Booker

Funny how things turn out. When "Family Ties" started, everyone thought that Meredith Baxter Birney was the star as opposed to Michael J. Fox; anyone who put money on Neve Campbell being a bigger name than Jennifer Love Hewitt after "Party of Five" ended would not have been considered mistaken; and similarly, when Richard Grieco joined the cast of "21 Jump Street" and drew attention away from the perpetually miserable-looking Johnny Depp, it did look like he'd be the breakout star.

So he was booted out of the force, became a private detective in his own series "Booker" (complete with Billy Idol's "Hot In The City" with the words "NEW YORK!" blanked out - due to the show taking place on the other side of the country!), and... wound up being cancelled a year before "21 Jump Street." And to be honest, you can see why; while there aren't many cop shows about people going undercover in schools (well, there was "The Mod Squad"...), there wasn't anything about the show that really made it stand out from any others of its type, and it didn't help that his assistant was played by the ever-annoying Lori Petty.

Johnny Depp went on to pull Winona Ryder and Vanessa Paradis (we'll forgive him for Kate Moss) and deliver a string of impressive performances in high-profile movies; Grieco went on to "If Looks Could Kill" (or as Joss Whedon called it, "If Looks Could Fail At The Box Office") and "A Night At The Roxbury." It's called having the last laugh.

Though apparently nobody picked it. (Get it? HAHAHA!)

And this awful show should have starred the chubby actor who played the character Booger in "Revenge of the Nerds" instead of the long-since-forgotten nobody: Richard Grieco. Though some young girls thought Grieco was good looking, most adults (and all men) thought he was kinda' funny looking, like the brightly colored backside of a baboon. And he couldn't act worth squat.

This show was a stupid, boring, cliche-filled waste of an entire season of airtime. It should have been canceled as soon as some dummy said, "Hey, let's make a new show about a detective in L. A. who wears earrings and a leather jackets, defies authority, works alone because a partner would only slow him down, and who looks kinda' pretty and androgynous, so he appeals to both men and women. We'll throw in all the usual cliches and t'll be completely unoriginal", which in Hollywood is a much revered thing. But they made the mistake of casting Richard Grieco, who was at the beginning of an almost-career, which ended up petering out quickly before making a near comeback at its peak in "A Night at the Roxbury". His acting in that movie was wooden and unbelievable, even though he was playing a parody of himself.

For all those who claim this Booker character was smart and cool, he was only as smart and cool as the writers wanted him to be. And nobody bought into it except for a total of about six confused young women who are clamoring for this silly show on DVD.

Why oh why was Booker cancelled after only one season? Booker was more than a worthy spinoff of 21 Jump Street, and it's a shame Richard Grieco didn't return to 21 Jump Street after his show got cancelled.

Maybe one day Booker can be rebooted just like 21 Jump Street was when it made it to the big screen.

I personally liked the Booker series. Richard Grieco had a good shot at becoming a high profile star back then. He was on the cover of multiple magazines. He made black leather jackets all the rage. He inspired hair styles and, to me, he made Harley Davidsons cooler than crotch rockets amongst younger motorcycle riders. It's a shame the show didn't reach the fame of 21 Jumpstreet. I know the show could have matured had the network given it more time to evolve. The addition of Lori Petty was a plus. I've seen what I consider less quality shows available on DVD box sets and every once in a while I look to see if Booker has been released. I hope that It eventually does.

I agree with 'csxmph'. I really liked this series. Yeah, it's goofy and yeah, it's old but it was perfect for it's time. I'd buy it if it came out. If I were completely honest, I'd say that I'd LOVE it if it came out. I remember it was a little dark, a lot rebellious and simmered with hostility. It was Jumpstreet, juiced up and in a nice car. RG was 'hot in the city' in the way that only a bad boy can be. Common girls.. you know what I'm talking about! Classic - who wouldn't want to see that? I'm telling you - it's timeless. A good episode (from the top of my head) was 'Somebody Stole Lucille'. Bits and pieces come to mind from other episodes but nothing definite enough to quote. Looks like I'd better dust off those old VHS and go through them again. As Molly M would say... 'Do yourself a favour..'