Hardcastle and McCormick

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Hardcastle and McCormick
Stephen J. Cannell Productions
Original release
NetworkABC
ReleaseSeptember 18, 1983 (1983-09-18) –
May 5, 1986 (1986-05-05)

Hardcastle and McCormick is an American

race car
driver Mark "Skid" McCormick.

During an interview in the early 1980s, producer Stephen J. Cannell referred to the then-upcoming series as Rolling Thunder.

Premise

legal technicalities. Inspired by his childhood hero the Lone Ranger, Hardcastle desires to make the criminals answer for their crimes.[citation needed
]

Mark McCormick is a smart-mouthed, streetwise

car thief. He faces a long incarceration for his latest theft, a prototype sports car called the Coyote X, designed by his murdered best friend. Together, the judge and the car thief strike a deal in which Hardcastle helps McCormick catch the murderer and McCormick agrees to work (his conditional parole) as the judge's agent. In addition, McCormick is allowed to keep the Coyote, which proves to be an excellent pursuit vehicle for their needs.[citation needed
]

Cast

Episodes

Season 1 (1983–84)

No.
overall
No. in
season
Title Directed by Written by Original air date
11"Rolling Thunder"Roger YoungPatrick Hasburgh & Stephen J. CannellSeptember 18, 1983 (1983-09-18)
22
33"Man in a Glass House"Guy MagarStephen J. CannellSeptember 25, 1983 (1983-09-25)
44"The Crystal Duck"Bruce KesslerStephen KatzOctober 2, 1983 (1983-10-02)
55"Goin' Nowhere Fast"Guy MagarPatrick HasburghOctober 9, 1983 (1983-10-09)
66"The Black Widow"Richard ComptonStephen J. CannellOctober 16, 1983 (1983-10-16)
77"The Boxer"Tony MordentePatrick HasburghOctober 23, 1983 (1983-10-23)
88"Once Again with Vigorish"Arnold LavenPatrick HasburghOctober 30, 1983 (1983-10-30)
99"Killer B's"Ron SatlofStephen KatzNovember 6, 1983 (1983-11-06)
1010"The Prince of Fat City"Tony MordentePatrick HasburghNovember 13, 1983 (1983-11-13)
1111"Hotshoes"Richard ComptonPatrick HasburghNovember 27, 1983 (1983-11-27)
1212"Flying Down to Rio"Tony MordenteStephen KatzDecember 4, 1983 (1983-12-04)
1313"Just Another Round of That Old Song"Allen ReisnerPatrick HasburghDecember 11, 1983 (1983-12-11)
1414"Third Down and Twenty Years to Life"Georg Stanford BrownEvan LawrenceJanuary 1, 1984 (1984-01-01)
1515"Whistler's Pride"Tony MordenteStephen KatzJanuary 8, 1984 (1984-01-08)
1616"Mr. Hardcastle Goes to Washington"Arnold LavenPatrick HasburghJanuary 15, 1984 (1984-01-15)
1717"School for Scandal"Tony MordenteTom BlomquistJanuary 29, 1984 (1984-01-29)
1818"The Georgia Street Motors"Joseph MandukeShel WillensFebruary 5, 1984 (1984-02-05)
1919"The Homecoming: Part One"Tony MordentePatrick HasburghMarch 4, 1984 (1984-03-04)
2020"The Homecoming: Part Two"Bruce KesslerPatrick HasburghMarch 11, 1984 (1984-03-11)
2121"Did You See the One that Got Away?"Ron SatlofLawrence HertzogMarch 18, 1984 (1984-03-18)
2222"Really Neat Cars and Guys with a Sense of Humor"Ron SatlofLawrence HertzogMarch 25, 1984 (1984-03-25)
2323"Scared Stiff"Tony MordenteTom BlomquistApril 1, 1984 (1984-04-01)

Season 2 (1984–85)

