T.J. Hooker 3x03 "Chinatown" shout by RikerDonegal

**James Shigeta, Patricia Thomson, George Cheung, Al Leong.** Illegal gun sales in Chinatown. Hooker meets the young woman who may, or may not, be his daughter. Corrigan undercover as potential buyer. Plenty of action, and well-played emotional scenes. _Oct 1983: Saturday on ABC before The Love Boat. Against Cutter to Houston (CBS); Diff'rent Strokes + Silver Spoons (NBC)._ 8/10

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T.J. Hooker 3x02 "Carnal Express" shout by RikerDonegal

A pivotal episode in television history. Heather Locklear undercover as a dancer in a sleazy club. She does 2 elaborate routines. She dances her ass off. It’s glorious. But wait… Richard Lynch and Billy Drago are the villains! Both are superb. (Of course.) And Shawn Weatherly and Marla Heasley appear! Again, we don’t start with the guys on patrol. Instead, Hooker is off-duty when he witnesses a kidnapping. Again, we spend a lot of time in Hooker’s apartment. And Stacey’s place, too. (It’s much nicer.) 1st of 2 appearances by Peter Brown as Hooker’s hard-nosed superior. This is a very good story that avoids almost all of the frequently-used tropes from seasons 1 and 2. It appears that the show is evolving. _Oct 1983: Saturdays on ABC before The Love Boat. Against Cutter to Houston (CBS); Diff'rent Strokes + Silver Spoons (NBC)._ 9/10

Carnal Express

When a young female singer, whom Hooker has got cleaned up on a drug reform programme, is kidnapped, Stacy goes to work undercover as an exotic dancer at the club that they suspect to be a front for a white slavery ring that is dealing in attractive young women.

T.J. Hooker 3x01 "The Return" shout by RikerDonegal

**William Lucking, Laurie Prange.** Opens with a flashback/dream instead of the usual crime/chase. The guy who killed Hooker’s partner 5 years ago is back in town. Hooker spends as much time in plainclothes as he does in uniform tracking him down. Show has seamlessly transitioned from being about 2 cops to being about 4 cops. _Oct 1983: Saturdays on ABC before The Love Boat. Against Cutter to Houston (CBS); Diff'rent Strokes + Silver Spoons (NBC)._ 8/10

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T.J. Hooker 2x22 "Lady in Blue" review by RikerDonegal

**Anne-Marie Martin, Percy Rodrigues, Leo Rossi.** Directed by William Shatner, written by series creator Rick Husky. We’re back in the hospital for the 3rd week in a row! Yikes! 3 episodes with Hooker being emotional beside that hospital damn bed! First, the little girl. Then, his ex-wife. This week, one of his rookies is shot while working with him. Her leg is amputated and Hooker feels guilty for setting a bad example. Martin is great. Giving it 100%. She has to, to match Shatner. He’d blow almost anyone off the screen, but not Martin. Crime story is good. Rossi is excellent as a cocky sleazebag. Plenty of shootouts and action. Climax at the warehouse is especially good. Clips from it make their way into the opening credits next season. Making them iconic for a fan of the show. Stacy and Jim don’t appear much until the big battle at the end. It’s clear now that they are great together as partner. In the last scene, we are told that Hooker and Romana are being reprimanded for working the case themselves and getting in the way of the detectives. Final episode for Richard Herd as a regular, but he will appear in 9 more episodes as a guest star. Shatner, as director, makes some strong camera choices. Both for the action sequences and the dramatic scenes. He knows what he’s doing. I particularly like the sequence with the little boy filmed from out on the water. Something you don’t see done. The kid is good and there’s no close up on his face until he delivers his final line in the scene. It’s a great line and the effect of suddenly seeing his face as he says it adds a lot to the scene. Smart editing. I hope we never see that damn hospital corridor again!!! _Spring 1983: Aired by ABC on Saturdays before The Love Boat. Against it: Wizards and Warriors (CBS); Diff'rent Strokes + Silver Spoons (NBC)._ 8/10

Lady in Blue

Hooker holds himself personally to blame when a female rookie cop that he trained is seriously wounded in a confrontation with a pair of fleeing gun-shop robbers. With the officer needing her leg amputated as a result of the wound, Hooker and Romano, with help from Stacy and Corrigan, investigate the gun thieves, who are selling their hauls to a back-street crime baron.