McCloud (TV Series) - Portrayal of New York City in The 1970s

Portrayal of New York City in The 1970s

The show, which was in some senses a big city Western, was set in New York City during what was arguably the nadir of the city's existence in the late 20th century, a period following the troubled 1960s and leading up to the fiscal crisis of 1975 (which figured in "The Day New York Turned Blue", for example).

At the time, the city seemed to be on an inexorable downward slide into chaos, a theme that was explored in a more brutal fashion in William Friedkin's film The French Connection which was released the year after the pilot of McCloud. In some episodes (such as "Walk in the Dark") the city was portrayed as particularly crime-ridden, with the danger of muggings and bodily harm at every turn. Such lurking evil was often more in the dialogue than the pictures, however, and the show retained a somewhat whimsical and sunny flavor despite the subject matter.

McCloud was filmed partially on location (the unit was in New York for "A Little Plot at Tranquil Valley" notably, and traveled to Hawaii for "A Cowboy in Paradise", to Mexico City and Teotihuacán for "Lady on the Run", and to Sydney for "Night of the Shark" — second-unit footage came from London, Paris, Monaco, Rome, and Moscow at various times), but utilized the Universal back lot for many scenes.

A recurring theme in many episodes was the incorporation of a plot device from Hollywood cinema, particularly at the climax of an episode. Examples included chases on horseback to lasso cattle rustlers ("The Colorado Cattle Caper"), a 1930s-style gangster shoot-out (the film-within-a-film shot on location in "The Gang That Stole Manhattan,"), a Jesse James-style train hold-up on the Long Island Rail Road ("Butch Cassidy Rides Again"), and a showdown with a vampire on the Third Street Bridge ("McCloud Meets Dracula").