T. J. Hooker
T. J. Hooker | |
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Genre | |
Created by | Rick Husky |
Starring |
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Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 5 |
No. of episodes | 91 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Running time | 60 minutes |
Production companies | |
Original release | |
Network | |
Release | March 13, 1982 May 28, 1986 | –
T. J. Hooker is an American police drama television program starring William Shatner in the title role as a 15-year veteran police sergeant. The series premiered as a mid-season replacement on March 13, 1982, on ABC and ran on the network until May 4, 1985. The show was then picked up for a further single season by CBS.
The supporting cast includes Adrian Zmed as rookie Officer Vince Romano; April Clough as Officer Vicki Taylor (Season 1 only), replaced by Heather Locklear as rookie Officer Stacy Sheridan (season 2 onwards); and Richard Herd as Captain Dennis Sheridan, portraying officers in the LCPD Academy Precinct of a fictional, unnamed California city.[1] Toward the end of the show's second season, James Darren became a regular cast member as Officer Jim Corrigan.
Plot
The background of Sergeant Thomas Jefferson "T. J." Hooker is that he, up until recently, was a plainclothes LCPD Detective Sergeant whose partner was killed in the line of duty while he and Hooker were trying to stop a bank robbery. An angry Hooker becomes motivated to rid the streets of criminals like those who murdered his partner. Thus, he decides the only way to do so is return to his former position as a uniformed patrolman. Hooker is a combat veteran of the Vietnam War, serving in U.S. Army Special Forces during the early years of the U.S.'s involvement in the war.
In "The Protectors," the series'
Outside of his work, Hooker is divorced as a result of his work putting a strain on his marriage, but he is friendly with his ex-wife Fran, a nurse. A ladies' man, Hooker is still trying to adjust to being single again. Lee Bryant was the original actress to portray Fran; the part is later played by Leigh Christian.
Hooker's tough, no-nonsense demeanor has him often clashing with station Captain Sheridan (Richard Herd), but he always got the job done and was highly respected as a result. Working behind the desk at the police precinct, Vicki Taylor (April Clough) is a female officer who continually dodges pick-up attempts by Vince Romano. Introduced at the start of the second season was attractive Officer Stacy Sheridan (Heather Locklear), the daughter of Captain Sheridan, who attended the police academy. Initially brought in to replace Vicki, by the end of the season she had progressed to patrolling with Jim Corrigan (James Darren), another veteran cop much in the mold of Hooker.
From the third season onward, Hooker and Romano (Unit 4-Adam-30), and Stacy and Corrigan (Unit 4-Adam-16), usually worked closely together to tackle cases. The addition of Corrigan and Sheridan's partnership added an extra dimension to the show, sometimes with whole plots revolving around one or both of them.
For the final season, the series moved from ABC to a late-night slot on CBS. Along with the move, Adrian Zmed chose to leave the series to pursue other projects, leaving Hooker to patrol alone or to generally work as more of a trio with Stacy and Jim, often on undercover work.
With its blend of humor mixed with "on the streets" grittiness, the show proved popular. The first season ranked 28th in the Nielsen ratings, but subsequent seasons failed to repeat the same level of success. The third season saw a slight revamp (including the theme music being rearranged into a more pop-driven version), with Corrigan set into place as Stacy's partner, and Captain Sheridan being dropped into the background (appearing as 'Special Guest Star' in just a few third and fourth-season episodes). The recurring character of Hooker's new boss, Lieutenant Pete O'Brien, portrayed by Hugh Farrington, was added. Lt. O'Brien was a veteran detective who was wounded in the line of duty. The injuries put him in a wheelchair but he still worked complex investigations and supervised officers. The stories started drifting toward a more straightforward cops-and-robbers fare.
Cast
- William Shatner as Sergeant Thomas Jefferson "T. J." Hooker (Seasons 1-5)
- Adrian Zmed as Officer Vincent "Vince" Romano (Seasons 1–4)
- April Clough as Officer Vicki Taylor (Season 1)
- Heather Locklear as Officer Stacy Sheridan (Seasons 2–5)
- Richard Herd as Captain Dennis Sheridan (main cast Seasons 1–2, occasional special guest star Seasons 3–4)
- James Darren as Police Officer III Jim Corrigan (Seasons 2–5)
- Hugh Farrington as Detective Lieutenant Pete O'Brien (Seasons 3–5)
Production
Background
The series was created by Rick Husky who had also worked on The Rookies for Aaron Spelling and Leonard Goldberg. The series was originally to be a reworking of that former cop show, this time called The Protectors. After the pilot, it was decided to focus the series on William Shatner's character and retitle it T. J. Hooker. The series initially set out to give a more "hands on", procedure-based view of police work than some of the more stylized cop shows of the 1970s and 1980s, evident in the very early episodes.
