Edward Hume, who wrote the teleplay for the pilot, was credited as having developed the series based on characters in Weston's novel.

The change was not popular with audiences, and the show ended in 1977 due to declining ratings and increased production costs.

Many actors guest-starred on the show; some were relatively unknown at the time and became successful stars in their own feature films or television series.

When the series debuted, it was slotted as counter programming opposite CBS' popular Saturday-night situation comedies, but failed to build an audience.

The Streets of San Francisco moved to Thursday night, and immediately increased its viewership to an 18.1 rating and 31 percent share of the audience.

For the 1976-77 television season, ABC made the strategic error of moving the show up one hour, placing it in direct competition with Barnaby Jones, another Quinn Martin production.

The two crime dramas virtually split their audience with Barnaby Jones ranking 49th and The Streets of San Francisco falling to 52nd of 104 shows for the season.

[12] The decline in viewership, coupled with steadily rising production costs and a new contract for star Karl Malden, prompted ABC to cancel the series.

[13] Paramount Home Entertainment has released the first two seasons of Streets of San Francisco on DVD in the UK.