"Hunter" (1984) TV series 1984-1991

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Directors:

Fred Dryer
Alan Myerson

Writers:

Terry D. Nelson (writer) (7 episodes)
Dallas L. Barnes (teleplay) (5 episodes)

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

Release Date:

18 September 1984 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Detective Sergeant Rick Hunter and his partner, Sergeant Dee Dee McCall, are homicide investigators with the Los Angeles Police Department...

Plot Keywords:

Police | Beautiful Woman | Female Cop | Based On Novel

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Primetime Emmys. Another 2 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Fred Dryer	...	Det. Sgt. Rick Hunter (152 episodes, 1984-1991)
Stepfanie Kramer	...	Det. Sgt. Dee Dee McCall (130 episodes, 1984-1990)

Runtime:

60 min (153 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Stephen J. Cannell Productions

Trivia:

The fictional television station that broadcast the news on the show, KXRX, had the same call letters of a real radio station in Seattle, Washington, KXRX 96.5 FM.

Quotes:

Ben: All these years, I wondered who you were, what you were like. I wondered if I was anything like you. I just wanted to know who my father was.
Hunter: Well, now you know. You should also know that you've had a father for the past 17 years. A good man. A man that's loved you, raised you, given you a good home, worried about you. I think that's a pretty good definition of fatherhood.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Damned in the U.S.A. (1991)

Season one works for me, Season 2 not as much

Hunter was like the small-screen version of Dirty Harry, but a tad more on the gentle side. Fred Dryer's performance and Stefanie Kramers as Hunter's partner Detective Dee Dee McCall made this one of the most memorable cop show of the glorious decade that was the 1980's. In the first Season Hunter and McCall meet for the first time to take on a slasher of beautiful women, McCall's ex-partner turned mob hit-man, a case where the main suspect is the police commissioner, crooked sheriffs, a mafia hit, missing pigeons (??!!?), Hunter being false imprisoned, an overzealous bounty hunter, more mafioso, a cop killer, an overzealous parole officer, an overzealous surveillance expert, Hollywood, drug related death, and Hunter's ex among others. Featuring such notable guest stars as Brian Dennehy, Bo Svenson, Wings Hauser, Tracey Walter, Frances McDormand, Ed O'Neill, Christopher McDonald, Dennis Farina, Dennis Franz, and Monique Gabrielle. The first season had great shows for the most part (the Pigeon episode wasn't that good in the least) and the chemistry between Hunter and McCall is great. It's kinda cool that Hunter's badge number is the same as Dryer's uniform number when he played for the Rams by the way.

My Season 1 grade: B+

Best episodes of this season: the 2-part Pilot, Pen Pals, The Garbage Man, the Snow Queen 2-parter, and Guilty

Featuring such notable guest stars as James Hong, Robert Englund, Isaac Hayes, Robert Davi, the second season of Hunter feels different, the locations feel flashier, Hunter himself feels less of a bad ass, I and it just wasn't as good as the first season. This isn't to say there weren't any good episodes to be found as "Night of The Dragons" was the show in top form. "The Return of Typhoon Thompson", the 2-part "the Beautiful & the Dead", and "Death Machine" were good too.

My Season 2 Grade: C+

Season 1 DVD extras: Interesting interviews with Stephan Cannell (17 and a half minutes) and Stefanie Kramer (15 minutes)

Season 2 DVD Extras: Interviews with series creator Stephen J. Cannell and composer Mike Post (84 min); & Hunter scenes from "Six Million Dollar Misunderstanding" in Spanish and French

Season 2 DVD-Rom content: "Six Million Dollar Misunderstanding" screenplay in .PDF format Gripes: As is common, a lot of music has been changed for copyright issues, some of the episodes were cut for the same reason (most notably Snow Queen)

Season 1 DVD extras: Interesting interviews with Stephan Cannell (17 and a half minutes) and Stefanie Kramer (15 minutes)