Retro Television Review: Making It Legal 1.1 “Pilot”

Posted on April 20, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On this Monday, I will be reviewing Making It Legal, which aired once on ABC in 2007 and then never aired again.

Last Monday, I finished up Miami Vice. For the rest of the week, I was busy. This weekend, I was even busier. That’s a polite way of saying that I haven’t had a chance to settle on a new Monday series. However, I did find a show that only lasted one episode. So, let’s take a quick look at 2007’s Making It Legal.

Episode 1.1 “Pilot”

(Dir by Gary Halvorson, originally aired on January 31st, 2007)

At the high-powered law firm of Kolar, Dalton, Babbit & Leahy, Josh (Scott Wolf) and Julie (Ashley Williams) are the leaders of the Blue Team, one of the firm’s eight litigation groups. Both Josh and Julie are hoping to someday be promoted to a partnership. They’re friends but they also understand that only one of them can become a partner. Josh is a little uptight and tends to push himself and those around him too much. Julie is neurotic in the way that most professional women on network sitcoms in days immediately following Friends were neurotic. One night, after a long day of hard work, Josh and Julie gave in too temptation and made love all over the office. The sitcom picks up the morning after. Josh doesn’t want anyone to find out about their one night stand. Julie agrees and then tells her friend Elise (Ayda Field) who proceeds to tell paralegal Theressa (Kym Whitley)….

Meanwhile, Mr. Kolar (Robert Wagner) has hired Trevor (Ben Savage) and assigned him to work with Josh. Trevor is the son of a legendary attorney and he’s eager to escape from his father’s shadow. He’s neurotic because everyone on this show is neurotic. Josh doesn’t want to work with Trevor and he proceeds to give Trevor a huge amount of files to go through.

Meanwhile, Ethan (Geoffrey Arend), the weird guy of the blue group, continually does bad celebrity impersonations. I mean really, really bad. What makes it even worse is that I don’t think they’re meant to be bad. On a sitcom where every joke is telegraphed and all of the dialogue hits with the subtlety of a sledge hammer, no one mentions that Ethan’s impersonations are bad. There’s no way this show would have passed up the chance to point out that Ethan’s Christopher Walken impersonation sounds nothing like Christopher Walken.

Watching this pilot, it’s easy to see why Making It Legal didn’t become a regular series. The pilot is bad, sluggishly paced and not particularly engaging. Scott Wolf and Ashley Williams have no chemistry. Ayda Field and Kym Whitley are stuck playing characters who have no personality. Geoffrey Arend’s character is a bunch of quirks that add up to nothing. And then you’ve got Ben Savage, who has never been a particularly good actor but who at least knows how to deliver hackneyed sitcom dialogue. Unfortunately, Trevor still isn’t a particularly likable character. At one point, he falls asleep on a couch and misses the start of a very important meeting. Of course, a panicked Trevor runs into the conference room and promptly trips and falls to the floor. My reaction was that Trevor should have been fired on the spot.

The laugh track disagreed with me, though. This pilot has one of the most intrusive laugh tracks that I have ever heard. Every line of dialogue is followed by canned laughter. Whenever anyone steps into a room, we hear laughter. When people leave a room, we hear laughter. Nothing funny has been said. Nothing funny has happened. But if enough laughter is heard on the soundtrack, maybe we can be fooled into thinking something funny has happened.

Probably the only thing that really did work about the pilot was the casting of Robert Wagner. Wagner wanders through the action with a permanent scowl. He doesn’t appear to be in a good mood. It’s hard not to sympathize with him.

Next week, I’ll start reviewing a show that lasted more than one episode!

Patrick Muldoon, RIP

Posted on April 20, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This morning, I was saddened to read about the passing of actor Patrick Muldoon. He died of a heart attack yesterday. He was 57 years old.