No.
overall
No. in
season
Title Directed by Written by Original air date
241"Outlaw Champion"Leo PennPatrick HasburghSeptember 23, 1984 (1984-09-23)
252"Ties My Father Sold Me"Ron SatlofPatrick HasburghSeptember 30, 1984 (1984-09-30)
263"You Would Cry, Too, If It Happened to You"Tony MordenteLawrence HertzogOctober 7, 1984 (1984-10-07)
274"D-Day"Bruce KesslerLawrence HertzogOctober 14, 1984 (1984-10-14)
285"Never My Love"Bruce KesslerThomas E. Szollosi & Richard Christian MathesonOctober 28, 1984 (1984-10-28)
296"Whatever Happened to Guts?"Michael HiattThomas E. Szollosi & Richard Christian MathesonNovember 4, 1984 (1984-11-04)
307"You and the Horse You Rode in On"Patrick HasburghPatrick HasburghNovember 18, 1984 (1984-11-18)
318"One of the Girls from Accounting"Bruce KesslerStephen J. CannellNovember 25, 1984 (1984-11-25)
329"It Coulda Been Worse, She Coulda Been a Welder"Tony MordenteLawrence HertzogDecember 2, 1984 (1984-12-02)
3310"Hate the Picture, Love the Frame"Dennis DonnellyErica ByrneDecember 9, 1984 (1984-12-09)
3411"Pennies from a Dead Man's Eyes"Tony MordenteMarianne ClarksonDecember 31, 1984 (1984-12-31)
3512"There Goes the Neighborhood"Ron SatlofLawrence HertzogJanuary 7, 1985 (1985-01-07)
3613"Too Rich and Too Thin"Michael J. KaneT : Ross Thomas
S/T : Richard Christian Matheson & Thomas E. Szollosi
January 14, 1985 (1985-01-14)
3714"What's So Funny?"Tony MordentePatrick HasburghJanuary 21, 1985 (1985-01-21)
3815"Hardcastle, Hardcastle, Hardcastle and McCormick"Kim MannersLawrence HertzogFebruary 4, 1985 (1985-02-04)
3916"The Long Ago Girl"Richard A. CollaStephen J. CannellFebruary 11, 1985 (1985-02-11)
4017"You Don't Hear the One that Gets You"Tony MordenteLawrence HertzogFebruary 18, 1985 (1985-02-18)
4118"The Birthday Present"Tony MordenteStephen J. CannellFebruary 25, 1985 (1985-02-25)
4219"Surprise on Seagull Beach"Michael O'HerilhyMichael O'HerlihyMarch 4, 1985 (1985-03-04)
4320"Undercover McCormick"Les SheldonMarianne ClarksonMarch 11, 1985 (1985-03-11)
4421"The Game You Learn from Your Father"Kim MannersPatrick HasburghMarch 18, 1985 (1985-03-18)
4522"Angie's Choice"Bruce KesslerThomas E. Szollosi & Richard Christian MathesonApril 1, 1985 (1985-04-01)

Season 3 (1985–86)

No.
overall
No. in
season
Title Directed by Written by Original air date
461"She Ain't Deep, But She Sure Runs Fast"Tony MordentePatrick HasburghSeptember 23, 1985 (1985-09-23)
472"Faster Hearts"Charles PicerniPatrick HasburghSeptember 30, 1985 (1985-09-30)
483"The Yankee Clipper"Sigmund Neufeld, Jr.Patrick HasburghOctober 7, 1985 (1985-10-07)
494"Something's Going On on This Train"Tony MordenteLawrence HertzogOctober 14, 1985 (1985-10-14)
505"The Career Breaker"Kim MannersStephen J. CannellOctober 28, 1985 (1985-10-28)
516"Do Not Go Gently"Bruce KesslerPatrick HasburghNovember 4, 1985 (1985-11-04)
527"Games People Play"Peter KiwittS : Tony Michelman & Scott J. Schneid
T : Carol Mendelsohn & Larry Forrester
November 11, 1985 (1985-11-11)
538"Strangle Hold"Michael SwitzerMarianne ClarksonNovember 18, 1985 (1985-11-18)
549"You're Sixteen, You're Beautiful and You're His"Kim MannersLawrence HertzogNovember 25, 1985 (1985-11-25)
5510"Mirage a Trois"Sidney HayersMarianne ClarksonDecember 2, 1985 (1985-12-02)
5611"Conventional Warfare"Sigmund Newfeld, Jr.Steven L. Sears & Burt PearlDecember 9, 1985 (1985-12-09)
5712"Duet for Two Wind Instruments"Robert BralverLawrence HertzogDecember 16, 1985 (1985-12-16)
5813"If You Could See What I See"Kim MannersCarol MendelsohnJanuary 6, 1986 (1986-01-06)
5914"Hardcastle for Mayor"Kim MannersAlan CassidyJanuary 13, 1986 (1986-01-13)
6015"When I Look Back on All the Things"Steven BeersLawrence HertzogFebruary 3, 1986 (1986-02-03)
6116"Brother, Can You Spare a Crime?"James L. ConwayDonald RossFebruary 10, 1986 (1986-02-10)
6217"Round Up the Old Gang"Tony MordenteStephen KatzFebruary 17, 1986 (1986-02-17)
6318"McCormick's Bar and Grill"James S. GiritlianJeff RayFebruary 24, 1986 (1986-02-24)
6419"Poker Night"Michael J. KaneMarianne ClarksonMarch 3, 1986 (1986-03-03)
6520"In the Eye of the Beholder"Daniel Hugh KellyDaniel Hugh KellyMarch 17, 1986 (1986-03-17)
6621"The Day the Music Died"Charles PicerniTom BlomquistMarch 31, 1986 (1986-03-31)
6722"A Chip Off the Ol' Milt"Les SheldonCarol Mendelsohn & Marianne ClarksonMay 5, 1986 (1986-05-05)

