2005 series remake

In March 2005, a new Kojak series debuted on the USA Network cable channel (and on ITV4 in the UK). In this "reimagined" version, Ving Rhames, an African-American actor, portrays the character. The bald head, lollipops, and "Who loves ya, baby?" catchphrase remained in intact, but little else remained from the Savalas original. The series lasted one season.

Original 1973 Cast

• Telly Savalas - Lt. Theo Kojak
• Dan Frazer - Chief Capt. Frank McNeil - Kojak's boss
• Kevin Dobson - Det. Bobby Crocker - Kojak's partner
• George Savalas - Det. Stavros
• Mark Russell - Det. Saperstein (seasons 2-4)
• Vince Conti - Det. Rizzo (seasons 2-4)

Trivia

• In the early episodes of the series, Kojak smoked heavily; in order to reflect the anti-smoking sentiment then gaining momentum on American TV, it was decided that Kojak had decided to quit smoking, sucking on lollipops as a substitute, which became a trademark of the character.
• The series was a favorite of Archie in the comic Dinosaurs For Hire.
• A perfect parking spot in a crowded area is called a 'Kojak', because the detective was always able to find a spot in the middle of NYC.^{[citation needed]}
• 'Kojak' is the name of a dog who plays a prominent role in Stephen King's novel The Stand.
• Parts of the set built for the 1989-1990 Kojak mini-series are still in use to this day as the squadroom set for Law & Order.^{[citation needed]}
• Billy Howard performs an impression of Kojak (along with many other TV cops) in his December 1975 UK hit "King of The Cops", which peaked at Number 6.
• Mario Puzo's original script for the 1978 movie, Superman, had a scene where a flying Superman is using his super-vision to look for bald criminal Lex Luthor. Identifying a bald head, Superman drops from the sky and then realises that it's Telly Savalas, who greets the hero with Kojak's catchphrase, "Who loves ya, baby?" This scene was cut from the final script.^{[citation needed]}
• In 1980, a low-budget Hungarian movie was made titled Kojak Budapesten (Kojak in Budapest) about Kojak (played by Savalas' look-alike László Inke, who had also dubbed Savalas' voice for the Hungarian distribution of Kojak) visiting the country and solving a murder case there. The film posits that Kojak is in fact a Hungarian immigrant to the US, and not of Greek extraction. The movie was both a parody of Kojak and a satire of the socialist system of Hungary.
• On one episode, a little boy whose maid spoke Greek language, in real-life, actor Telly Savalas was of Greek descent.