Hunter (DVD) Review
May 10th, 2008Nominated 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…!
The Hunter 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) Air Date: 09-18-1984
Episode 2 (Pilot: Part 2) Air Date: 09-18-1984
Episode 3 (Hard Contract) Air Date: 09-28-1984
Episode 4 (The Hot Grounder) Air Date: 10-05-1984
Episode 5 (A Long Way from L.A.) Air Date: 10-26-1984
Episode 6 (Legacy) Air Date: 11-02-1984
Episode 7 (Flight on a Dead Pigeon) Air Date: 11-09-1984
Episode 8 (Pen Pals) Air Date: 11-16-1984
Episode 9 (Dead or Alive) Air Date: 11-30-1984
Episode 10 (High Bleacher Man) Air Date: 12-07-1984
Episode 11 (The Shooter) Air Date: 01-04-1985
Episode 12 (The Garbage Man) Air Date: 01-11-1985
Episode 13 (The Avenging Angel) Air Date: 01-18-1985
Episode 14 (The Snow Queen: Part 1) Air Date: 03-23-1985
Episode 15 (The Snow Queen: Part 2) Air Date: 03-30-1985
Episode 16 (The Beach Boy) Air Date: 04-06-1985
Episode 17 (Guilty) Air Date: 04-13-1985
Episode 18 (The Last Kill) Air Date: 04-20-1985
Episode 19 (Fire Man) Air Date: 05-04-1985
Episode 20 (Sniper) Air Date: 05-11-1985
About the Author
Britt Gillette is author of The DVD Report, a blog where you can find more reviews like this one of the Hunter (DVD).
