Television series

The Mod Squad

The Mod Squad pioneered the idea that young people could be taken seriously as crime fighters. Three stylish undercover cops—one Black, one white, one blonde—infiltrate the counterculture to solve crimes nobody else can reach. It's a cop show that talks, with real engagement on race and drugs. Thrilling when it works, dated when it doesn't, but historically fearless.

TVMaze rating3.6

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you enjoy episodic 1960s crime shows where undercover work doubles as a window onto counterculture, racial tension and the era's fashions.

Skip it if the episodic cases can feel formulaic, and the dialogue and pacing show their age for viewers used to serialized storytelling.

What it asks of you: Sixty-minute episodes, each a self-contained case, paced steadily rather than breathlessly, across five seasons, so you commit to a long run and accept the period's attitudes.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Miami Vice1984

Stylish cops in a youthful milieu, undercover work, and racial dynamics at its core. The template Mod Squad established, turbocharged with 80s atmosphere and cocaine-era stakes. Slicker, faster, and hypnotic.

But It's almost entirely about aesthetic and mood. If you need plot clarity or character development, you'll drown in the neon.

Miami Vice poster

Starsky & Hutch1975

Two young detectives working street-level crime with chemistry and humor. Similar DNA to Mod Squad—partners who banter while solving real cases—but with more action and less pretense about being undercover.

But It's pure 70s pulp. There's no ambition to explore larger social issues, just fun and car chases.

Starsky & Hutch poster

Law & Order1990

Police procedural that respects both cops and the complexity of crime scenes. Like Mod Squad, it engages seriously with contemporary social issues, but with structure and clarity instead of atmosphere.

But It's mechanical and formula-bound by design. Lacks Mod Squad's willingness to let mood and character drift across an hour.

Law & Order poster

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Mod Squad

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Medium Cool1969

Both emerged in 1968-69 wrestling with whether young people could actually change the system or were just being used by it. Medium Cool says no; Mod Squad says maybe.

A TV cameraman shoots a murder and gets caught between the police, the mob, and the 1968 Democratic Convention riots. It's the same urban corruption and moral confusion Mod Squad explored, but framed as tragedy rather than adventure.

But Deliberately fragmentary and pessimistic. No heroes, no solutions, just a city in crisis and a man watching it fall apart.

Medium Cool poster
More like this (8)

Hill Street Blues1981

Ensemble police drama that treats every officer as a full human being, with personal stakes that matter as much as cases. Serious about race, class, and institutional pressure in ways Mod Squad pioneered.

But Slower and grittier than Mod Squad. If you're watching for action, you'll be disappointed by the focus on bureaucracy and exhaustion.

Hill Street Blues poster

The Wire2002

Modern equivalent of Mod Squad's ambition to show how crime and counterculture actually work. Uses undercover work, youth culture, and systemic racism as central engines. Epic in scope but intimate in character.

But Dense, slow-burn, and demands you pay attention. The first season is deliberately unglamorous, and it doesn't hold your hand.

The Wire poster

Mannix1967

Contemporary detective show with strong action sequences and a lead who's genuinely clever. Predates Mod Squad slightly but shares the same era's visual language and street-level focus.

But It's a solo operator show without the ensemble dynamic or social consciousness that makes Mod Squad distinctive.

Mannix poster

Ironside1967

Innovative procedural featuring a wheelchair-using detective solving crimes with his team. Contemporary with Mod Squad, similarly experimental about what a cop show could be.

But The novelty can feel patronizing by modern standards. The cases are often less interesting than the setup.

Ironside poster

The Streets of San Francisco1972

Two detectives, one young and one seasoned, working cases across a beautiful city. Strong on character chemistry and Bay Area atmosphere without preaching about social issues.

But Considerably more conventional than Mod Squad. If you're drawn to it specifically for counterculture engagement, look elsewhere.

The Streets of San Francisco poster

Dragnet1951

The grandfather of all police procedurals. Direct, efficient, respectful to the work itself. If you want to understand what Mod Squad was reacting against, this is it.

But Buttoned-up and earnest in a way that feels almost religious. The opposite of hip, which is partly the point.

Dragnet poster

Shaft1971

Both center a Black protagonist as the moral compass of a crime story. But Shaft trusts him completely; Mod Squad puts him on a team with a white lead and a blonde. That difference is the whole conversation.

A Black private detective moves through Harlem with total command, solving crime on his own terms. The visual style, the soul music, the moral authority—everything Mod Squad wanted to be, compressed into ninety minutes of pure cool.

But It's a film, not a series, so there's no character development across time. And it's considerably more cynical about institutions than Mod Squad pretends to be.

Shaft poster

The French Connection1971

Both understand that drug crime can't be solved by conventional policing. Mod Squad thought youthful empathy and hip credentials could bridge the gap; The French Connection proves it can't.

Raw, unglamorous police work following two NYPD detectives into heroin trafficking. The counterculture and the underworld collide exactly as Mod Squad imagined, but this time it's unsentimental and morally corrosive.

But Brutal and bleak. There's no charm or fun here, just surveillance, bureaucracy, and the knowledge that nobody really wins.

The French Connection poster

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Recommended by

Ironside, Highway Patrol, McCloud, Mannix, Dan August, Burke's Law, Get Christie Love!, Laredo, Masquerade, The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries, Tenafly, SurfSide 6, Chopper One, The Detectives, Flipper, Tarzan, Hawaii Five-O