Hunter DVD

Rated: Not Rated
Genre: TV Series
Length: 836 minutes
Director: Various
Year: (1984)

Britt Gillette's Hunter DVD Review

Nominated for three Emmys, Hunter stands out as one of the premiere action police dramas of the 1980s. Just as Tom Selleck's on-camera charisma carried Magnum, P.I. through nine highly-rated seasons, Fred Dryer's knack for drawing an audience to his unique persona carried an otherwise lackluster series through much of the decade. The brainchild of Frank Lupo, creator of The A-Team (1982) and writer for such hit series as Battlestar Galactica (1978), Magnum, P.I. (1980), and Walker, Texas Ranger (1993), Hunter is built on the clichéd concept of a rogue cop who breaks the rules and takes justice into his own hands. Dryer does well in his role as the Clint Eastwood of the small screen, yet the show's writers give him little to work with in terms of a highly developed character and, as the seasons pass, the plot becomes quite formulaic. Nevertheless, Hunter is pure mind-numbing police chase entertainment with the added element of nostalgia for those who long for the 1980s when Hunter ruled along with The A-Team, Magnum, Miami Vice, and Knight Rider, and I for one loved those shows…!

Hunter follows the life of Los Angeles Police Department detective Sgt. Rick Hunter (Fred Dryer), a renegade cop whose family has ties to organized crime. This family tree, coupled with a penchant for getting his partners injured and a propensity to bend the rules, make Hunter an unpopular guy within the department. Only two officers will even agree to partner with him - Bernie Terwilliger (James Whitmore Jr.), who's a total incompetent, and Dee Dee McCall (Stepfanie Kramer), a stunning brunette with a rebellious streak of her own (and also disliked by her colleagues). Together, Hunter and McCall are a perfect fit as partners, breaking up crime rings, solving murders, and dealing with internal problems such as irate captains. In seasons one and two, Hunter's bosses are a thorn in his side. But both are soon replaced by Capt. Charles Devane (Charles Hallahan) who plays the role of Hunter's by-the-book, yet generally amiable authority figure for the remainder of the series. Meanwhile, original Saturday Night Live cast member Garrett Morris plays a brilliant recurrent role as police informant Arnold "Sporty" James… Overall, Hunter is a solid and highly entertaining action/adventure police drama series, one indispensable to 1980s TV aficionados…

The Hunter DVD (Season 1) features a number of action-packed episodes including the two-hour series premiere in which the audience first meets Sgt. Rick Hunter, a mobster's son turned cop who is generally disliked within the LAPD. In this first episode, Hunter tries to investigate a murder, but the case is given to Bernie Terwilliger (the first cop to arrive on the scene), and Hunter is told to back off. With a by-the-book Captain hot on his heels, Hunter partners with feisty Sgt. Dee Dee McCall, and the duo work together to set a trap for the perpetrator... Other notable episodes from Season 1 include "Pen Pals" in which Hunter takes the rap for a murder he did not commit, and Dee Dee and her new partner must track down the true culprit, and "Guilty" in which Hunter and Dee Dee disobey a direct order and go it alone to investigate the connection between two murders…

Below is a list of episodes included on the Hunter DVD (Season 1):

Episode 1 (Pilot: Part 1) Air Date: 09-18-1984
Episode 2 (Pilot: Part 2) Air Date: 09-18-1984
Episode 3 (Hard Contract) Air Date: 09-28-1984
Episode 4 (The Hot Grounder) Air Date: 10-05-1984
Episode 5 (A Long Way from L.A.) Air Date: 10-26-1984
Episode 6 (Legacy) Air Date: 11-02-1984
Episode 7 (Flight on a Dead Pigeon) Air Date: 11-09-1984
Episode 8 (Pen Pals) Air Date: 11-16-1984
Episode 9 (Dead or Alive) Air Date: 11-30-1984
Episode 10 (High Bleacher Man) Air Date: 12-07-1984
Episode 11 (The Shooter) Air Date: 01-04-1985
Episode 12 (The Garbage Man) Air Date: 01-11-1985
Episode 13 (The Avenging Angel) Air Date: 01-18-1985
Episode 14 (The Snow Queen: Part 1) Air Date: 03-23-1985
Episode 15 (The Snow Queen: Part 2) Air Date: 03-30-1985
Episode 16 (The Beach Boy) Air Date: 04-06-1985
Episode 17 (Guilty) Air Date: 04-13-1985
Episode 18 (The Last Kill) Air Date: 04-20-1985
Episode 19 (Fire Man) Air Date: 05-04-1985
Episode 20 (Sniper) Air Date: 05-11-1985

Britt Gillette

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Read more Hunter DVD Reviews (MRQE)

Read more Hunter DVD Reviews (MRI)

Hunter (Season 1)
Hunter (Season 2)

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Posted on 12 July 2005