Mrs Reed
Who played Reed's wife?
"A daffy woman constantly strives to become a star..."
Two different actresses played Jean Reed.
Mikki Jamison played her for three episodes in the 2nd season. Then Kristin Harmon (Mark Harmon's sister) played Jean Reed for three episodes in the final season. She was married to Ricky Nelson at the time (yes, that Ricky Nelson) and was friends with Kent McCord. (At least, I assume she & Kent were friends, as he was good friends w/ Ricky Nelson.)
Anyway, many Adam-12 fans much prefer Mikki Jamison's portrayal of Mrs. Reed.
(P.S., even though I knew the actress' names, I got their episode info from right here on imdb, since I wasn't positive of some of it.)
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David Nelson also directed an episode of Adam 12 and I believe Ozzie also made a guest star appearance on an episode. McCord and Ricky Nelson were very good friends apparently; in addition, Kristin Harmon Nelson's brother is Mark Harmon, who appeared in the Season 7 episode Gus Corbin. Later Harmon was cast in the proposed Webb series 905-WILD. Obviously there were close ties between Jack Webb and the Nelson and Harmon families.
As for Jean Reed, I much prefer the first actress who played Jean in Season 2; she portrayed Jean as a woman with both spunk and good sense and she had good chemistry with Kent McCord.
I agree w/ your assessment of the "first" Jean Reed, played by Micki Jamison. Altho we must remember that the writing has something to do with our impressions as well. I liked Jamison's portrayal, and I also like the Jean Reed character in those episodes. (More or less, anyway; there are a couple of minor things I can quibble with.)
As for Nelson... I'm not familiar with any of her earlier TV appearances prior to Adam-12, and I have to admit that I don't like how Jean was portrayed in those episodes--she was turned into a nagging shrew.
I think the writers screwed up the character so that the season 7 Jean Reed was not the same woman that we saw in season 2 (literally and figuratively). Therefore I can't say for certain that I would have liked the 'later' Jean Reed even if Micki Jamison had played her. Altho she probably would have done a better job and, as you say, she did have good chemistry w/ Kent/Jim.
Ozzie Nelson also directed.
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