T.J. Hooker

T.J. Hooker (1982)

Genres - Action, Adventure, Crime  |   Sub-Genres - Cop Show [TV], Prime-Time Drama [TV]  |   Run Time - 60 min.  |   Countries - United States  |  
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Synopsis by Hal Erickson

Although he is most fondly remembered as Captain James T. Kirk on Star Trek, William Shatner actually enjoyed a longer and more successful run as the title character in the formula cop drama T. J. Hooker. Debuting May 13, 1982 on ABC a mid-season replacement, the weekly, 60-minute series cast Shatner as former police detective T. J. Hooker, who during a major crime outbreak returned to active duty, voluntarily taking the lower rank of sergeant and pounding a beat for the LCPD. Assigned to the Academy Precinct to help trainees survive on the mean streets -- and to instill in them the traditional values that were then being battered and bruised by a changing society, Hooker took his orders from hard-nosed, by-the-book Captain Dennis Sheridan (Richard Herd). While he did his best to keep his emotions from affecting his job performance, Hooker had more than his share of "baggage": Not only had his last partner been killed in the line of duty, but Hooker had also just gone through a difficult divorce. Even so, he maintained a good relationship with his ex-wife Fran (Lee Bryant), his daughters Cathy (Susan McClung) and Chrissie (played first by Nicole Eggert, then by Jennifer Beck), and his son Tommy (Andre Gower). During the series' five-episode trial run, Hooker was trainer and surrogate father to rookie cops Vince Romano (Adrian Zmed) and Vicki Taylor (April Clough). When the series began its first full season in the fall of 1982, Romano was still in the cast, but Vicki had been replaced by another trainee, Stacy Sheridan (Heather Locklear) -- who happened to be Captain Sheridan's daughter. By the time Stacy had graduated to street patrol, she had been partnered with veteran officer Jim Corrigan (James Darren). Canceled by ABC after 72 episodes on September 7, 1985, T.J. Hooker was promptly picked up by CBS for that network's late-night lineup, beginning September 25. William Shatner, Heather Locklear, and James Darren remained in the cast for the 19 new CBS episodes, but Adrian Zmed had left the series during a salary dispute. Though no new episodes were produced after 1986, T.J. Hooker continued to be rebroadcast on CBS until September 17, 1987.