Ivan-hoe,IvanTheTerrible wrote: ↑Mon Jan 24, 2022 5:45 pmHmm, this might be a little difficult to answer. When I was an early teen this was absolutely my favorite cop show (I was watching it in reruns in the mid 90s). Better than other cop shows I watched at the time like HUNTER, IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT, etc. I didn't compare it to HAWAII FIVE-O (which I also watched and loved at the time) because for some reason I didn't see FIVE-O as a "cop" show. No black and whites, sirens, flashing lights, police uniforms, etc. T.J. HOOKER had all that so it was THE cop show! Throw in lots of chases and car crashes and it was the show for me! But looking at it today it definitely feels dated and cheesy, more so than other shows from the decade. HUNTER feels less cheesy in comparison. Same with IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT. But if you're in the right mood or you have nostalgic memories of the show (like me) you can find some enjoyment out of it, especially with certain episodes (like the aforementioned "Deadlock"). Also put me in the camp who consider the Shat to be a hammy actor. Jack Lord he ain't when gritting his teeth and reading someone the riot act. It's actually funny seeing him grit his teeth and call someone "scum" for the umpteenth time in every episode.Luther's nephew Dobie wrote: ↑Sun Jan 23, 2022 3:29 am
Hi Ivan,
Thank you for the info regarding dailymotion. I will watch TJ Hooker's take on The Wookies episode. I enjoy Shatner, but missed watching TJ Hooker at the time it was
first on. In your opinion is the series worth investing the time to catch all the episodes?
I'll say one thing. Its theme song (by Mark Snow) is one of the coolest themes in TV history! Especially seasons 3-5. Seasons 1 & 2 still had a bit of that 70s sound to it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hci3fWEx-JA
And who can forget the episode where Hooker and Romano in their black and white (4-Adam-30) chase perennial baddie Richard Lynch in an airplane down the runway? I have vivid childhood memories of that one and then the shootout in the abandoned bus yard https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7EuZA1cqvQ
You make a good point about series aging badly, and how as you get older you are more sophisticated in your tastes. When I was a kid I loved "The Good Guys" starring Bob
Denver, it ran 2 or 3 years. I caught an episode on You Tube and realized it was aimed at the kiddie audience and my parents were being indulgent allowing us kids to
watch it on the family color TV, back when the entire family viewed everything together.
As for Shat, I acknowledge he did do the cheese factor at times but I think he was playing to the quality of the work he was in, which doesn't reflect well on him.
From what you say TJ Hooker might have fallen into the "did it for the quick buck" category.
After training as a classical Shakespearean actor at Canada's national theater, he earned kudos at the world famous Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Ontario.
Back then he was seen as a peer to guys like Newman, McQueen but hurt himself from the get go because he would take almost any part for the moola on TV.
Still, he was lauded on Broadway and was great in the play filmed in 1970 for PBS, The Andersonville Trial, and his turns on Route 66,The Twilight Zone, The Fugitive
and Boston Legal and other series were stellar. But at the same time he consistently would do junk for the money.
Maybe that's understandable as after Star Trek ended, the freshly divorced Shatner, almost penniless, was living in his camper pick up truck in the parking lot of the
Paper Mill Playhouse a few miles from my house, he couldn't even afford a bed at a Howard Johnsons motel. That sort of thing will give you a healthy respect for money.
That clip of TJ Hooker chasing the airplane, whoa! Thanks for your take on that series.