Mike Hammer, Private Eye

I must respectfully disagree with Jimbo. This series is indeed grittier than the original. I'm a huge fan of the 80's Mike Hammer series starring Stacey Keach and I never missed a episode. I found out about the '97 reprise only after it had ended and wished for years that I could check it out somehow. Thank GOD for DVDs! Mike Hammer, Private Eye is now available on DVD and it's definitely grittier and a step closer to the vengeful Hammer of Mickey Spillane. Jimbo calls the show "cheap" because this Hammer series obviously didn't have the same network budget that the original series did. I find that the lower budget feel of Private Eye really works in it's favor. This production makes Hammer's world seedier and that makes Hammer all the more nobler in his efforts to take out the trash.

Mike Hammer, Private Eye is a very enjoyable series. I like Keach even more this time around. The older Hammer is more vicious and hard boiled. The older the bull, the stiffer the horn. His flaws and foibles also add to the fun. I've watched all of the episodes in the DVD set and each one highly entertained me. It's all good fun. I'm damn glad Keach came back for this show. I'm also damn glad somebody put this series out on DVD. Mike Hammer, Private Eye delivers!

The episode I just watched was number 20 of 26 that are packaged in one Mike Hammer set from 1997 and '98. The production values were low budget filming in Ventura, CA for New York. There are some exterior establishing shots of The Big Apple, but much of the location sets look like anywhere but New York.

The episode is called The Maya Connection. Some of the dialog is haunting and maybe prophetic. The very first line in this show is a voice-over saying, "Saddam Hussein... We should have got him when we had the chance." The accompanying visuals show someone loading a rifle.

There are a couple of establishing shots that show The World Trade Center towers. Later in the story we hear a voice-over saying, "The real victims of war are the people who live at Ground Zero." It all takes on a new meaning in today's world.

Maxwell Caufield is good as the guest star. I could visualize him in a James Bond type role. He is a secret agent in this. Maxwell is at his best in Grease 2. There is a lot of action and plenty of wise cracks, especially from Stacy Keach, our Mike Hammer.

The story is much too disjointed to follow. It doesn't matter. It has some action and comedy and some really weird stuff. A scene in the back seat of a taxi seems to be an Altoids commercial. The best comedy sighting in this is Stacy in drag as an Iraqi woman.

Worth the $11.99 for 26 episodes.

Tom Willett

Stacy Keach is the only reason this 2nd incarnation of him as Mike Hammer is watchable.

I was a huge fan of the original Stacy Keach Mike Hammer series. Along with a lot of TV movies he did with the same character, he created a pretty good little franchise for himself. That being said, this 2nd incarnation of this great detective is just not that great. It has quite a few earmarks of a low budget and the first is the actors. All of em except Shannon Whirry are just plain bad. Shane Conrad is an absolute joke in this. You can tell he got the job just by who his father was. Worse than the acting is the script writing. The dialogue is so bad it's not even borderline laughable or believable, it's just laughable and unbelievable.

Regardless of the fact that this show pale's in comparison to Stacy Keachs' original series, he's the reason this show is still worth a look. He plays the same character with the same flair. It's petty obvious that Keach brought this character back to make a buck. It was successful the first time so why not try again. It just wasn't as good this time around.

Most know when they hear "Mike Hammer" they think of Mr. Keach himself. There's a reason for that, he is Mike Hammer(sorta).

"Mike Hammer, Private Eye" was nothing more then a watered down version of the 80s classics. Slow, and aging, Mike Hammer lacked the true "intimidation" a younger version of himself had. The 80s show was grittier, tougher, and more lively, while today it seems looser and more sophisticated. I tried getting into it, but I was FAR more upset that A&E canceled the old Mike Hammer reruns, then this old watered down version got canceled. Big disappointment, thankfully Stacy Keach went on to better things!

This syndicated show is a much grittier version of the show that was on the network in the 80's. Hammer is a tougher guy and is much more like the Darren McGavin version of the 50's which I liked best of all. There are no better scenes than when he tangles with the D.A. Barrington played by Kent Williams who should have gotten an Emmy. I hope that Stacy makes newer episodes as this character will never die.