Martial Law - Der Karate-Cop

"Martial Law" is your standard cop show in one way - the actual "cop stuff" is the usual nonsense you can see anywhere on TV, the "same old same old" which makes real cops wince. What makes this show worth watching is the incredible martial arts prowess of the cast - especially Sammo Hung. Just like Jackie Chan and Chow Yun-Fat, Sammo trained at the Peking Opera School, which makes for a unique - and often funny - style of martial arts. The entire cast works well together, and they can all actually *act* - unlike a certain 'Texas Ranger' who comes on after this show. Lots of comedy in this show - they don't (usually) go for the cheap "Chinaman in America" jokes, and they actually seem to remember what they've done from one show to the next. All of the martial arts used on the set are real - Sammo, obviously, is an expert, and Louis Mandylor ("Louis") is trained in "muy thai" (Thai kickboxing), while Tammy Lauren ("Dana") is a black belt in Karate [I haven't heard a real reason for her departure], and Kellu Hu ("Grace / Pei Pei") is a brown belt in Karate. Tom Wright ("Lt. Winship") is a former stuntman, and does his own stunts in the show as well. And, just as with Jackie Chan's movies, at the end of every episode they have a brief "outtakes" section, showing some of the goofs that occured during the filming of the episode.

Good acting, decent plots, and plenty of kick-butt action, as well as many comedic moments (Sammo playing "Smoke On The Water" on the guitar...) make this a show to watch.

When I saw Martial Law for the first time when it aired, I was immediately hooked! And I made it my Saturday night ritual! Sammo, Terrel, Grace, and Amy are all very provocative, coloful, and cool characters in their own way. I miss Louis, though. I'm also a big fan of Jackie Chan's movies, too. And the director of this show is the same who did those Jackie Chan movies! In this show, you not only have crimes being solved, you have comedy, cool karate moves, and most of all a fun show to watch!

Even Arsenio Hall is learning some of those slick karate moves, himself, and I love his comedic antics! Sammo is awesome, Grace (Kelly Hu) would make a good role model for young girls who watch this, & she has cool moves like Sammo, and Amy too, and she's cool as the boss!

Even though we're still left hanging from last season's cliffhanger, this show is getting better in every episode they make. I hope CBS renews it for a third season! Either way, it's still an awesome and spectacular show! If you haven't seen it yet, feel free to see this one!

"Not slow, just fat"

I've been watching this show from the beginning, and I think I'll continue to do so. The action is good, and the story is, as far as I can see, devoid of stupid little flaws. (Then again, I haven't been looking for them). However, the first episode of the second (?) season (the one with the new chief and Jerry Doyle as McQueen) had a small flaw that I noticed without running it on slow motion: A pair of handcuffs breaking, then being whole again in the next cut. I hope there's not a lot of these, as I will be looking forward to the next episode.

The best things about it, in my opinion, are Sammo's wit and a great pace.

When "Martial Law" premiered, I was hooked. Sure, it wasn't great art or fabulous writing on display, but the show was goofy fun. But then bit by bit, the producers tinkered with the show, and with each adjustment, the show became worse.

The first misstep happened shortly after the theatrical movie "Rush Hour" became a hit. The producers must have thought "Hey! What this show needs is an obnoxious, hip, and streetwise partner for Sammo Hung!" Shortly afterwards, Arsenio Hall became a cast member, and his character was EXTREMELY annoying.

The next misstep was when the second season of the show premiered. First, the producers had fired several cast members, despite these fired actors and their characters being a very likable bunch. They also ignored or quickly wrote out the plot threads that had been going along in the previous season.

After some time, the producers tinkered with the show again. Suddenly Kelly Hu's character had a COMPLETELY different background, and the show suddenly had the characters fighting with a secret organization that threatened the city each week. This organization was treated with the same goofiness of the evil secret organization in the "Inspector Gadget" animated series.

Fortunately, the show was cancelled after the second season had played out. (And around this time, to Arsenio Hall's credit, he admitted that the show was terrible.) Since this series only ran two seasons, it is highly unlikely that the show will be seen in syndication, at least in North America. Just as well. If you DO get the chance to see the show, watch it until Arsenio Hall appears. Then stop watching!

This show was given a second shot in Season 2 and seriously blew it. For some reason, they brought in Arsenio Hall to try and capitalize on the fame of Rush Hour and it killed the show. Instead of making sexy Kelly Hu Sammo's partner, they pushed her off to the side and that made the show half as good as it could have been.

As the novelty of Sammo Hung wore off, there was nothing in the show to make up for it. Arsenio Hall's antics were more annoying than funny. No further depth was given to Kelly Hu's character. Luckily the show had just enough left to be worthy of syndication. With the combination of Sammo Hung, Kelly Hu, and a magical second season theme by Joel Goldsmith, the son of the great Jerry Goldsmith, the show still has just enough watchability to pull you in and hold you.

Its still fun to watch Sammo Hung's fighting skills. As a child he trained with Jackie Chan in a Peking Opera School, where strict training and harsh discipline were the norm. Despite his size, its easy to see that Sammo Hung is clearly one of the best martial artists in the world.