Ving Rhames portrays different Kojak in new show

BOSTON (AP) – Ving Rhames may have picked up a lollipop and stepped into Telly Savalas’ shoes for a new version of “Kojak,” but he wasn’t a fan of the TV show as a child.

“‘Kojak’ wasn’t on in my house. I grew up in Harlem one block away from the Apollo Theater, where a version of Kojak’s show was happening every day in the neighborhood. There were thugs and criminals and detectives running around. Why would I want to watch a show about that?” he told the Boston Sunday Globe. “I think I’ve seen one rerun.”

Rhames, 43, who is best known for his role as Marsellus Wallace in the 1994 film “Pulp Fiction” and the “Mission: Impossible” franchise, said his Kojak will be different.

“You’ll see my Kojak being very human. He interprets the law of the streets differently than what’s on the written page. It’s not the law to beat up someone who molests a child. It’s not the law to castrate someone who rapes a child.

“But if someone does that to your child, could you understand that kind of punishment? I’m not saying you like it, but can you understand it? I guess that sums up Kojak. He’s a man who happens to be a detective. He finds his own way to deal with problems.”

“Kojak,” which premiered on the USA Network last week as a two-hour movie, will begin its regular weekly rotation on the network April 3.