Early in the episode Chief Harry Woolf pulls a sucker out of the mouth of Det Chris Skelton and comments that he, "Rues the day Kojak (1973) went on the air." Later on in the episode, Skelton states for the record that it's October 6, 1973. Kojak didn't debut until Oct 24, 1973. And the suckers didn't start until well into the season, when he tries to quit smoking.