T.J. Hooker 1.01 The Protectors (1982, Police Action Drama) – 5/10 TV review

Cast / crew William Shatner: T.J. Hooker Richard Lawson: McNeil Adrian Zmed: Vince Romano Brian Patrick Clarke: Canfield John Gladstein: Granger Kelly Harmon: Jo McDonnell: Deborah Shelton: Lacy Canfield Supervising Producer: Rick Husky Producer: Jeffrey Hayes Writer: Rick Husky Director: Cliff Bole Executive Producer: Aaron Spelling Executive Producer: Leonard Goldberg

T.J. Hooker 1.01 Protectors, The (1982) Demoted to sergeant after his partner was killed, policeman T.J. Hooker is assigned to run a scheme training new recruits as quickly as possible and getting them into on the job training. 5/10 Surprisingly subdued pilot movie (it’s clearly aiming to be more gritty than the show turned out) but one wishes that there was more of The Shat being a hero in it. His Dirty Harry stuff at the burger stand and a hilarious finger-wagging in his opening speech is all we get but at least we would have several series of a classic cop show to make up for it. This T.J. Hooker episode contains violence, unpleasant scenes. Classified 12 by BBFC. Suitable only for persons of 12 years and over. Links Next episode: The Streets