Hunter: The Complete First Season

Nominated for three Emmys, Hunter stands out as one of the premiere action police dramas of the 1980s. Just as Tom Selleck's on-camera charisma carried Magnum, P.I. through nine highly-rated seasons, Fred Dryer's knack for drawing an audience to his unique persona carried an otherwise lackluster series through much of the decade. The brainchild of Frank Lupo, creator of The A-Team (1982) and writer for such hit series as Battlestar Galactica (1978), Magnum, P.I. (1980), and Walker, Texas Ranger (1993), Hunter is built on the clichéd concept of a rogue cop who breaks the rules and takes justice into his own hands. Dryer does well in his role as the Clint Eastwood of the small screen, yet the show's writers give him little to work with in terms of a highly developed character and, as the seasons pass, the plot becomes quite formulaic. Nevertheless, Hunter is pure mind-numbing police chase entertainment with the added element of nostalgia for those who long for the 1980s when Hunter ruled along with The A-Team, Magnum, Miami Vice, and Knight Rider, and I for one loved those shows...!

Hunter follows the life of Los Angeles Police Department detective Sgt. Rick Hunter (Fred Dryer), a renegade cop whose family has ties to organized crime. This family tree, coupled with a penchant for getting his partners injured and a propensity to bend the rules, make Hunter an unpopular guy within the department. Only two officers will even agree to partner with him - Bernie Terwilliger (James Whitmore Jr.), who's a total incompetent, and Dee Dee McCall (Stepfanie Kramer), a stunning brunette with a rebellious streak of her own (and also disliked by her colleagues). Together, Hunter and McCall are a perfect fit as partners, breaking up crime rings, solving murders, and dealing with internal problems such as irate captains. In seasons one and two, Hunter's bosses are a thorn in his side. But both are soon replaced by Capt. Charles Devane (Charles Hallahan) who plays the role of Hunter's by-the-book, yet generally amiable authority figure for the remainder of the series. Meanwhile, original Saturday Night Live cast member Garrett Morris plays a brilliant recurrent role as police informant Arnold "Sporty" James... Overall, Hunter is a solid and highly entertaining action/adventure police drama series, one indispensable to 1980s TV aficionados...

The Hunter (Season 1) DVD features a number of action-packed episodes including the two-hour series premiere in which the audience first meets Sgt. Rick Hunter, a mobster's son turned cop who is generally disliked within the LAPD. In this first episode, Hunter tries to investigate a murder, but the case is given to Bernie Terwilliger (the first cop to arrive on the scene), and Hunter is told to back off. With a by-the-book Captain hot on his heels, Hunter partners with feisty Sgt. Dee Dee McCall, and the duo work together to set a trap for the perpetrator... Other notable episodes from Season 1 include "Pen Pals" in which Hunter takes the rap for a murder he did not commit, and Dee Dee and her new partner must track down the true culprit, and "Guilty" in which Hunter and Dee Dee disobey a direct order and go it alone to investigate the connection between two murders...

Below is a list of episodes included on the Hunter (Season 1) DVD:

Episode 1 (Pilot: Part 1)

Episode 2 (Pilot: Part 2)

Episode 3 (Hard Contract)

Episode 4 (The Hot Grounder)

Episode 5 (A Long Way from L.A.)

Episode 6 (Legacy)

Episode 7 (Flight on a Dead Pigeon)

Episode 8 (Pen Pals)

Episode 9 (Dead or Alive)

Episode 10 (High Bleacher Man)

Episode 11 (The Shooter)

Episode 12 (The Garbage Man)

Episode 13 (The Avenging Angel)

Episode 14 (The Snow Queen: Part 1)

Episode 15 (The Snow Queen: Part 2)

Episode 16 (The Beach Boy)

Episode 17 (Guilty)

Episode 18 (The Last Kill)

Episode 19 (Fire Man)

Episode 20 (Sniper)

The DVD Report

The original music for each season of Hunter has been removed and replaced with generic music. Many consumers buy old TV shows such as Hunter because of the nostalgia value. When totally generic music and bland vocals erupt where there was once the popular music of the era, the scene is completey ruined. The new soundtrack is quite horrible and ruins the mood and much of the nostalgia value of quite a few episodes.

These DVD sets are cheap, and it's fun to see the episodes with a high quality picture, but whoever was in charge of changing the soundtrack should be fired!

Note:

It isn't a matter of COST for the studio to get the rights to the original music, it's a question of GREED concerning profit margins. VEI (an excellent company) released all THREE seasons of Hardcastle and McCormick (Another great Stephen J. Cannell TV series), quickly, and with all the original music. In comparison, Anchor Bay has RUINED every single Stephen J. Cannell release by horribly editing episodes and replacing the original music. You can't tell me that Hunter, 21 Jump Street, or the Greatest American Hero wouldn't sell well enough to cover the cost of obtaining the rights to the original music. If VEI could do it, that tells me that Anchor Bay just didn't care enough about the fans!

- JM

Hunter was probably my favourite cop show growing up in the 80s. It had a much grittier edge than a lot of it's contemporaries, and the interplay between Hunter and McCall was superb. I think it's great that companies are releasing seasons of these old shows, (Knight rider, quantumn leap, Miami Vice etc) and I can't thank Anchor Bay enough for picking this one up. Occasionally looking back on old 80s shows you tend to remember them as being a lot better than they actually are, and can get a bit disappointed when nostalgia induces you to buy an entire season of an old series - but Hunter (along with Tour of Duty, and Miami Vice) is one of those that wil totally live up to how you recall it. I remember havin the wildest crush of Stephanie Kramer too, and sitting through these hugely enjoyable shows again, I totally remembered why.. She's hotter than hot, the action is great, the scripts are fast paced and massively ientertaining. As for the music substitutions (I didn't even know this till I read other reviews), what's to complain about? If companies have to replace some tunes to keep royalties down, then who cares. The main thing is, we get the show - all episodes from the first season - sit back, remenisce, and enjoy!

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