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!!
