Robert A. Cinader

Who was Robert A. Cinader?

Robert A. Cinader was an American television producer best known for his work on two NBC series packaged by actor/producer Jack Webb's Mark VII Limited, Adam-12 and Emergency!. The latter show in particular was widely credited by observers as one of the most important efforts to promote the widespread adoption of paramedic services by fire departments and hospitals in the U.S.

A native New Yorker and an Army veteran, Cinader first wrote for Holiday Magazine and later became head of the United Nations' publications operation. Then he turned to the field of television syndication, working for the William Morris Agency and later for NBC's syndication division, where he created a 1957 adventure series, The Silent Service, a Dragnet-like semi-documentary anthology about Naval submarines. Afterward, he worked for both Hal Roach and Red Skelton in the early 1960s.

While working a stint at Warner Brothers, Cinader was approached by Webb to assist him in producing his 1967-70 revival of Dragnet, for Universal Studios. While on that job, he devised a show for Mark VII that told the story of the police beat from the perspective of two LAPD patrol officers. The result, Adam-12, ran on NBC from 1968 to 1975; Cinader was also the producer of that program during the early part of its run.