Did you ever notice they swapped wives on Officer Reed in Adam-12?

Oddly, they both had romantic ties to Ricky Nelson, too.

Look, we get that continuity was not a high priority for creators of classic television. Producers hardly envisioned people repeatedly watching episodes or recording them, let alone nitpicking little details half a century later. Still, it's always a little surprising and exciting when you catch an inconsistency in a rerun.

Different actors would often play the same character without a costar doing a double-take or making note of the change. Take Adam-12, for example. Officers Reed and Malloy were tight-knit partners, but they certainly had their differences, right down to their love lives. Pete Malloy (Martin Milner) was a bachelor, showing up with different women on his arm throughout the series. (We'll talk about a particular Mayberry woman in a minute.) Jim Reed (Kent McCord) was a married man.

Jean Reed appeared in a handful of episodes over the course of seven seasons. Did you notice that two actresses played his significant other?

Mikki Jamison was the first Mrs. Reed. You can see her wearing the orange dress on the upper right. She popped up in three episodes of season two. For whatever reason, we saw nothing of Jim's wife for five years. 

Then, in "Ladies' Night," a lighthearted episode in season seven, Jean returned. Only, she was portrayed by Kristin Harmon.

As you might guess from her last name, Kristin is the sister of Mark Harmon. But you might know her better as Kristin Nelson, onetime wife of teen idol Ricky Nelson. She married Nelson at the age of 17.

The Everett CollectionHarmon and Jamison with Ricky Nelson on 'Ozzie and Harriet'

Here's the fun coincidence that classic television so often provides: Mikki Jamison also had a link to Ricky Nelson! In "Rick Sends a Picture," an episode of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, Jamison guest-starred as Betty, a blind date for Rick. She would return (as a different girl) for a double date with Rick and Wally in "Any Date in a Storm."

While we are on the topic of sitcom connections, let's go back to "Ladies' Night." Loverboy Pete Malloy turns up with a date in that episode, too — Aneta Corsaut, best known as the lover of Sheriff Andy!

Kristin Nelson would not appear on television again after Adam-12. Jamison would make just one more appearance on a series, in Wonder Woman.

Watch Adam-12 on MeTV!

One Full Hour

Weekdays at 6 AM

*available in most MeTV markets
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
Close

