IRONSIDE (TV SERIES)

'''Ironside''' (originally broadcast under the name ''A Man Called Ironside'' in the United Kingdom) was a Universal television series which ran on NBC from March 28, 1967 to January 16, 1975. The character's debut was in a TV-movie in early 1967.
The show revolved around former San Francisco Police Department Chief of Detectives Robert T. Ironside (Raymond Burr), who was forced to retire from the department after a sniper's bullet paralyzed him from the waist down and confined him to a wheelchair. As a "special department consultant," Ironside retained a floor (for living and office space) at police headquarters and made use of a specially modified and equipped police van to accommodate his wheelchair. The show became a success as Ironside depended on brains and initiative in handling his cases. The supporting characters who helped Ironside out through this difficult time included Police Commissioner Dennis Randall (Gene Lyons), rookie detective Sgt. Ed Brown (Don Galloway) and young socialite-turned-plainclothes officer Eve Whitfield (Barbara Anderson), who were all cracking some amazing and serious cases. There was also delinquent-turned-bodyguard Mark Sanger (Don Mitchell), who subsequently also became a police officer, and graduated from law school to become a lawyer late in the run of the series. By the show's fourth season, Eve Whitfield was replaced by another young policewoman, Fran Belding (Elizabeth Baur), who filled much the same role for four more years.
One of the longer-running police dramas of the day, the series featured appearances by a number of actors such as Harrison Ford, Joan Van Ark, Susan Sullivan, Bill Bixby, David Cassidy, David Hartman, Kent McCord, John Rubinstein, Jack Lord, Norman Fell, Gavin MacLeod, Gary Collins, William Shatner, Martin Sheen and Bruce Lee among many others. Music legend Quincy Jones, who wrote the ''Ironside'' theme song, made a guest appearance as well.
Burr and the main cast reunited for a made-for-TV movie in 1993 which aired not long before Burr's death. Burr was starring in an ongoing series of ''Perry Mason'' TV movies at the time, so in order to make himself look less like the other character, he dyed his hair and modified his full beard to a goatee for the ''Ironside'' movie. Unlike the original series, which took place in San Francisco, California, the reunion took place in Denver, Colorado (under the auspices of Ed Brown being appointed the city's deputy chief of police and being a leading candidate to be appointed chief), which was also where the last few of Burr's ''Perry Mason'' films were produced.

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DVD Release

External links

DVD Release

Shout! Factory released Season 1 of ''Ironside'' on DVD in Region 1 for the very first time on April 24, 2007. It is unknown if the remaining 7 seasons will be released at some point.

DVD Name	Ep #	Release Date
Season 1	28	April 24 2007

External links

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★ Ironside's French Page