2012, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cop-shows-in-which-the-main-characters-rarely-or-never-fire-a-shot-or-throw-a-punch/619722/75 "2012-06-01T14:55:35Z")
On the Canadian show _DaVinci’s Inquest_, there’s only one shooting IIRC and one other episode of a gun being drawn. One of the cops even says the proliferation of guns is “still not as bad here as the States, thank God.” ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cop-shows-in-which-the-main-characters-rarely-or-never-fire-a-shot-or-throw-a-punch/619722/76 "2012-06-04T04:37:35Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > _Dragnet_. Quote: Originally Posted by CaptMurdock \*\*I remember an episode where Friday shot a guy trying to break into a coin machine at a laundromat. The guy fired, Joe fired back, and got in hot water when the shooting team couldn’t immediately find the bullet the bad guy supposedly fired (they eventually did). The bullet pushed the shelf up and went into the wall behind it.\* The shooting team \*noticed the line on the bottom of the shelf. That’s one of those odd things that’s always stuck with me. \*\* (Sorry, Capt. Murdock; I edited your second paragraph. It was the shooting team, not Joe Friday, that noticed the mark, which was made by the lead slug.) Friday told the captain that in all the years he’d been on the job he’d ‘dropped the hammer on a man’ twice. I saw the other episode, from the 50s. (Except on the firing range, a cop faces an investigation every time he fires his service revolver except on the firing range. I know; I have a cousin who retired after 20 years with the police in Indianapolis. She never fired her gun off the range; she retired with the rank of Lieutenant.) ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cop-shows-in-which-the-main-characters-rarely-or-never-fire-a-shot-or-throw-a-punch/619722/77 "2012-06-04T05:17:13Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > Quote: > Originally Posted by CaptMurdock > \*\*I remember an episode where Friday shot a guy trying to break into a coin machine at a laundromat. The guy fired, Joe fired back, and got in hot water when the shooting team couldn’t immediately find the bullet the bad guy supposedly fired (they eventually did). > > The bullet pushed the shelf up and went into the wall behind it.\* The shooting team \*noticed the line on the bottom of the shelf. That’s one of those odd things that’s always stuck with me. \*\* > (Sorry, Capt. Murdock; I edited your second paragraph. It was the shooting team, not Joe Friday, that noticed the mark, which was made by the lead slug.) That paragraph wasn’t mine; **Joey P** wrote that. See post #39. But, you are right, the shooting team found the bullet, not Joe. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cop-shows-in-which-the-main-characters-rarely-or-never-fire-a-shot-or-throw-a-punch/619722/78 "2012-06-04T05:59:34Z")
Did we really get to post #78 before someone mentioned _Monk_? ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cop-shows-in-which-the-main-characters-rarely-or-never-fire-a-shot-or-throw-a-punch/619722/79 "2012-06-04T12:26:37Z")
I’m trying to remember if there was ever any use of guns in _The Thin Blue Line_ - I know they got the riot gear out once, at least…“Come and have a go if you think you’re hard enough!” ---
**Author:** ![Ura-Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/51bf81/32.png) [@Ura-Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ura-Maru)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2012, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cop-shows-in-which-the-main-characters-rarely-or-never-fire-a-shot-or-throw-a-punch/619722/80 "2012-06-12T06:05:29Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > Kosuke Fujishima’s _You’re Under Arrest!_? I have a couple of the manga stories. At least one of the characters seems to share the _mangaka_’s (_mangaka no_?) love of engines. ## The same. There was a show that lasted a couple of seasons, which was pretty good, as well as a few OAVs and a movie that were ok, but not great. He really let his bike-and-car fetish go for this one, but that’s not a bad thing. It was his regular blend of light comedy, as high a female-to-male ratio as can be reasonably maintained, and a sunny but-not-innocent outlook on life. The opening theme to the later episodes was one of those eye-gougingly horrible J-pop ballads, though. Consider yourself warned. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cop-shows-in-which-the-main-characters-rarely-or-never-fire-a-shot-or-throw-a-punch/619722.md?page=3)