Police Shows for the Reagan Era

On Fridays the tough cops take over on TV. Strike Force (10:00 P.M. Fridays, ABC), starring Robert Stack who used to battle the mob as Elliot Ness in The Untouchables, offers us a trio of sadistic rapist killers who cruise L.A. singles bars, pick up unsuspecting girls, torture, mutilate, and murder them. After the Strike Force saves the latest victim, we break for the last round of Bayer commercials. But it is in the epilogue of this gruesome story of male sexual madness that the real depravity comes through. Stack and his commanding officer sit in a chic restaurant and get started recalling what is sure to be a long series of stories about the kinkiest strippers they’ve ever seen. The show ends with an almost grotesque freeze of Stack’s face as he grimaces a laugh at Two-Tassle Tina.

Earlier, at 9:00 PM on NBC, there’s McClain’s Law, starring James Ames, who in Gunsmoke brought law to Dodge by sheer courage and moral integr...