Patrick Muldoon will always be remembered by many for playing Jeff, the “frat boy babe stealer” from Saved By The Bell. Personally, I thought Jeff and Kelly made for a cute couple and it always bothered me that the show’s writers suddenly changed Jeff from being a nice guy to being a cheater just so Kelly and Zack could (eventually) get back together. Supposedly, years after the show aired, Muldoon still had strangers yelling at him on the street for breaking up Kelly and Zack. I felt bad for him reading that. The man was an actor and he did a good job.

Muldoon went on to play an important supporting role in Starship Troopers, making him the second Saved By The Bell actor to appear in a Paul Verhoeven film. (Unlike Elizabeth Berkley, Muldoon at least seemed to understand that he was appearing in a satire.) He also appeared in a countless number of Lifetime films, occasionally sharing the screen with Starship Troopers co-star, Casper Van Dien. Muldoon was also the first actor to play Austin Reed on Days of Our Lives.

Here he is in Starship Troopers, getting into a memorable fight with Casper Van Dien.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi: The Next Generation 2.12 and 2.13 “White Wedding”

Posted on April 19, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Sunday, I will be reviewing the Canadian series, Degrassi: The Next Generation, which aired from 2001 to 2015! The series can be streamed on YouTube and Tubi.

It’s a nice day for a white wedding!

Episodes 2.12 and 2.13 “White Wedding”

(Dir by Bruce McDonald, originally aired on January 6th, 2003)

Snake and Spike get married!

Of course, there’s some drama on the way. How much drama? Let’s count.

Spike discovers that she’s pregnant and doesn’t tell Snake because she’s not sure if she wants to keep the baby.
Emma is upset when she finds out that Spike is thinking about getting an abortion. She’s even more upset when her perm goes terrible wrong and she ends up looking like Harpo Marx.
Lucy and Caitlin show up to help Spike get ready for the wedding.
Joey throws a bachelor party for Snake. Craig suggests that Joey should hire a stripper, despite Snake not wanting a stripper. Joey agrees because he thinks it will be funny.
Why did Craig suggest that Joey hire a stripper? Because JT and Toby begged him to. However, when JT and Toby dress up like they’re on Miami Vice and show up for the bachelor party, Joey tells them to go home.
Mr. Raditch shows up for the bachelor party. “Oh, cheese balls!” he says when he looks at the food that’s been laid out.
Emma tells Snake that Spike is pregnant. Snake gets mad that Spike didn’t tell him.
Spike tells Emma that it’s her right to get an abortion if she chooses and then says that she’s not going to make the same mistake twice. Uhmmm …. wow, Spike. That’s a really stupid thing to say to your daughter.
Emma eventually forgives Spike. I would not.
Eventually, with everyone at the church waiting, Spike and Snake talk and decide to keep the baby. Then, they get married!
Manny invites Sean to the wedding. Emma freaks out and Manny has to retract the invitation. But then Emma eventually invites Sean herself. At the end of the episode, at the reception, Emma and Sean have their first kiss. Apparently, it was Miriam McDonald’s first kiss as well. Awwww!

This episode is classic Degrassi. It’s also one of the best-known episodes because Nickelodeon used to repeat it constantly. Yay for Snake and Spike! And yay for Emma! Who wouldn’t want their single mother to marry one of their teachers?

Okay, I don’t think anyone would want that. Still, it worked out well for the show.

Retro Television Review: Homicide: Life On The Street 5.6 “White Lies”

Posted on April 19, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Sundays, I will be reviewing Homicide: Life On The Street, which aired from 1993 to 1999, on NBC! It can be viewed on Peacock.

This week, Detective Much meets Dr. Cox.

