About this season
Chopper One was a short-lived ABC drama/adventure television series in early 1974 depicting the activities of a California police helicopter team. The program aired in a half-hour time slot on Thursdays at 8 p.m. Eastern. It aired adjacent to Firehouse, an action-drama series about a Los Angeles fire station. Chopper One was cancelled after six months and Firehouse ended in the following month.
Episodes (13)
1. Chopper One
Aired 17 January 1974
A swanky fourteen story hotel is being robbed downtown. The team plot the arrests and how best to use the helicopter.
2. Strain of Innocence
Aired 24 January 1974
Burdick gets a call from a girl he once helped, who is now mixed up with some bad guys and afraid for the safety of her unborn child.
3. The Bust-Out
Aired 31 January 1974
Don and Gil find themselves in a dangerous predicament when their helicopter is taken over by armed gunmen.
4. The Boy Who Cried Wolf
Aired 7 February 1974
An invalid creates havoc when he uses a ham radio to call in fake emergencies.
5. The Informer
Aired 14 February 1974 • 30 min
Don and Gil are asked to help secure a witness by using the chopper to transport him to the safe house. But when they get there, the man calls his wife and tells her where he is. So she goes there not knowing that the people who want to kill her husband is following her.
6. The Drop
Aired 21 February 1974
When the daughter of a doctor is kidnapped. The kidnappers then call her father to tell him of their demands. And it seems he wants the police to make the ransom drop using a chopper so Don and Gil are told of this. The father only wants her daughter back, so Don makes a suggestion that he parachute out of the chopper after Gil makes the drop. So they do it.
7. Ambush
Aired 28 February 1974
When anti-police militants offer a reward to anyone who can shoot down the "pig spy helicopter," Foley and Burdick's lives are in danger from rooftop snipers.
8. The Copperhead
Aired 7 March 1974
A respected officer is suspected of reselling guns that were confiscated by the police.
9. Killing Time
Aired 14 March 1974
Mitch's wife's been kidnapped. They call him to tell him that they want the chopper grounded, so he damages it so it won't fly. Gil and Don who suspect something talks to him and he admits what's happening. So the go to the Captsin and deduce that they wanted the chopper down cause they were suppose to fly aerial cover for a prosecutor who's about to indict several criminals. With info from Mitch, they deduce where they could be holding her and go there. And hopefully they can go back to protect the prosecutor.
10. Deadly Carrier
Aired 21 March 1974
Gil and Don are working on a case involving illegal aliens. But they learn that one of the aliens is carrying a contagious disease, so a doctor is assigned to accompany them. And Don doesn't get along with her.
11. The Scramble
Aired 28 March 1974
Chopper cop Gil goes undercover to race in a motorcycle scramble. He's investigating renegade cyclists who have been robbing business establishments near the races.
12. The Hijacking
Aired 4 April 1974
During a period of fuel shortages, Foley and Burdick work to help bust a gang that is hijacking gasoline tanker trucks.
13. Downtime
Aired 11 April 1974
Thinking that they will be able to relax while their chopper is undergoing repairs, Burdick and Foley find that they must race the clock to locate an extortionist before his bomb goes off.