Hunter

Just recently finished revisiting this show on DVD, i say revisiting, what i actually meant was watching the whole seven seasons on the all inclusive box set.

To set the picture, i had only seen upto the end of season two back in 87/88 when the ITV here in the UK suddenly decided that they didn't like American action/drama shows anymore and stopped showing them or shuffled them off to the wee hours of post midnight television. A few episodes of season three did pop up sporadically and then it went over to SKY TV for its seventh and final season.

This was the turning point where ITV and i parted company, gone were the days of The A team, Knight Rider, The Fall Guy, Airwolf, TJ Hooker, The Greatest American Hero, The Equalizer etc and of course, Hunter. In came shows with all the entertainment value of picking your nose and on it goes to this day with X factor, anyway, Hunter.

Now i've finally seen all the episodes, i can say that Hunter has to be one of the all time great American cop shows, what started, admittedly as a "homage" to the Dirty Harry movies, fought through that to establish its own relevant and unique persona.

Yes, the action was toned down post season two, but after watching the entire run now, it seems clear that this move is what guaranteed the show its seven season run, if it had relied on purely shoot outs and car flips, it would have folded much sooner.

It became more layered as it progressed, the characters became more three dimensional and even "issues" were tackled within the story lines. Effort such as this, at that time, is the beginning of the evolution to the cop shows of today, to move beyond being subservient to property destruction.

That said, the new Hawaii Five 0 seems to be back in this old vein and Justified is very much "old school" in its approach and consequently both a firm faves of mine.

Fred Dryer, considering he was a professional sportsman at the beginning of his career, managed to take Rick Hunter beyond being just an imposing presence against the scum he had to deal with and made him laconic, witty and even warmly human on occasion. Likewise Stepfanie Kramer, over the course of the shows run, made Dee Dee McCall a fully formed, professional law enforcement officer.

As with Hunter's character, it was revealed she had thoughts and feelings and was far more than just an attractive foil to Hunter and could crack skulls just as well as he could. Again, these efforts made at that time are what has helped to round out the TV tecs of today.

In summation, i was truly surprised and impressed by Hunter when i finally got to see all of them recently, yes a few episodes go clunk, but the ones that really work easily surpass them.

I recommend this show unreservedly, if you like good cop shows, you'll like this.

My favorite cop show of the 80s was HUNTER. Fred Dryer was awesome as Rick Hunter, a shoot-first-and-ask-questions-later Dirty Harry-type, which is actually what the show started out as, but the character was toned down a little afterwards. Stephanie Kramer, as D.D. McCall, was the best of his three female partners, as was Charles Hallahan as the third of three different captains. It was like a small-screen action movie, with plenty of car chases and gun fights. Dryer and Kramer had great chemistry, which especially came across in the episodes featuring personal stories for the two, such as the first season two-parter in which Hunter defies orders and goes to Mexico to look for a guy who had attacked McCall and hid behind his diplomatic immunity. It was an episode that allowed Hunter to display the depth of his friendship to McCall and showed just how much the characters cared for one another. I don't remember too much about the later years (in which Hunter went through two new partners), but I recall a lot of the earlier ones, with many standout episodes. I would definitely love to have this great series on DVD.

This was the all time best cop show made. Fred Dryer and Stepfanie Kramer were matched perfectly and Charles was great as the captain. If you have never seen it you missed out. The story lines were great and the show was kept realistic.

I didn't get to watch Hunter when it first aired because it went up against Dallas, which was my favorite show at the time. But later, I saw a few episodes in seasons 5 and 6 and really enjoyed it. Fred Dryer as the lead character of Sergeant/Lt. Rick Hunter was very believable as the hardnosed, rule bending cop who always got his man, mostly by a one or two shot gun blast. His gun sounded like a cannon every week. Now that streaming services are plentiful, I saw all seasons from the very beginning and I enjoyed it! It was exciting to see the car chases, blowups, action, etc. I didn't like the character of Sergeant Dee Dee McCall portrayed by Stepfanie Kramer at first because she was so unrealistic. Her small frame, globs of makeup, wearing flashy clothed. running after bad guys in high heels and always carrying a purse that obviously looked like there was nothing in it, was just too far fetched. But as the show changed, I loved them together. The chemistry, banter, jokes and sexual tension between them was great!

Later on as the seasons continued, it lost something. The stories were good, but predictable. They got away from the things that made this show great...more drama, less action. I always thought it was a Dirty Harry tipoff, but the show held its own. Unfortunately, I lost interest in it as a cop show and only looked forward to the scenes with the leading co-stars! Loved it when they finally showed them kiss in the episode Unfinished Business in season 6!

All in all, the show is good for entertainment purposes even now. I watch it often, except season 7. I didn't bother to watch..It was dismal without Hunter's sidekick, McCall. Fred Dryer and Stepfanie Kramer were great together as my favorite cop team on tv!

i didnt get to see the movie when it was shown in sept of 1984,and i wish i could have.i did get to watch the tv series of hunter when it was on, and i still get to watch it on tbs in reruns.i really enjoy watching it.fred dryer,stepfanie kramer and the rest of the cast were great.they did a tremendous job of acting.i'm glad we had such a great show to watch.