Episode 5.6 “White Lies”

(Dir by Peter Weller, originally aired on November 8th, 1996)

When a suburban housewife is reportedly found dead in bed, Detective Munch suspects that she was murdered by her husband, Phillip Engle (Scott Bryce, of As The World Turns fame). Munch points out that the dead woman was wearing makeup, that Engle’s story is full of holes, and that it doesn’t make sense that a healthy woman’s heart would just stop in the middle of the night. However, Dr. Cox is not convinced that the woman was murdered and, as she puts it, it’s not a murder until the M.E. says it is. Munch finds himself investigating a crime that may or may not have been committed. Ultimately, it turns out that the woman died of a heroin overdose. Philip Engle was not trying to cover up a murder when he redressed his wife and moved her from the bathroom floor to her bed. Instead, he was trying to preserve his wife’s dignity.

The story was a sad one and Scott Bryce did a great job as Phillip Engle. For that matter, Richard Belzer gave one of his better performances as Munch. This episode made you both respect Munch’s tenacity as a detective while also making you hate him for putting Phillip through so much pain. That said, it was hard not to feel that this episode was a continuation of last week’s introduction of Dr. Cox. The show seems to be really determined to make us love Dr. Cox. I mean, we get it, Homicide. She’s a badass. You don’t have to keep hitting us over the head with it.

Meanwhile, Frank is still offering advice to Bayliss on how to be a homicide detective, even though Frank’s not allowed to go to crime scenes or conduct interrogations. Bayliss’s latest case involves a suspect with a long history of stealing cars. Frank watches as Bayliss screws up an interrogation, getting so lost in talking about how much he would like to steal a car and cruise down to California that the suspect replies, “I want a lawyer.” Bayliss responds to Pembleton’s criticism by telling Pembleton to go into the Box and get the confession himself. Bayliss seems to be sincere. He truly wants Pembleton back in the Box. Pembleton fantasies about storming into the Box like the Pembleton of old but he can’t do it. He can’t break regulations. He can’t risk another stroke. As for the murder suspect, he goes free.

Lewis kicks Brodie out of his house. Kay offers to let Brodie stay with her but Brodie ultimately declines the offer because he doesn’t want people gossiping about Kay. Brodie says that he’s just going to sleep in the station. Good luck with that, Brodie! Seriously, do they even pay Brodie? Why is he always one step away from living on the streets?

Kellerman take a polygraph concerning the accusations that he took a bribe from the Rolands. Kellerman answers, “No,” when asked if he ever took a bribe but he ends the exam when he’s asked whether or not he knows of any other cops who were on Mitch Roland’s payroll. Kellerman is told that he passed the polygraph. But, so did Mitch Roland and “he answered all the questions.”

This was an okay episode, with the scenes between Bayliss and Pembleton being the highlight. The stuff with the Rolands and the bribery accusations isn’t doing much for me. This feels like a storyline that should have been resolved already. That said, I do like it when Kellerman gets annoyed. This episode ended with him hitting a punching bad and looking good while he did it.

Don’t let the bastards get you down, Kellerman!

Late Night Retro Television Review: Saved By The Bell 1.18 “Screech’s Birthday”

Posted on April 18, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Saturdays, I will be reviewing Saved By The Bell, which ran on NBC from 1989 to 1993. The entire show is currently streaming on Prime and Tubi!

Screech has the worst friends in the world.

Episode 1.18 “Screech’s Birthday”

(Dir by Don Barnhart, originally aired on November 14th, 1992)

Screech is upset because all of his “friends” (and his robot, Kevin) forgot his birthday. His friends decide to make it up to him by throwing him a small party in Mr. Belding’s office. However, in order to use Belding’s office, they need control of the halls so they come up with an elaborate scheme to get hall monitor Neil (Jesse Wilson) fired so that Screech can take his place. However, Screech takes his job too seriously and sends everyone to detention, including almost everyone who is supposed to be at his party.

Oh my God, what is Zack going to do!?

Zack uses the PA system to ask that Slater, Lisa, Jessie, Kelly, and Screech come to the principal’s office.

Seriously, that’s all he does.

