Kennedy stars as Samuel Patrick Cavanaugh, a San Diego police detective sergeant who decides to retire and enter the priesthood after his wife is murdered.

One week before the show's fall premiere, on September 14, 1971, Cavanaugh traveled to San Francisco because of the death of a friend and fellow priest.

His investigation caused him to cross paths with the characters from Ironside in a two-hour special that consolidated the two series' consecutive time slots.

Sallie Shockley (Valerie) and Harold Sakata (Kenji Takichi) reprised their roles from the pilot movie for the series.

Sarge was well received but ultimately failed by being pitted against CBS's Hawaii Five-O and The ABC Tuesday Movie of the Week.