As of July 2026, Adam-12 Season 5 aired in 1972 with 24 episodes — streaming now on Philo. Full episode guide and where to watch below.

Adam-12 Season 5 poster

← Back to Adam-12

Adam-12 Season 5

1972 24 Episodes Crime · Drama ⭐ 7/10

If you want a crime drama that treats its mystery as more than a puzzle, Adam-12 Season 5 is available on right now. A compact run that never overstays its welcome. 48 people have weighed in on TMDB, and the verdict leans heavily positive. Martin Milner sets the tone, and the ensemble matches it scene for scene. There is no real reason to keep putting it off.

Part of the current wave of titles people are actually watching, Adam-12 Season 5 earns its spot. The plotting in Adam-12 Season 5 is tight enough that the twists feel earned rather than assembled. This is a list of episodes from the fifth season of Adam-12. Martin Milner and Kent McCord lead a cast that brings real weight to the material. It was aired in 1972. What distinguishes the best crime dramas from the rest is whether the character work can carry scenes where the mystery takes a breath — Adam-12 Season 5 passes that test consistently. It delivers reliably on what it promises, which is more than most of its competition manages.

For anyone who wants their crime drama to earn its twists, Adam-12 Season 5 delivers. It stands on its own even without an obvious comparison point. A contained run means every episode is doing real work. Watch Martin Milner work — it is a masterclass in the genre. Few crime dramas earn their twists this consistently.

📡 Where to Watch Adam-12 Season 5

🇺🇸 United States

🎬 Adam-12 Season 5 — Episode Guide

A series of purse snatchings involving motorcyclists frustrates the LAPD, as they cannot follow them down the off-road trails they take. Reed holds a community meeting with the various motorcycle clubs, and the leader of one club challenges Malloy to a dirt bike race. Reed teaches Malloy how to ride...

Malloy finds himself attracted to the new girl in the steno pool, and decides to ask her on a date after learning she's Officer Wells' 25-year-old niece. Out on patrol, he and Reed investigate a report of a prowler in a heavily wooded neighborhood, make a deal with a flower vendor before booking him...

Malloy and Reed are patrolling the outskirts of Los Angeles when a girl on horseback alerts them to a small plane that landed in a secluded area. When the officers investigate, they see a pickup truck fleeing and the plane trying to take off; though they stop the plane, they have no proof the pilot ...

Reed and Malloy rush an 8-year old to Rampart Emergency Hospital, where he is diagnosed with diabetes. Scared of the hospital, Jimmy runs off, and it's up to Reed and Malloy to find him before he goes into a diabetic coma. Elsewhere, Malloy's new girlfriend, Cathy, mans a hospital telephone hotline....

Training Wheels

The officers undergo their driver refresher courses to hone their pursuit and driving skills. A rash of car strippers brings about a new approach suggested by Officer Wells: going undercover as paperboys riding bicycles to find the thieves. Hilarity ensues; Wells wrecks his bicycle that belonged to ...

Officer Charlie Burnside pulls a prank on Officer Albert Porter, a friend of Reed's. Porter, who does not find the prank funny, informs Reed that Burnside is frequently "badge-heavy" (rough) with his suspects. After dealing with an inept would-be robber, Malloy and Reed observe Burnside choking a su...

A hotel janitor (and wino) named Harry witnesses a murder in a hotel room, but refuses to talk until Reed shows him compassion and respect, both of which are lacking from his family and friends, but his testimony is clouded by his alcoholic past. Malloy relives his childhood by telling the story of ...

During Malloy's birthday, he lets Reed know he does not enjoy surprise parties, but becomes increasingly suspicious and believes the others are actually planning a surprise party, much to his chagrin; it is soon revealed that is not the case. Meanwhile, Sgt. MacDonald warns the officers about a rash...

A World War II survivor and tailor shop owner sets an ambush for an unidentified intruder when Malloy and Reed intervene. R&I determines the owner is clean and emigrated to the U.S. seventeen years earlier from Eastern Europe. The officers speak with a local priest who knows the owner, who complains...

Malloy and Reed encounter an armed private investigator from out of state, who is in Los Angeles to find a bail jumper. Later the PI is in the middle of an altercation with two black men, one of which is injured; the PI claims the men tried to rob him, but the men tell a different story, and Sgt. Ma...

Malloy and Reed have to wear their long-sleeved uniforms despite a hot forecast, then learn they could have changed to short sleeves but missed the radio notification. Calls include the search for a bicycle pump that contains drugs, a woman experiencing withdrawal symptoms with the dealer and the pu...

Gifts and Long Letters

Malloy and Reed are called to a hotel to stop a woman's suicide attempt; while there, they learn of a parolee there who refuses to speak with the woman because he thinks someone from the mob is after him. Later the officers are called back to the hotel because the manager wants the parolee evicted; ...

O'Brien's Stand

Malloy's old landlady, Mrs. O'Brien, has her purse stolen and refuses to leave the station until her case is settled. Mrs. O'Brien resorts to other means, including hounding detectives and setting up a picket line to vent her frustrations. Malloy makes connection between her theft and a string of pu...

Clear with a Civilian: Part 1

Reed spreads his flu to several other officers, leaving the station undermanned. Calls include a shootout with a rifle-toting bookie, an argument between a storekeeper and a customer over a cantaloupe during an unrelated traffic stop, Reed locating a burglar after seeing a flashlight inside a store,...

Clear with a Civilian: Part 2

While on second shift, Malloy and Reed take Police Commissioner Dixon on a ride-along. They encounter a bar owner who locked a naked, elderly man inside, a fight with a knife-wielding man and another man with a gun, and a missing 17-year-old deaf boy with mental instabilities, which Reed recognizes ...

Citizen's Arrest - 484

Malloy and Reed arrest a seemingly less-fortunate woman for shoplifting items for her baby, but she escapes from custody during a disruption at the station; the officers later learn the woman and her husband actually stole the baby, as they could not have one of their own. After finding the woman at...

Malloy and Reed are given an older cruiser with 300 miles to go until retirement. They quickly learn the car is extremely unreliable and barely works: the accelerator surges, the glove compartment door constantly drops on Reed's knees, the water hose breaks while they are sneaking up on a prowler su...

Malloy and Reed pull over a car on a routine traffic stop and are taken hostage by two robbers escaping from their heist. The officers have to use all their skills to escape the situation.

Reed spends a Saturday night talking about buying a used car, during the watch the officers handle a possible DUI but the driver passes the field sobriety tests, a shooting during which a man kills his recently paroled son-in-law, a car stripper, trick a man into revealing his name after pulling him...

Reed spends an evening on the firing range, then stops by an all-night grocery store. When Reed leaves, a man approaches him as if he knew him, then points out another man in a green Beetle holding a gun on the officer. Reed drops his groceries, shoves the man, jumps and fires at the Beetle driver, ...

🎭 Cast of Adam-12 Season 5

Martin Milner

Officer Pete Malloy

Kent McCord

Officer Jim Reed

William Boyett

Sergeant MacDonald

📋 All Seasons of Adam-12

Season 1 Season 2 Season 3 Season 4 Season 6 Season 7

Never Lose Track of Adam-12

TV Butler Pro lets you search every streaming service in seconds, tracks what you've watched, and works completely free. No app download needed.

🎩 Try TV Butler Pro Free