Walker, Texas Ranger

Walker, Texas Ranger is not only a bad show, but its silly and often enough downright stupid.

We all know the plot - Good Guy (?) Ranger Walker gets involved with a crime - usually involving Bad Guys so horrendously evil that we're supposed to automatically like what Walker does. And, of course, in the last few minutes Walker saves everything with a few karate chops and kicks. (Often ignoring guns near at hand.)

Why is this so much worse than other shows that follow about the same general form?

To begin with, Chuck Norris is a terrible actor - one or two facial expressions, about as much intonation in his voice as Jack Webb at his most absurd.

Then, he surrounds himself with wooden actors, that by their very poverty of talent make him actually almost look good.

And it looks more like the kind of police brutality that made Amadou Diallow famous - so thats a bit of an exaggeration. But its easy to see how Norris's fondness for beating people up is probably the same kind of thing that leads to police brutality cases in real life. Worse yet, Norris is clearly a bit of an exhibitionist this way - he loves to be SEEN beating people up and defining himself as the ultimate arbiter of the law and as an equally ultimate judge of morality.

And... Clarence Gilyard as Ranger Trivette gets to play Norris' sidekick, and is treated as the very worse kind of sidekick - there as a foil to Norris, and as a source of what I think the writers will see as humourous lines. But unlike (say) Cheech Marin in "Nash Bridges" Trivette is not allowd to much more than be such a foil - and very often he is treated as just another person to show on screen.

Finally, the law and even just reasonable behavior are completely ignored. Walker is apparently sufficiently above legal restraints that he does essentially what he wants - even if it is something that would incur his righteous wrath when someone else did it. (Even the theme song echoes this sentiment.)

The show has one redeeming feature - if you want to know how not to act, if you want to know how not to write for the screen, if you want to know how to break laws and still feel like you're always right, this is the show for you - otherwise it would make a good foundation for a drinking game - or MST2K type audience commentary.

This was a show that was rocky at first when it debuted in 1993, but turned out a perennial powerhouse every Saturday evening from the astounding eight seasons that it ran on CBS-TV. From the premiere episode on April 21,1993 to the final episode of the series on May 19,2001,the series "Walker,Texas Ranger" was one of the best action shows to ever come out of the 1990's and for good reason. This was a show that had a mixture to it...taking the elements of a modern-day traditional Western,add in some high flying martial arts action with some impressive karate action and spectacular action sequences with a little of modern-day issues thrown in for good measure. This show had it all and then some...high flying action and adventure with breathtaking sequences adding in some of Chuck Norris' sensational moves for dealing with the baddies who wreck havoc each week. The series,"Walker,Texas Ranger",was part "MacGuyer",part "Miami Vice",and part "Walking Tall",with a hint of David Carradine's TV-western "Kung Fu" for grand measure. Not to mention it was part,"Wild,Wild,West" too which by the way took a cue from Robert Conrad and Ross Martin. The show ran for an astounding eight seasons on CBS and produced over 203 episodes,when goes to show you it is still very popular as a solid performer in syndicated repeats of the episodes where they are being run continuously on either the USA Network or The Hallmark Channel on a daily basis and in syndicated stations across the country.

The show focuses on Chuck Norris playing Cordell Walker,a Texas Ranger who works for local police agency in Dallas,where the originally of the show is set from. Since the series was filmed on location in Texas. Walker is not only a dedicated Texas Ranger,but he has served his country as well,fighting as a soldier in Vietnam and is a third-degree black belt not only in karate but in various forms of his amazing and spectacular martial arts skills. He believes in dealing with criminals the old-fashioned way and from there bringing them to justice. He resembles the "old school" ways of fighting crime---with his body and sometimes with a gun when the consequences get too severe. His partner is Texas Ranger James "Jimmy" Trivette(Clarence Gilyard),who had grown up in the tough streets of Baltimore and used football as his ticket to a college education and a career with the Dallas Cowboys until an injury forced him to retire. Despite Jimmy's belief in computers and scientific technology along with criminology,especially in some of the episodes it's up to Walker to save him from a certain fate when they both likely to be in a fistfight or karate kicks whenever the situation got out of hand. Jimmy's technological expertise is always there in solving cases and taking down the lowlifes. County Assistant,D.A. Alex Cahill(Sheree J. Wilson)his sometimes girlfriend and later on during the series her and Walker would eventually get married,frowns on Walker's methods,even if they do not get results. Sometimes,and in some of the episodes Alex may get into a tough situation with some diabolical villain who uses her as bait to capture Walker,but he comes through saves Cahill from disaster and from their kicks the living daylights out of the villain who he brings to justice. When not on duty,Walker and Trivette and the others hang out at C.D.'s Restaurant-the saloon owned by his buddy C.D.Parker(Noble Willingham).