26 Comments

Delmo 37 months ago
Hard not to notice as Mikki is more attractive than Kristin.
Tammy 41 months ago
Tracey Nelson certainly resembles her mom
JJPerry 48 months ago
Note to Peter Roff....KRISTIN Nelson was the second Jean Reed on Adam 12.....KIRSTEN Nelson was the chief of police on Psych...
PeterRoff 49 months ago
Kristen Nelson plays ther chief of police on Psych
HP11 PeterRoff 42 months ago
That would be KIRSTEN not KRISTIN. Two different people.
deafguy64 49 months ago
Got a question, how come in some episodes they wear a tie and in some other episodes they don’t wear a tie?
MikefromJersey 50 months ago
You boys have it all wrong. Reed's wife is actually Nancy Crater, the shape shifting creature from
Star Trek's "The Man Trap" who sucks salt out of humans.
I hope Malloy remembers to bring the table salt when he goes to Jim's home for dinner, you
don't want Nancy Crater to be jonesing for a sodium fix.
FatOlBroad MikefromJersey 50 months ago
No way is it Jeanne Bal. She shows up in Perry Mason and Mr Novak but not Adam-12. Too mature for Reed.
MikefromJersey FatOlBroad 50 months ago
Hi FatOlBroad,
I was making a joke. Since two different actresses portrayed Mrs. Reed, I explained that it must
mean Jean Reed was a shape shifter, to explain why Jean Reed looked different in different episodes. Hence Jim was married to an alien, the Star Trek creature. I wasn't claiming that
Jeanne Bal played Mrs. Reed.
EmBee 50 months ago
I was aware that there were different Jeans. We didn't see her a whole lot. I think that the private lives of the officers (who were actually composites of LAPD officers) weren't the focus of the show. Each episode was only 1/2 hour with only a few 2 parters and rarely did a story line relive itself.
Also, there is quite a bit of contradiction of which division they were in. In an episode of Dragnet, they were in Sunset division. Most sources have them in Rampart division. About 85-90% of the show that wasn't shot on the Universal lot was shot in North Hollywood and environs. AND the NH station was the one shown during establishing shots. But they had an episode or 2 where they were 'visiting' other divisions; Harbor, Foothill, Pacific just to name 3 plus the 2 times they were on loan to LAX. BUT, to make things even MORE confusing, their call sign was 1 Adam-12. The first number is supposed to be the division number. One would be Central which would include downtown LA. And whereas the DID show up in the downtown area now and then (the final 7th season opening showed City Hall, again, most of the show was filmed in and around N Hollywood. SO, If they were Rampart, they would be 2 Adam-12. Well, except that 12 is the district number within the division. And for whatever reason, district numbers were all odd numbers. The even 12 was probably used because it would be fictitious just as precincts on NYPD based shows are defunct or inactive. NH would have them be 16 Adam-12.
MikefromJersey EmBee 50 months ago
When they were in Dragnet, it was a case of showcasing characters, a sort of pilot for
the unofficial spin off that became Adam-12. Wasn't Kent McCord on two or three Dragnets
as different characters? Maybe Webb was trying to decide how to use him.
77 Sunset Strip had 3 or 4 backdoor pilot episodes, but unlike Adam-12
they didn't go anywhere.
robert EmBee 50 months ago
You have or had a real intense following of the details of that show. I always regarded it as just a fluff show for entertainment. I may have to revisit it to see how much police brutality took place.
GlennaRose robert 50 months ago
Only once that I remember; that officer was punished and removed though it took a while. He was not a nice guy at all. Wish it were that way in today's real life - that the other officers would not allow bullies in their midst.
kkvegas robert 49 months ago
There was an episode where Malloy (Martin Milner) was rough with a suspect (who I believe was suspected of attacking a little girl). He was reprimanded and got days off as a punishment. It was a good episode because it showed how even a cop we knew as good and fair could let his emotions get away with him.
igsjr 50 months ago
These Ozzie & Harriet coincidences aren't all that surprising when you remember that Kent McCord appeared frequently on the show as one of Rick's fellow frat brothers. (You can look it up!)
robert igsjr 50 months ago
Wally was in college with David and Ricky for what it seemed like 8 or 9 years.
Jerry077 igsjr 28 months ago
In his earlier appearances on Ozzie and Harriet, McCord was credited using his real name: Kent McWhirter. I don't remember if he started using McCord while on Ozzie and Harriet.
AgingDisgracefully 50 months ago
The sad thing is the usually observant Officer Reed didn't notice either.
JanFresh 50 months ago
If Adam 12 were a song, it would be my jam lol
Hogansucks1 50 months ago
Swingin on Adam-12 ? ! Love It 😇
cperrynaples 50 months ago
Actually, if I'm not mistaken, Kristen went on to do commercials for Tic Tacs [Yes, the mints Trump uses when he feels like grabbing...LOL!] Also, she was the mother of Tracy Nelson [Father Dowling Mysteries] and her sons performed as Nelson [best known for "Love & Affection"]!
Hogansucks1 cperrynaples 50 months ago
Good info - Thanks ! 🙂
MrsPhilHarris cperrynaples 50 months ago
She was on Green Acres a few days ago.
daDoctah cperrynaples 50 months ago
Actually, it's Mark and Kristin's sister Kelly Harmon who did the Tic Tac commercials. She was once married to John De Lorean.

(Actress Deborah Harmon, who appeared in small roles in two of the three Back to the Future movies which prominently featured a De Lorean automobile, is not related to the other Harmons mentioned above.)
cperrynaples daDoctah 50 months ago
I knew I mixed them up, but I'm right about Kristin's kids!
cperrynaples 50 months ago
This comment has been removed.
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?