A few thoughts:

First off, the only reason that Zack his available to call everyone to the principal’s office is because Screech doesn’t send him to detention despite the fact that he catches Zack in the hallway without a hall pass. Now, you might think Zack has immunity because he’s Screech’s best friend but Screech previously sent Lisa — the girl he loves — to detention so why would he give Zack a break? Add to that, Screech is mad at Zack for forgetting his birthday. So, I would think Zack would especially be someone that Screech would want to punish.

Secondly, why couldn’t they just throw Screech a surprise party at Zack’s house? Or Slater’s house? Or the Maxx? Or anywhere other than Belding’s office?

Third, this episode does feature two of my favorite supporting characters, Neil the nasty hall monitor and Mr. Dewey (Patrick Thomas O’Brien), the burned out teacher. Sadly, this was Neil’s only appearance.

Fourth, this episode was filmed for the first season and aired in syndication as a part of the first season but, for some reason, NBC didn’t air the episode until the fourth season. It’s really not any worse than the typical Saved By The Bell episode so it’s odd that NBC held off on airing it for so long.

Fifth, always remember your friends’s birthdays. It’s not that hard!

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 4/12/26 — 4/18/26

Posted on April 18, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Growing Pains (Tubi)

Matthew Perry played the boyfriend of Kirk Cameron’s sister. He drank too much, he crashed his car, and he died. This is one of those very special episodes that one might roll their eyes at, if not for the fact that it guest starred Perry. Because it did guest star Perry, it was very sad to watch.

Homicide: Life On The Street (Peacock)

A review for this episode will be dropping tomorrow.

Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger (Shout TV)

In this show, from Japan, a group of teenagers used the power of the dinosaurs to defeat a witch. I watched three episodes on Saturday. The stop-motion dinosaurs and tigers were cute.

The Right Time (YouTube)

This was a 90s music show that was hosted by singer Tom Jones. I watched two episodes on Friday. The first one was called “Pop Music” and I enjoyed it. The second one was called “Gospel Music” and it was a little dull.

Saved By The Bell (Tubi)

A review for this episode will be dropping later tonight.

Who’s The Boss (Prime)

On Friday, after Jeff and I finished up The Trip, Amazon took us straight into this Tony Danza-starring sitcom. We watched the first episode, which was pretty forgettable. (Danza is a former baseball player turned housekeeper and no one can believe it.) The theme song kind of got stuck in my head though.

WKRP In Cincinnati (DVD)

Jeff and I watched several episodes of this 70s sitcom over the week. Even if the humor was a bit dated, it was a funny show. Herb Tarlek’s suits were amazing.

Watched and Reviewed:

Retro Television Review: Baywatch 1.20 “Old Friends”

Posted on April 18, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Saturdays, I will be reviewing Baywatch, which ran on NBC and then in syndication from 1989 to 2001. The entire show can be viewed on Tubi.

This week …. oh, who cares? Season one is nearly over.

Episode 1.20 “Old Friends”

(Dir by Douglas Schwartz, originally aired on March 30th, 1990)

Cort is shocked when he thinks he sees his old friend, Lance (Jeff Lester), piloting a boat. But Lance is dead! Nope, it turns out that Lance faked his death and now he wants Cort to help him commit insurance fraud. Cort doesn’t want to do anything of the sort but he is kind of in love with Lance’s sister (Susan Diol).

Oh, who cares? It’s a typical Cort story. Apparently, Cort is some sort of international bad boy, even though he just comes across as being a beach bum. Cort stories are always kind of boring because Cort has never made much sense as a character.

Meanwhile, Mitch, Craig, and Garner go camping. Mitch goes hang gliding. He ends up crashing into a tree and then getting attack by a snake. Craig uses his hang glider to search for Mitch. Craig finds him but his radio breaks down so Garner — who has never hang glided before — decides to use the one remaining hang glider to search for his friends. A gust of wind takes Garner from the mountains to the beach. Eventually, Mitch and Craig are rescued. No one dies. Snake bites aren’t that dangerous, I guess.