Each week,Walker and his partner Trivette take on the baddest of the bad,and if you notice the same formula is used in just about every episode. As the show opens it is dealing with crimes involving murder,kidnapping,espionage,robbery,or whatever comes to mind. In just about any episode we find out about the crime at the beginning which usually has some loser who is connected to some evil White Supremacist/ Political agenda,or some Extremist group,not to mention vicious drug cartels and dangerous gang members that mess up the town. That's when Walker and Trivette come in to take out the baddies in numerous gunfights and slow-motion karate scenes where Walker goes up against some guy who has a far more superior fighting style than his? Who is either a Ninja or a higher degree black belt? Watch the show sometime. And all this is done in SLOW MOTION for your pure enjoyment. After all,this is an action-packed show that you'll never know what to expect. Expect the unexpected. Want to see scenes of people using rocket launchers,AK-47's,explosive devices,and other means to take out the baddies while at the same seeing Walker used his awesome skills to take out a villain with a high kick to the forehead while breaking faces in the name of the law? This was the show to see. Chuck Norris ruled this show. Not to be missed.

PS-Three made for television movies were produced after the series went off the air and to this day,"Walker,Texas Ranger" is still going strong due to the success of the television series and also the made for TV-movies.

Yes, the acting is horrendously bad. Yes, the dialog is unbelievably cheesy and stale. Yes, the plots are unoriginal and don't make sense. But damn it, when was the last time that we were able to just turn on the television, sit back and enjoy the action without having to deal with some over-the-top action/drama that goes way too fast and shoves some moral lesson on life in our faces? That's what makes Walker Texas Ranger so enjoyable -- it really recreates the feel of those classic Westerns that used to be on all the time back in the '50s. So horrendously bad that it's great to watch when you just need some time to unwind and forget about everything else. And you've gotta admit, it paved way for a great comedy segment on Late Night with Conan O'Brien. I know I'll still be watching this for years to come.

Some of his points were well taken if you were a paid CRITIC of TV shows. For those of us in law enforcement that just want entertainment, Walker provides it to many of us. We all know that it's a make believe world. I'm also an ex/experienced ER Registered Nurse and Ex-Paramedic. When I watch the TV show ER, I don't critique it, it's entertainment too, it's NOT real life. My extensive surgery experience as an RN finds mistakes in MASH and the more recent plastic surgery show "Nip N Tuck", but it's just a TV show, for the clueless by and large, entertainment all. I don't think a show show be judged TOO harshly (especially Walker) if it provides decent family, moral, and ethical values (most of the time) - and besides, he hardly ever hurts, much less kills anyone. He got awards from a Christian group for his values. Change channels if you don't like it I guess. That's what I do if I must critique a show that much. Turn off the TV, read a good book, go for a walk, listen to music. You don't HAVE to watch Walker.........I see mistakes on EVERY show I watch, but I am tolerant.

We have plenty of "realistic" cop shows, "Walker Texas Ranger" is not one of those. This is a solid 45 minutes of entertainment every episode, but it's not for everyone, you gotta like a good hunk of cheese in your tv shows. But even if the rest of the episode sucks, the round kick makes every episode the best ever. Lol always gotta have a roundhouse.

There is some pseudo spirituality in there every now and then, and eventually a bidding realistically with one of his co-workers, there is a slight continuing storyline overtime, believe it or not. However , on the weeks this is an episodic show based around kicking bad guys butts. On Saturday night in the 1990's, you couldn't really get any better than my this, for some that's a good thing!

Nowadays, I would wager this show would still kick all of Saturday night show in the butt. It would also roundhouse the new "Walker" and TKO it with a boot to the head.