Don t look too closely at the new "Kojak " trying to find the similarities between the new -but still bald - Theo Kojak,played by Ving Rhames,and the old one, played famously by Telly Savalas on the original series that ran on CBS from 1973 to 1978.

"It s almost like when an actor plays Hamlet," he says."The setting is similar [to the old Kojak ] - it s a New York police station - but each actor brings their own unique qualities to the role." The qualities Rhames feels he brings to the role of Kojak come straight out of his upbringing on the streets of New York.