Buddy Briggs

Buddy Briggs, is a fictional, supporting character from the 1982 television series Police Squad!

Background
He is a talented up and coming boxer whose rise to prominence has been thwarted by crime boss, Montague Martin's fixing of fights in the city.

Captain Ed Hocken tells Lieutenant Frank Drebin to go undercover to get evidence against Martin's fight fixing operation. Frank wants to manage Buddy, but needs Buddy's management contract to do that. Frank seeks out Buddy's corrupt manager Saul Cooper, who is acting in league with Martin and profiting from the fixed fights and was also Mike Schultz's manager (and who had earlier warned Schultz not to cross Montague Martin just before he was killed for not losing a fight when he was supposed). Frank joins a poker game with Saul and his cronies, with the intent to win Buddy's contract.

After the stakes get steadily higher, in the end Frank wins (with a full house and his revolver as his ace-in-the-hole), and gets Buddy's contract. However, Cooper warns that even though he's got Buddy's contract, he'll never get another fight in the city again.

Frank's next step is to train Buddy. At Buddy's apartment, the audience meets Buddy's wife, Mary. He and Mary's relationship is contentious at best. Mary has been drinking and calls Buddy a bum who could have been a contender (a spoof of the famous quote from On the Waterfront.) She claims that Martin and Cooper "own him" and storms out of the apartment, returning briefly to get her St. Bernard named "Muffin". Buddy clearly loves Mary and wants to give her everything she has always wanted, including her own synagogue. Frank promises to help Buddy fight fair and win, claiming that he and Mary have been living in the sewers too long.

Buddy and Frank decide to meet at Morey's Bar in the evening, to arrange a fight with "The Champ", who is managed by Cooper and Martin. Once there, Cooper introduces "Bob Kelly" to Martin as the "guy who manages Lorne Greene and Johnny Cash". Frank tries to get Martin to agree to a fight between Buddy and The Champ, but Martin promises he will never get a fight in this city because "I own this town!" Frank then tries to offend The Champ directly by shouting that he is dishonest and only wins because of guys "lying down or dying", but this does not work. Despite a torrent of insults from Frank, The Champ remains courteous and composed. Dejected and believing that a fight will never happen, Buddy then says "forget it" and prepares to leave. Upon hearing this seemingly innocent remark, The Champ becomes enraged, shouting that "No one says 'forget it' to me!" The Champ tries to hit Buddy, but Buddy blocks his punch and then hits back, knocking down The Champ. With that, a boxing match between Buddy and The Champ is on.

The evening of the fight, Montague Martin walks into Buddy's dressing room and tells him that he has kidnapped Mary. He threatens her safety unless Buddy "takes a dive" in the 12th round. He shows him Mary's toaster to prove he's not bluffing. Buddy is upset because he trained to win the fight, but now he has to lose. Frank promises Buddy that he will find Mary and that he should still beat The Champ. Frank needs to find Mary before the fight is over and needs answers fast so he goes to see Johnny the Snitch. Johnny tells Frank that Mary is being held hostage by Luca Burnett at Jim's Gym.

During the boxing match in a continuation of the gag where Martin shows Buddy things belonging to Mary to prove he has her, Martin holds up Mary's washing machine. Buddy is knocked down by The Champ. On the canvas, he begins drooling uncontrollably and hallucinating about Mary (and The Wizard of Oz), with The Champ promising that Buddy will "always be a bum". However, Mary enters the arena and shouts "Buddy!" On seeing that Mary is safe, a reinvigorated Buddy jumps up and knocks out The Champ with a single punch. At the end of the match, Buddy and Mary embrace, and Buddy calls out Martin for his crimes in front of the reporters. Martin tries to leave the arena but Captain Ed Hocken and Frank arrest him.

Relationships

 * Mary - wife.