Production

Development

The series premise was somewhat recycled from a previous Cannell series, Tenspeed and Brown Shoe. It was created by Patrick Hasburgh and Stephen J. Cannell, serving as the executive producers and produced by Stephen J. Cannell Productions for ABC.[citation needed]

Music

The opening theme song during season one was "Drive", composed by Mike Post and Stephen Geyer and sung by David Morgan. For the first 12 episodes of season two, the theme song was "Back To Back", also composed by Post and Geyer, but sung by Joey Scarbury (who also sang Post and Geyer's theme for The Greatest American Hero). Public demand,[citation needed] however, resulted in the "Drive" theme being reinstated in episode 13 and kept through season three. Post and Pete Carpenter scored the music for the series.[citation needed]

"Coyote X" or "Cody Coyote"

The car that McCormick drove, the Coyote X, was built from custom molds based on the

Manta Montage
kits with damaged or removed rear windows. The most noticeable differences between the Coyotes and Mantas are the wheel wells, roll pan height and shape, and the fact that the Coyote has a one-piece front clip that terminates about an inch before and surrounding the windshield.

Most of the cars made for the show were molded and assembled by either Mike Fennel or Unique Movie Cars. Like many kit cars of the time, the car uses a chassis from a Volkswagen Beetle and its engine from a Porsche 914.[2][3] For the second and third seasons, producers used a different Coyote which was based on a DMC DeLorean, as Brian Keith had difficulty getting in and out of the original Coyote.[4]

The season-two and -three Coyote does not resemble the Manta, as the front is larger than the original, making the car resemble a front-engined car. The season-one "Hero" car that was used in the production of Hardcastle and McCormick is owned by a private owner in New York.[citation needed] The stunt/skid car (used in all three seasons) was reconfigured for the Knight Rider 2000 television pilot,[5] then consequently turned into Jay Ohrberg's show car "Taz-Mobile".[6] In April 2011, the stunt/skid car was sold and shipped to Dallas, Texas, where it was rebodied back to its former Coyote configuration, retaining as many of the original Coyote pieces as possible (in a private collection).[citation needed] Note: only one season-one "Hero Car" and one "skid/stunt" car were used in all three seasons and several (center seat-mounted, dune buggy-like, see title shot) "jump cars" were used. A season-two and -three (De Lorean body) car appeared briefly on the sixth episode of season five of the sitcom Married... with Children.[citation needed]

  • Season-one car owned by a private collector in NY
    Season-one car owned by a private collector in NY
  • Season-one Coyote at NJ home in 2008 and now in New York (2019)
    Season-one Coyote at NJ home in 2008 and now in New York (2019)
  • Season-one car rear quarter
    Season-one car rear quarter
  • Season-one car front
    Season-one car front
  • Rebodying Tazmobile back to Coyote skid/stunt car
    Rebodying Tazmobile back to Coyote skid/stunt car

Reception

Nielsen ratings

  • 1983–84: #15 (18.71 rating)
  • 1984–85: #39 (15.82 rating)[7]
  • 1985–86: #52 (13.9 rating)[8]

Home media

Region 1 (Canada only). VEI also released Hardcastle & McCormick: The Complete Series on DVD on September 3, 2008.[9]
As of March 2016, the complete DVD set is available on Amazon.com.

DVD Name Ep # Release Date Additional Information
The Complete First Season 22 February 14, 2006
  • Includes 2-hour pilot, "Rolling Thunder"
The Complete Second Season 22 August 15, 2006
  • All Original Music
The Complete Third and Final Season 22 October 30, 2007
  • Photo Gallery
  • All Original Music
The Complete Series 66 September 3, 2008

References

  1. ^ "Hardcastle and McCormick - The Manta Montage". The Amazo Effect. June 15, 2011.
  2. ^ "The car-star of Hardcastle & McCormick". Site Coyote. Archived from the original on November 15, 2010. Retrieved May 30, 2007.
  3. ^ "Coyote Version I (The Original)". Coyote. September 23, 2005.
  4. ^ "Pete's Manta Montage (McLaren M6BGT): History, Coyote". tfs.net. Archived from the original on September 3, 2004. Retrieved June 1, 2007.
  5. ^ "Knight Rider 2000". Jay Ohrberg's Hollywood Cars. Archived from the original on July 12, 2015.
  6. ^ Ohrberg, Jay (January 6, 2023). "Taz-mobile". jayohrberg.com. Jay Ohrberg's Hollywood Cars.
  7. ^ "Ratings". TVTango.com. Retrieved August 12, 2021.
  8. ^ Long, Tom (May 2, 1986). "The wacky world of prime-time". Santa Cruz Sentinel. p. 90z. Retrieved August 12, 2021 – via newspapers.com.
  9. ^ Lambert, David (August 31, 2008). "Hardcastle and McCormick - VEI Planning a Complete Series 15-DVD Release!". tvshowsondvd.com. Archived from the original on July 15, 2015.

External links