This was a weird episode. The first season of Baywatch premiered on NBC. NBC cancelled the show after the first season and this episode definitely feels like a show on its way out. The whole episode looks and feels cheap. There’s a noticeable lack of extras on the beach. The hang gliding scenes are not particularly convincing. Everything about the episode practically shouts, “Nearly bankrupt!” Even Hasselhoff apparently didn’t want to do too much with this episode as he spends almost the entire running time delirious from the snake bite.

This episode had one funny moment. Mitch, losing control of his hang glider, yells into his radio, “Is anyone there!?” Cut to Craig and Garner at the campsite, totally ignoring the radio. I guess it makes sense. Why would a lifeguard pay attention when someone was doing something that could potentially get him killed?

Next week — season one ends!

Late Night Retro Television Review: Freddy’s Nightmares 2.9 “Monkey Dreams”

Posted on April 17, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Fridays, I will be reviewing Freddy’s Nightmares, a horror anthology show which ran in syndication from 1988 to 1990. The entire series can be found on Tubi!

This week, Freddy has a message!

Episode 2.9 “Monkey Dreams”

(Dir by Robert Englund, originally aired on December 3rd, 1989)

At a college science lab, Joe (Joseph Cali) tries to communicate with aliens. Next door, Jeannie (Sharon Mahoney) tries to teach her monkey to speak. When Joe starts getting strange messages on his computer, he thinks that it’s an alien code. Then it turns out that it’s actually just the monkey trying to type out its name on its own computer. Joe is then murdered by his bookie.

Meanwhile, Dr. Lynch (Sherman Howard) is using the monkey for some experiments to see how much pain a living creature can take. Dr. Lynch seems to change his mind when he hears the monkey speak. But it turns out that we were just seeing the monkey’s dream.

“Think about it!” Freddy tells us.

Freddy Krueger, animal rights activist? I guess it makes sense when you consider that Robert Englund directed this episode. The episode’s message was heartfelt but it seemed a bit out-of-place on a show about a undead child molester. Whatever message you want to deliver, Freddy Krueger probably isn’t the best one to do it.

Retro Television Review: St. Elsewhere 3.16 “Saving Face”

Posted on April 17, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Fridays, I will be reviewing St. Elsewhere, a medical show which ran on NBC from 1982 to 1988. The show can be found on Daily Motion.

This week, things continue to be awkward in Boston.

Episode 3.16 “Saving Face”

(Dir by Charles Braverman, originally aired on January 16th, 1985)

This episode of St. Elsewhere was even busier than usual.

