T.J. Hooker: The Complete Series - DVD Review

[Michael Scott]

T.J. Hooker: The Complete Series

Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score: ​

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Movie
While I’d love for it to not be so, the big days of EVERY TV show under the sun making its way to DVD and Blu-ray is long gone. The very early 2000’s had pretty much EVERY show known to man making its way to DVD and the entire DVD industry thrived as everyone was buying their favorite TV shows for the very first time. Many industry experts have said that the TV on DVD boom actually helped support many of the lower tier DVD titles that came out and we were riding a .com bubble wave that sadly had to burst sooner or later. Now most new TV shows are being released on DVD (or Blu-ray if we’re lucky), but most of the old classics are no longer a priority for the big boys. Especially older sitcoms and cop shows from the 80s, but Shout Factory (and Paramount) have been saving a lot of these old shows and bringing them to us in complete form for the very first time. T.J. Hooker was released by Sony over a decade ago, but only the very first two seasons. A move that had us classic TV fans all excited, only to be let down when season 3 never appeared. Finally we all pretty much gave us and wrote it off as another Dharma and Greg or The Nanny (both of which had a season or two released and then ….nothing), but with Shout Factory announcing the entire series in one boxset it looks like we can finally have the entire show in one sitting (for a great price I might add) for once.

The hammy Canuck known as William Shatner became famous almost overnight after playing the iconic role of James T. Kirk, pilot of the Starship Enterprise. A role that has become his magnum opus for last 50+ years, and his stilted dialog has become a running joke (although lovingly so) amidst his fans and detractors alike. Back in 1982 he was still a decently big name and the attraction of having James T. Kirk as the lead star of a TV cop show was enough to land him the gig for 5 full years, playing T.J. Hooker. A tough as nails cop who is coming back to the academy where he once taught to teach a new generation of cops how to survive out on the streets. The show is hilariously hammy, but it’s loads of fun to watch Shatner try and play a fully serious roll for once. His “tough guy” shtick may seem a bit dated, but it was taken in all seriousness back in 82, with my cop relatives all soaking it up like so much sun on California summer day.

Hooker embodies all of the old cop drama clichés to a T. He’s divorced due to the stress of the job (although he and his wife seem to have an amiable relationship where he can talk out the day’s troubles with), he drinks a bit too much, he’s jaded from his partner being murdered, and he’s tough as nails on the outside, but a softy on the inside to the right people. The show eats up all the old clichés and spits them out with glorious glee, giving us drama after drama and bad guy after bad guy to put away. Hooker actually went DOWN the ladder from Detective after his partner’s death, and is now a sergeant in the academy. After the initial training episodes he partners up with rookie Vince Romano (Adrian Zmed), an ex Nam vet who’s trying to make a difference as well. There’s some short bursts of PTSD related anger issues that Romano shows, but that plotline is quickly left in the dust as the show focuses in on the tough as nails older “operator” and the young Rookie taking down baddies at will.

While Shatner was the face of the show, there was a lot of great supporting cast members that made the show memorable. Romano was great as the rookie partner (who becomes not so much a rookie after a few seasons) and his timidity around Hooker is actually kind of hilarious. Heather Locklear joined the cast part way through season one as Stacy Sheridan, the daughter of their captain, and she was the sparkling sex appeal for the show (much like Star Trek, these old shows needed the looker to be the token “hot girl”), and while she was always the eye candy, pulled the part off quiet well (although we all remember that horrible runway dance she pulled off in the sparkly one piece. I think every young teenager has that scene emblazoned on his eyelids).

Like all long running cop shows, the series started to show it’s age around the 4th season. It wasn’t much but the show was getting long in the tooth with new plots harder and harder to come up with. The 5th season was the deathnell for the show, and while it was in NO WAY a travesty like the last couple seasons of Hawaii 5-0, it was obvious that T.J. Hooker was coming to an end. Sadly the show ended up rather abruptly, as the cancellation came just as the season was wrapping up, and 1986 became the last we say of T.J. Hooke and his crew.




Rating:

Not Rated by the MPAA




Video:

Much like the Sony release, T.J. Hooker: The Complete Series looks quite nice on DVD. There’s some mild print damage here and there, and some speckles that flicker up, but it’s a very stable looking image that really doesn’t have many flaws. The first couple of seasons show some mild aliasing, but that is gone pretty quickly and the rest of the show doesn’t seem to have those flaws. Colors are warm and on the lightly orange and blue side, but contrast is fairly stable and fine detailing is impressive for a 480p DVD. Blacks can be hit or miss, but usually they’re a hit except for some mild greying here and there. The discs tend to have about 4 or 5 episodes per DVD, giving only midrange bitrates, but the MPEG 2 encodes look pretty impressive nonetheless. A very solid job by Shout.







Audio:

The 2.0 stereo audio track for the show is about what you’d expect for an 80s TV show. Dialog is well definite and balanced with the minimal effects, and Hookers .357 magnum rings with authority. The nature of a 2.0 track made for TV limits the dynamic range and spaciousness of the track, but it is more than capable of replicating the old TV experience. A few effects lie on the flat side of things, but overall there is nothing to complain about on a technical level. It’s a 2.0 TV track and does exactly what it was designed to do.
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Extras:

• Nothing

Final Score: ​

I never in a million years thought that we’d get T.J. Hooker on DVD ever again after Sony abandoned it. The show was not raging success like Star Trek, or extremely famous for anything. It was just a fun classic cop show and with the TV on DVD/Blu-ray market at the moment I sincerely thought Netflix or Amazon prime as the only way we’d ever get them again. Luckily Shout has been rescuing classic TV shows recently and we’ve gotten full collections of The Nanny and soon to Just Shoot Me (a show that has frustrated me for YEARS at not having a complete collection), and finally T.J. Hooker. The DVDs are barebones (much like the Sony discs) but the audio and video are more than pleasing, having me give this a solid thumbs up if you were ever a fan of the show.



Technical Specifications:

Starring: William Shatner, Heather Locklear, Adrian Zmed
Created by: Rick Husky
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 MPEG 2
Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1
Studio: Shout Factory
Rated: NR
Runtime: 4410 Minutes
DVD Release Date: July 18th, 2017

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• Michael Scott
• May 11, 2017

Recommendation: Fun, Nostalgic Watch

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. I only remember this series due to Heather Locklear!

 

[Michael Scott]

I think everyone remembered Heather Locklear more than anything