When I was younger I had a crush on Michael Cole who portrayed the character Pete Cochran on
the Mod Squad. I was probably more in
love with the idea of Pete than I was infatuated with Michael.
Recently I watched an episode of the old TV Series and felt admiration all over again. Pete
Cochran is a gentleman. He opens doors
for women. He shows compassion.
This particular episode was shot in its final
season around Christmas time. An
acquaintance of Pete asked him if he could watch his daughter for an
hour. The acquaintance said there was
some business he needed to take care of but that he’d be right back. Pete willingly took his daughter and kept on
eye on her for several hours actually.
Pete, estranged from his own parents, encouraged
the little girl to pray. She said that
she didn’t believe in God and Pete’s answer introduced her to the world of
hope. I admired him for his carefully
selected words. And I admired the
humility involved in his relationship with the girl and how he and Julie and
Linc all care for one another.
The girl talks Pete into purchasing a tree, and
while at the tree lot she discovers the nativity and walks toward it and looks
upon it with wonder. I enjoyed watching
the show – not just for the memories of this awesome Pete Cochran – but also
for the values that the networks had once incorporated into their television
programming and for the messages on hope, prayer and the true meaning of
Christmas. Seems that so much of that
has been lost in over the years – especially in what we’ve settled on in TV
entertainment.