Tough-as-nails Dr. Mary Woodley (Karen Austin) has been hired to oversee the ER. Dr. Fiscus isn’t happy about it. He’s going to have to work for a woman? Agck!
Dr. Cavanero is also not happy. Of course, the last time that St. Eligius hired a new female doctor, Cavanero told everyone at the hospital that she was a lesbian and, for some reason, this led to the doctor having to leave town. (It was the 80s.) Maybe, just maybe, there are reasons to have doubts about Cavanero’s professionalism.
Dr. Westphall shows Dr. Woodley around the hospital and, as usual, comes across as being the saddest man on the planet.
Dr. Westphall informs Jack that he will be allowed to continue on as a resident. However, Westphall also rather glumly states that he will be watching Jack from now on. Jack better not screw up or Westphall will “come down” on him. Personally, I think Westphall is too depressed to really do much of anything.
Feeling guilty about Murray’s death, Elliott brings Mrs. Hufnagle a ham. Mrs. Hufnagle has an allergic reaction and ends up back in the hospital. “She thinks I tried to kill her!” Elliott says.
A teenager (Tim Van Patten) brings in his pregnant girlfriend, who has OD’d. Dr. Woodley says she is required to call family services. Myself, I started shouting, “I am da futah!” as soon as Tim “Stegman” Van Patten showed up on the screen.
Dr. Caldwell performs extensive plastic surgery on a disfigured young woman. When Dr. Ehrlich says that the patient looks like she got hit with the “ugly stick,” Caldwell kicks Ehrlich off his team.
Nobody wants to work with Ehrlich! Dr. Craig declines to invite Ehrlich to his 34 year anniversary party. Cavanero agrees to take Ehrlich as her date. “What are you doing here!?” Craig snaps as soon as he sees Ehrlich in his living room.
Dr. Craig’s younger brother, William (Lou Richards), also shows up. He was invited at Ellen’s insistence, despite the fact that William and Mark haven’t spoken in over four years. Mark feels that William has wasted his life and his potential. But when William proves to be the life of the party, it becomes apparent that Mark is actually jealous of how likable his younger brother is.
In the kitchen, Mark and William have a long conversation. William admits that he’s struggling to pay the bills. Mark writes him a check. For a few minutes, the brothers actually reconcile.
However, Mark later hears William joking about how much money surgeon’s make and he loses his temper. In front of the entire party, he calls out William and reveals that he doesn’t have a dime to his name.
That night, after everyone else has left and William has gone to the guest room, Ellen tells Mark that he should apologize. Mark agrees and says he’ll do it in the morning.
Later, during the night, Mark steps out of his bedroom and discovers that William has gone home. He left behind the check, which he ripped in half. Mark stares at the check and starts to cry.

This was another episode that did a good job balancing the serious and the humorous. Dr. Ehrlich’s inability to say the right thing will never not be funny. For that matter, the same can be said of Dr. Craig’s general irritation with everything. And yet, seeing Dr. Craig break down and cry was truly heartbreaking. Dr. Craig and Dr. Ehrlich share an inability to socialize and a habit of screwing up even the kindest of gestures. Even when they try to do the right thing, they somehow always manage to screw it up.

I wanted to cry for all of them.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Hunter 1.1 “Hunter”

Posted on April 16, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Thursdays, I will be reviewing Hunter, which aired on NBC from 1984 to 1991. The entire show is currently streaming on Tubi and several other services!

Today, we start a new series.

Episode 1.1 “Hunter”

(Dir by Ron Satlof, originally aired on September 18th, 1984)

Ah, Hunter.

Hunter is one of those shows that, up unitl now, I’ve never really specifically felt the need to track down and binge but I’ve still seen a handful episodes. Some of that is because Hunter is a mainstay on the nostalgia channels. If you fall asleep while watching an old episode of Fantasy Island, there’s a good chance that you’re going to wake up to an episode of Hunter. Hunter is also a mainstay on both Prime and Tubi. Again, if you fall asleep watching your favorite Eric Roberts movie, there’s a decent chance that you’re going to wake up to an episode of Hunter.

I have to admit that every episode I’ve seen has been entertaining. It’s the epitome of an 80s cop show, in all of its action-filled, simplistically-plotted glory. Rick Hunter (played by former football player Fred Dryer) is a cop who gets results by doing things his way. “His way” typically involves shooting a lot of people. (Hunter’s catch phrase? “Works for me.”) Hunter’s partner is Dee Dee McCall (Stepfanie Kramer), a cop who gets results by doing things her way. “Her way” typically involves going undercover and …. uhmm, shooting a lot of people. And while I am certainly aware of the dangers of police overreach and I generally don’t support shooting anyone without just cause, it’s still fun to watch Hunter and McCall break every regulation in the book. In almost every episode that I’ve seen, Hunter and McCall end up shooting so many people that the action ends up verging on self-parody. Fortunately, both Dryer and Kramer appeared to be in on the joke.

(From what I’ve seen, I should also mention that Fred Dryer appears to have been a slightly better actor than some of the other former pro athletes who have decided to go into acting. He may not have had a huge amount of range but he was still better than most of the basketball players who showed up on Hang Time. If nothing else, he was better at showing emotion than OJ Simpson.)

