The Good

The Bad

Ahhhh....

How nice to see William Shatner being serious again. How great it is see him not being self-conscious or doing a parody of himself. There is no outrageousness. There is no reference some spaceship he commanded in another life. There are no songs with Henry Rollins. T.J. Hooker - The Complete First and Second Seasons is a very well done cop show. Sure, it’s a little bit over the top, but it features an ALWAYS hot, regardless of her age Heather Locklear, and we get to see the aforementioned Shatner do something he doesn’t seem to do very much of nowadays.

Take himself seriously.

This show is actually a fairly gritty tale about a man with a decent amount of demons. He has personal problems, job problems and just people problems in general. Yet, amidst all of this, Shatner managed to create a pretty likable character. Someone that the people around him may not have always agreed with, yet, they respected him and they took his ideas and ambitions seriously. I really think that this is something that I forgot when I watched this show. I think this also has a lot to do with Shatner’s public persona now.

T.J. Hooker - The Complete First and Second Seasons is a very solid example of what Shatner can do when he really works at it. Also, this show is a much more “real” show than I think it has been given credit for all these years.

Features

Original TV Promos for 24 Episodes

All these are are the upcoming episode previews for T.J. Hooker. It’s not like they are anything special, and why they are considered a “Special Feature” is beyond me, but they are still fun to flip through. Also, if you don’t want to read the episode descriptions, you can just buzz around these promos until you find an episode you wish to screen. Not a bad way to work yourself around the DVD is it?

Video

1.33:1 - Full Screen. I am amazed at how well these shows have held up over the years. They look amazing. I know that the 1980s were not that long ago, but other than the “artifacts” that pervade this show, it really doesn’t seem that dated. The picture was crisp and clear and there was little to no “video noise” that I saw. This show also had a depth of reality to it. I believed what I was seeing on screen. Even William Shatner, who I am very familiar with, passed my litmus test for being a believable police officer. The fact that he carried himself in such a tightly wound fashion, did nothing to take away from my belief in these episodes.

Audio

Dolby Digital. Remastered in High Definition. While nothing is amazing in the sound department, I found that I didn’t have a problem hearing anything and I didn’t even need to turn up my television set that loud. Sure, this was an 80s TV show, where the minute a chase starts the music kicks in and everything becomes heightened, but I never found the audio to be annoying or intrusive. It didn’t seem like the viewer was bombarded by all these different sounds and images. There was a restraint used in these shows that as a viewer now I really appreciate. The action and sounds are never overwhelming, just eye catching.

Package

This 6 disk set is housed in 3 slim cases with 2 DVDs to a case. A different cast member gets a cover on the inside of the 3 cases with poor Adrian Zmed being left off. The back of each case features an episode listing and a description as well. All of these cases are housed in a cardboard cover in which Mr. Shatner is in the forefront, with Mrs. Locklear close behind. Not surprisingly, there is a lot of blue on this cover. The back features another picture of our cast in action (they have Photoshopped all the pictures in such a way so that they look like they are paintings), a very brief description of the show, an “extras” listing and some technical specs. As you know, I love when DVD box sets come in these economically housed slim cases. This packaging is the best for collections and consumers.

Final Word

You know, I don’t think we ever give Heather Locklear the kind of respect that she deserves. Aside from being a very pretty face, she really is a good actress. So what if the roles she plays are usually the pretty face? Or, if as she got older she became the really hot woman with a mean streak? Or, if now she plays the still hot, aging grand dame in a TV show like “LAX”? The fact that she has had the long career that she has really says something. She is talented. People want to see her on screen. She has saved a bunch of TV shows in her time. I just think we really need to start appreciating her body (no pun intended) of work more.

T.J. Hooker - The Complete First and Second Seasons is a very well put together box set. Packed with 27 episodes, you can literally have hours of fun watching these shows. As portraits of police life in the 1980s, these very well done shows seem to hint at the future police/crime shows to come. Great work and kudos to all involved!

T.J. Hooker was released .