A Man Called Hawk

Not that I'm surprised, but after all these years and TV show releases of the worst kind, No One Has Seen Fit to Put HAWK on DVD. Let's face it. This was a Black oriented show and the natural assumption is that Blacks and other minorities can/should watch and appreciate any show staring White males BUT the opposite requires special attention. Let's drop the double standard and make this show available to anyone who wants to see it. Hawk could have been better. Unfortunately it wasn't on long enough to take it's own course. Washington,DC as a location was OK but to have remained in Boston would have added an extra boost to the plot environment especially from a racial stand point. I guess we'll never know.

I grew up during the 1950s and 60s; therefore, I am familiar with black action heroes like Woody Strode's Sergeant Rutledge, Richard Rountree's John Shaft, Robert Hooks' Mr. T (in the movie "Trouble Man"), Greg Morris's Barney Collier (on TV's "Mission Impossible"), Clarence Williams' Linc Hayes (on TV's "The Mod Squad"), etc. So, I can say with some experience that Avery Brooks' portrayal of "A Man Called Hawk" was the ultimate incarnation black male urban suavity. As much as we loved (and needed) the John Shaft image, Hawk took it to a whole new level. Hawk was like Shaft on steroids...and freely independent, too! He was the total package, and Avery Brooks brought him to life with genuine suspension of disbelief. It was the perfect dream. I was afraid OF and FOR Hawk because I knew he would not compromise.

I have watched all of (Spenser: For Hire) episodes. It was nice. Yes, not quite (Magnum), but it got its own good - not too long - time. And most of the attraction came from that formula of the lead (Spenser) and his very strange friend (Hawk); where one is a private detective and the other is an ex-killer! And one (Robert Urich) is romantic intellectual guy, and one (Avery Brooks) is rough violent man whose coming from the streets.

It was similar to an angel and a devil that fight together for the noble case. Or it was some kind of metaphor for the forever discrepant; good and evil sides in the human being, through a show that teamed them up for the realization of one ideal purpose, where every side helps the other by using its own special way. So the irony between the 2 different men and their styles was captivating. However, the way how their friendship went despite their differences was even more captivating.

The secret of how Hawk stole the show was simple, due to the spirit of the role itself, and its distinguished disposition. I mean his way of talking, famous words (naughty naughty ah ha!), preferred style in clothing, sunglasses, long silver pistol.. etc. And I mean also the way he was appearing from the shadows suddenly to save Spenser in so many memorable ways; that rare kind of the bodyguard trained in hell, or that angel who looks more like a devil; all of that made Hawk one of its kind partner, the tough protecting friend that any one dreams of, and the powerful guardian angel that everybody wants.

Hawk was no Dirty Harry; he wasn't a cop or loves any, and he was less funnier. Hawk was dark, mysterious, and not predictable at all. Put in that mix the strong performance of (Avery Brooks), and how original the character was in the 1980s, and you'll easily understand the lasting magic of this character after nearly 20 years of its appearance for the very first time.

It made also its own mark on other shows. For example, you can clearly notice that with the relationship between agent Mulder (David Duchovny) and Mr. X (Steven Williams) in the second season of (The X Files) 1994, 9 years after the beginning of Spenser.

So, surely, there were some good reasons to make an independent show for Hawk one year after (Spenser) was canceled. But the formula this time wasn't the same!

Mainly, the other half is not here; Spencer is in Boston and Mr. Hawk went to Washington! I know life goes on, but not that way, because here you won't find any friend for The Good Old Friend. Yes, Hawk is that loner, but I think the writers didn't compensate the absence of Spencer being not here or there. That was a shock, maybe a slight one.

But despite whatever it might have had of whatever defects, the real shock was that the producers didn't give the time for such a show to progress. And I believe, like everybody else, that there was plenty of potential in it.

Was it bad luck? Well, I don't believe in luck. So it could be the foolishness and the rashness of the bossy producers who gave a lot to nonsense shows, with absolute nothing to show, putting them on air, for years and years, to present the same nothing, or the bad nothing, over and over again. And the list of that kind is endless.

After that, (Avery Brooks) got some wonderful roles in TV and cinema. But I think none was as exceptional or popular as Hawk which I call the most evil good hero ever, even if he lasted for 3 seasons in a show, 13 episodes in another, and appeared in all the 4 Spenser TV movies from 1993 till 1995.

PS: I'll never ever forget his line in one episode of (A Man Called Hawk) when he was telling a young man who he was watching over: "Wherever, whenever, I'll be there for you" WAW.. honestly, who needs more?!.. And he wasn't even a superhero!!

I enjoy watching Ving Rhames and I am excited that he has journeyed into TV land with the new series remake, "KOJAK" -- but no one, and I mean NO ONE tops Avery Brooks as HAWK! Avery Brooks did what very few blacks in TV during the 80's could do - he played an "afrocentric," pro-black, take no prisoners everyman, without being a narrow minded, uptight militant. Militancy has its place in history but that's not what AMCH was about.

I long to see that engaging snarl of Hawk's with the quintessential growling "ahhh" that he often followed up with. Only Mr. Brooks could give life to something that had no meaning.

It's a shame to see that Avery hasn't gotten his due props in movies and TV. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was cool, but I wanted to See Avery in action---HAWK in action.

Maybe someday someone will think hard about putting Hawk on DVD for the masses -- not just for Africn Americans. I hope that times have changed just enough for the powers-that-be to factor in the huge crossover appeal of AMCH and of Avery Brooks.

What would be awesome would be to see Avery in action again, as Hawk, in a revival of the series. Surely there's a cable station or network out there that could truly give this show the chance it deserves to find its audience.

And hopefully, Mr. Brooks would WANT to do it.

THE HAWK was then and still is now THE BEST. The only reason I actually enjoyed SPENSER: FOR HIRE was just so I could see THE HAWK in action, doing his thing as only he could. Avery Brooks will always be one of my favorite actors simply because of his portrayal of this unique character - which I refer to as my #1 Superhero. HAWK had it all - the look, the style, the dialogue, the weapon, the Street Savvy, and the cool to handle ANYTHING that came his way. I grew up during the late 70's and early 80's so I wasn't a part of the 70's blaxplotation that made Shaft a star. But to me THE HAWK will always be my Shaft. I only got to watch A Man Called HAWK once and I hope one day I'll be able to get a chance to see Mr. Brooks in action as THE HAWK either on Video or DVD release.