With Highway To Heaven completed, I decided that it was time to finally take a look at Hunter.

Hunter premiered with a 90-minute made-for-television movie. The action starts with Los Angeles Police Detective Rick Hunter crammed into a beat-up car that has definitely seen better days. Because Hunter is the son of a mobster, he’s not totally trusted by his fellow detectives. Because he’s a cop, he’s not totally trusted by the mob. And because he’s a shoot-first renegade, all of his partners end up going to the hospital. Captain Cain (Michael Cavanaugh) is trying to get him to quit the force and that means only allowing him to drive the department’s worst cars, not allowing Hunter to respond to most calls, and trying to partner him up with bowtie wearing moron, Bernie Terwilliger (James Whitmore, Jr.)

Hunter knows that LAPD regulations will allow him to pick his own partner if he can find someone willing to work with him. The problem is that no one wants to put their life on the line. Finally, Hunter tracks down Sgt. Dee Dee McCall, the widow of a fallen officer. Nicknamed the “Brass Cupake” (cringe!), Dee Dee is currently working undercover as a prostitute and is trying to take down Los Angeles’s biggest pimp, King Hayes (Steven Williams). Hunter has a proposition for her. Since neither wants a partner and they both prefer shooting first and asking questions later, why not pretend to work together? They’ll check in and out at the station together but, otherwise, they’ll separate and work their own cases once they hit the streets. McCall agrees.

Unfortunately, Captain Cain is not dumb. He figures out exactly what they’re doing and he tells them that he will have people watching them to make sure that they are actually working together. Luckily, McCall has just arrested King Hayes. Hunter shows up as McCall is handcuffing Hayes and immediately sees that Hayes’s bodyguard is driving his car straight at them.

“You want this guy?” Hunter asks.

“That would be nice,” McCall replies.

Hunter, much like Dirty Harry, proceeds to fire several bullets into the car windshield, causing the car to flip over.

With King Hayes and his bodyguard now taken care of, it’s time for Hunter and McCall to investigate the murders of two blonde women who both enjoyed hanging out at country western bars. McCall puts on a blonde wig and goes undercover at a honky tonk. Hunter is shocked to see that she is being stalked by Dr. Bolin (Brian Dennehy), the psychiatrist who the LAPD brought in to examine all of their detectives. As a viewer, I was not particularly surprised to discover that Dr. Bolin was the killer. You’re not going to cast an actor like Brian Dennehy on a show like Hunter and then just have him spend the entire episode sitting in his office. McCall and Hunter work together to stop Bolin before he kills again.

The pilot of Hunter was actually a lot of fun. The pilot may have been violent but it still had a sense of humor. The show understood that the sight of 6’6 Fred Dryer crammed into a dented station wagon would not only make the viewer smile but it would also go a long way towards humanizing Hunter as a character. He may be big and cocky and quick to shoot people but he also has terrible luck when it comes to cars, police radios, and bystanders. At one point, he even gets pepper-sprayed by Dee Dee’s neighbor. As for Dee Dee, I liked the fact that she was capable and tough without being a stereotypical action girl. I also appreciated that she and Hunter chose to work together. I feared, initially, that the pilot would be full of scenes featuring Hunter whining about having to work with a woman and I appreciated that the show went the opposite direction. From the start, Hunter respects Dee Dee as a cop and it’s made clear that she has nothing to prove to him. If anything, Hunter has to earn her respect.

Of course, the main appeal of Hunter is that both Dryer and Kramer looked good holding a gun and yelling at people to “freeze!” As opposed to the wishy washy police procedurals of today, the pilot of Hunter was absolutely shameless about giving the viewers what they wanted as far as bullets and car chases were concerned.

This was a good pilot. Watching it, I could understand why the show ended up running for 8 seasons. And, every Thursday, I’ll be reviewing Hunter. I look forward to the action!