As most know, the original Kojak starred Telly Savalas, who was a hard core lieutenant in the NYPD from about 73-78, who had a heart. Both Kojaks are bald and both sucking on lollipops. The original was attempting to quit smoking, which is why lollipops came into existence. At the time Kojak was one of the best shows on television, but the original was not nearly as well acted or put together as Kojak 2005, which to me does not make sense to call the new version Kojak. If the new version were weak in acting or cast, then perhaps it would need the help of the old Kojak series, but that is not the case. The new series had better actors and was far superior than the old Kojak. Apparently the network didn't get it? They did try to remake Kojak a couple of times with little or no success. So why do it again? Good question. Perhaps audiences today expect more and because of that audiences today get more as shows today compete with not only cable, but now the Internet.I personally think that the biggest problem with the new Kojak series is that the old series dragged the new series down. I personally think that the show would have lasted longer if it did not attempt to drag the ball and chain of the old series.