Setting
The LCPD Academy scenes were filmed at the Los Angeles Police Department Academy in Elysian Park. Though the series itself was produced in Burbank and filmed in the Los Angeles area, the setting was not disclosed throughout the show's entire run.
Hooker and Romano's radio call sign for their "
Vehicles
In the first, second and up to the fourth episode of the third season, Hooker drove a '77-'78
Cancellation and revival
T. J. Hooker was canceled by ABC in the summer of 1985 (the final episode was a proposed reworking of the series set in Chicago) but the series survived when CBS picked up the show and produced new episodes (still produced in Los Angeles) and one two-hour TV movie titled "Blood Sport".
Episodes
William Shatner is the only actor to appear in every episode of the series. Heather Locklear appeared in the second-highest number of episodes, appearing in 84 of the 90 episodes, after joining the cast's second season.[citation needed]
Broadcast
US and international syndication
Starting in 2005, the
In the United Kingdom, the show was originally broadcast by
In Italy, the series started to air in 1983 on Canale 5. After his first run, it was often repeated through the years: first on Italia 1 (late afternoon or in the morning ) and then on Rete 4 (in the morning) and Fox Retro (in the evening). Recently, METOO a Sister station of WCIU-TV in Chicago began airing the show in a 2:00 p.m. timeslot.
In Japan, the series has been playing 1985 – 1988 on Nippon TV.
In Australia, the series has been playing reruns on the 7 Networks 3rd channel 7mate from 2012 to 2016.
In New Zealand, the series is being screened for the first time, as from May 13, 2013, on Sky Television's Jones! channel.
As of 2019, the show has been re-run in the UK and Ireland by
High definition
Beginning on October 1, 2010, the series was rebroadcast on
Home media
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has released the first two seasons on DVD in Region 1 and 2. Due to poor sales, no further seasons were released. This release has been discontinued and is out of print.
On August 27, 2013, Mill Creek Entertainment announced that it had acquired the rights to various television series from the Sony Pictures library, including T. J. Hooker.[6] It subsequently re-released the first two seasons on DVD on April 1, 2014.[7]
On April 5, 2017, it was announced that
Title | Ep # | Region 1 | Region 2 | Region 4 | Special Features | Distributors |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Seasons 1 & 2 | 27 | August 9, 2005 April 1, 2014 (re-release) |
September 26, 2005 | N/A | TBA | Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Mill Creek Entertainment |
Season 3 | 22 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | |
Season 4 | 23 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | |
Season 5 | 19 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | |
The Complete Series | 91 | July 18, 2017 | N/A | N/A | N/A | Shout! Factory
|
References
- ^ "Your Questions Have Been Answered". June 9, 2002. Archived from the original on August 15, 2015.
- ^ Goodman, Walter (May 21, 1986). "Shatner in 'Blood Sport'". The New York Times. Retrieved January 21, 2018.
- ^ "Whatever Happened To Those 90 Minute Episodes of T.J. Hooker?". Shout! Factory. May 25, 2017. Retrieved June 27, 2017.
- ^ "T. J. Hooker Minisode : TJ Hooker: Vengeance Is Mine – Watch the full episode now". Crackle. October 26, 2007. Retrieved October 5, 2009.
- ^ "QUEST – At the heart of the action". Questtv.co.uk. Retrieved October 5, 2009.
- ^ "Mill Creek Entertainment Signs Deals With Sony Pictures Home Entertainment To Expand Their Distribution Partnership". TVShowsOnDVD.com. August 27, 2013. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved October 30, 2021.
- ^ "Mill Creek Moves the 'Seasons 1 & 2' Date Back a Few Weeks". TVShowsOnDVD.com. October 6, 2014. Archived from the original on February 24, 2014. Retrieved October 30, 2021.
- ^ "The complete series of T.J. Hooker is on DVD for the first time". Great Bend Tribute. July 24, 2017. Retrieved October 30, 2021.
External links
- T. J. Hooker at IMDb
- T. J. Hooker at epguides.com