T.J. Hooker (TV Series) Vengeance Is Mine (1983) User Reviews

Hooker Trek

[Fluke_Skywalker · 7/10 · 2 June 2017]

Plot; Hooker reunites with his former partner (Leonard Nimoy) only to be drawn into a difficult position when his partner's daughter is raped and Hooker is assigned to the case.

For reasons known only to the 80s gods, I've been itching of late to check out some Hooker action... T.J. Hooker that is. Sinner. I chose this particular episode because it features a guest appearance by Shatner's Trek cast mate Leonard Nimoy.  As a kid, I was a weekly viewer of this 80s cop show starring William Shatner that ran for a surprising 5 seasons. Kirk as a cop. How could I not have been? The show is remembered, if at all, for the almost comical amount of running and tumbling Shatner does, which we get here in spades. It was fun to watch Shatner and Nimoy on screen together as characters other than Kirk and Spock, and they share a natural chemistry that you just can't create. And it's always nice to see Nimoy playing against the Spock type as he does here.

The episode is prototypical 80s TV, but it does address the rape aspect of the story in a surprisingly frank manner. It tries to balance out the drama and action with a running gag about Hooker's bank mixing up his account with someone else, causing his car to be repossessed. It works only because Shatner is Shatner and makes everything better because of his Shatnerness. - 7/10 - Nimoy also directed an episode of T.J. Hooker (S2, Ep. 14 "The Decoy") in preparation for his turn in the director's chair for Star Trek III.

• The episode features Betsy Palmer AKA Pamela Voorhees in Friday the 13th.

Cartoonish Coppers

[sambase-38773 · 7/10 · 27 January 2020]

I recently watched two episodes of TJ Hooker and in both episodes the police officer known as TJ Hooker (played enthusiastically by William Shatner) was punched in the face. In one episode he was punched by his partner and in the other episode by his ex-partner. Apparently Hooker is as good at pissing off his co-workers as William Shatner! Shatner was, by all reports, hated by most of his co-stars on Star Trek.

The coolest part of this episode by far is that Hooker's ex-partner is played by Leonard Nimoy who played Mr. Spock on Star Trek. It's wonderful to see them together. I just wish it was on a better episode of a better show. TJ Hooker was, generally speaking, dripping with melodrama and full of cliches. On TJ Hooker suspects aren't suspects they're "scum" and "slime". And cops have a tough job. Did you know that cops have a tough job. That's right, cops have a tough job. And the justice system lets all the "slime and scum" get off without ever getting punished. We're told this over and over. We're told this even though the USA has more people in prison than any other country in the world! If all the scum and slime are always getting off all the time then who exactly are those people in our prisons? Just random people who did nothing wrong? Volunteers?

OK, back to the show. Let me just sum it up so this review doesn't get too long. If you're a fan of Shatner and Nimoy (like me) then you'll enjoy seeing them together. Just be ready for less than stellar writing on one of the most cartoonish cop shows of all time. It's a popcorn show. And that would be okay. But it's just a so-so popcorn show. Lot's of gloss, lots of women with fluffy hair, lots of men with fluffy hair (including Shatner himself and his co-star Adrian Smed), and lots of running and punching and shooting.

BTW, watch for the scene in which William Shatner rolls over the hood of a parked car - and humorously takes 5 minutes to do it. It's not a stuntman it's actually William himself, which is why it took so long. A stuntman would have done it much better and faster. But credit to Shatner for trying. When I worked at a car rental place in college we used to roll over the hoods of the cars before washing them. It's a lot of fun.

Bottom line: this episode is worth seeing because of Shatner and Nimoy teaming up again. But if you're not a fan of those two marvelous actors then you don't really need to see it. I gave it 7 stars, most of those stars going to Shatner and Nimoy acting together again.

Vigilanteism...Most Illogical

[JasonDanielBaker · 8 April 2014]

Veteran cop Sgt. T.J.Hooker (William Shatner) is happy to be working with his old partner Lt.Paul McGuire (Leonard Nimoy), the chief of detectives who is nearing retirement. Their time together in their glory days resulted in a substantive positive impact upon street crime. They saved each other's lives and are like brothers.

Unexpected horror intrudes as McGuire's daughter Val is raped at gunpoint in a parking garage by a hooded assailant. Hooker has to restrain his friend from sidestepping the law after she identifies her attacker - Larry Foster (Randolph Powell), an acquaintance whose voice she recognized.

Foster, a handsome, well-dressed and well-groomed attorney is indignant upon being arrested citing his professional status and business-like appearance. It becomes apparent he is using his insider knowledge of the justice system to thwart his prosecution. It also becomes apparent that he is perversely enjoying himself in doing it. Worst of all he has done it before and gotten away with it every time.

McGuire has seen a lot of guilty ones go free which made him cynical even before his daughter was so brutally beaten and violated. Hooker is also cynical but must put his own misgivings about the system aside in building a case on Foster that will stick. This means doing everything by the book even though there is always a chance Foster will still walk on a technicality.

The gimmick of casting Nimoy opposite Shatner could have come off as cheap. But the weight of the material and a solid guest turn by Randy Powell offsets that. Randy Powell excelled at playing baddies and cads in his career in apparent avoidance of straight ahead roles. I don't know why he wasn't able to carve out more of a niche doing that.

In this episode a lot of the excesses of the show are also noticeably underplayed. I appreciated the difference in tone.