T. J. Hooker

After a lean run for William Shatner in the 1970s, things began looking up for him after the release of Star Trek: The Motion Picture and since then he has gotten steady work in film and television. Shatner signed on to star as the title character of the cop show T.J. Hooker as a former detective who decides to go back to being a uniformed street cop in order to rid Lake City of crime in the memory of his former partner.

There's nothing special about T.J. Hooker; it's just another cop show like the dozens of others before and after it. I just think it's a stretch for Shatner and Heather Locklear to play cops. Shatner could play Captain James T. Kirk or a gangster or somebody who's a bit nutty but I found it droll to see Shatner and that rug on his head running around and doing those rolls versus the thugs of Lake City. Aaron Spelling regular Heather Locklear, all 5 feet and 98 lbs of her, is miscast here. Adrian Zmed as Officer Vince Romano and James "Moondoggie" Darren as Officer Jim Corrigan fare better. It's clear the cast were hired on their good looks than playing convincing police officers.

Regardless, I like TJ Hooker because there's that feeling of zaniness seeing Shatner, Locklear and Co. playing against type. Shatner doesn't disappoint with his brand of acting here. His presence carries this show. If you liked him in Star Trek, you'll like him here.

Recommended.

William Shatner pretty much personified T. J. Hooker, and it was one of those series that was get-home-in-time-to-watch TV for the first two seasons, but after that the writing got a bit tired and I suspect William Shatner was focussing on his Star Trek movie career.

I always held off watching this thinking it will be some pretentious camp mess only designed to blow smoke up William Shatners rear end.

I tried watching the first 10mins of the pilot and was very surprised with how good it was so watched it till the end. I am now going through season one and the show is maintaining a very high standard throughout. I would recommend people give this a try.

OK First Off. Screw off anyone who disses the Shat. He was born to play a hero. And TJ Hooker is everything you want your hero to be. He is beast, He is human, He is emotional, He is caring, He is a signifier of justice, He is no holds barred, He will do anything to catch the bad guy. The only thing remotely bad about the show is Adrian Zmed. Who looks like it takes a little too much outta him to hit on the ladies if you know what I mean. Who wouldn't want to be handcuffed by Stacy? I'd still let her handcuff me today! There is 80s cheese. But the awesome thing is it is STILL AWESOME. The ep where Hooker chases down the rapist in the park. No way that scene would be filmed again. The dialogue was cheesy. The fight scenes for their time were good. But watching them again it's funny. But it's my favorite scene of the entire series. I am 32 years old. The series came out in 82. A year before I was born. And I got seasons 1&2 at Ollies. And I've watched the bejesus outta it. Car chases, Cheesy explosions, Cheesy Dialogue and I love it all!!!!! Don't buy it and expect a strict police procedural drama. If you want bad guys taken down and called "scum" and "punk". Get this!!!! Shat Rules!!!!! Every Precinct should be full if TJ HOOKERS!

Of all the cheesy 80's cop shows, 'T.J. Hooker' is my new favorite! I love movies and shows that are so bad they're funny, and this a perfect example of that.

William Shatner plays the titlular character, a mediocre cop who gets hailed as one slick guy. Shatner has that same quality as others like Alec Baldwin and Steven Seagal: the ability to be comical without even trying. His facial expressions and acting gild the lily. The other stars of the series (Adrian Zmed and Heather Locklear) aren't much better.

The show has plenty of corny, lovable quirks, including but not limited to: tubular 80's action soundtrack, sloppy stunts, HUGE explosions, awful dialogue, orangutans, break dancing, and did I mention 80's music?

In the episode, 'A Child Is Missing', Hooker heads to solve a case in Mexico along with a guy named Gomez. Those are traits used in Shatner's book Tek-War, which was actually written by a ghostwriter. It seems William has few ideas of his own!

If you are looking for something truly interesting, don't mess with T.J.. But if you like cheesy 80's fun, I recommend this! SPOOOOOOOOCK!