Hunter: el Cazador

My favorite cop show of the 80s was HUNTER. Fred Dryer was awesome as Rick Hunter, a shoot-first-and-ask-questions-later Dirty Harry-type, which is actually what the show started out as, but the character was toned down a little afterwards. Stephanie Kramer, as D.D. McCall, was the best of his three female partners, as was Charles Hallahan as the third of three different captains. It was like a small-screen action movie, with plenty of car chases and gun fights. Dryer and Kramer had great chemistry, which especially came across in the episodes featuring personal stories for the two, such as the first season two-parter in which Hunter defies orders and goes to Mexico to look for a guy who had attacked McCall and hid behind his diplomatic immunity. It was an episode that allowed Hunter to display the depth of his friendship to McCall and showed just how much the characters cared for one another. I don't remember too much about the later years (in which Hunter went through two new partners), but I recall a lot of the earlier ones, with many standout episodes. I would definitely love to have this great series on DVD.

'Hunter' was such a great show - even despite having several cast changes throughout the course of it's 7 year run, the chemistry between characters was inspiring - most definitely the relationship between Hunter and McCall, and the captain between the two themselves (Charles Hallahan was the best captain, in my opinion, of the 3 captains that starred throughout the course of the show)....

Direction, writing, acting, and the associated music (have I left anything out?) were the main components that undoubtedly led to the success of the show...

If you get a chance to watch 'Hunter,' watch it!

The basic virtue - the proposition of an old fashion hero. Man of law , out of law metodes, angry, charming, in a non - stop revenge, more hunter than cop, it is one of beautiful characters from a large and noble family. From music to plot, from action scenes to romanticism, an impecable serie. And a great hero.

Just recently finished revisiting this show on DVD, i say revisiting, what i actually meant was watching the whole seven seasons on the all inclusive box set.

To set the picture, i had only seen upto the end of season two back in 87/88 when the ITV here in the UK suddenly decided that they didn't like American action/drama shows anymore and stopped showing them or shuffled them off to the wee hours of post midnight television. A few episodes of season three did pop up sporadically and then it went over to SKY TV for its seventh and final season.

This was the turning point where ITV and i parted company, gone were the days of The A team, Knight Rider, The Fall Guy, Airwolf, TJ Hooker, The Greatest American Hero, The Equalizer etc and of course, Hunter. In came shows with all the entertainment value of picking your nose and on it goes to this day with X factor, anyway, Hunter.

Now i've finally seen all the episodes, i can say that Hunter has to be one of the all time great American cop shows, what started, admittedly as a "homage" to the Dirty Harry movies, fought through that to establish its own relevant and unique persona.

Yes, the action was toned down post season two, but after watching the entire run now, it seems clear that this move is what guaranteed the show its seven season run, if it had relied on purely shoot outs and car flips, it would have folded much sooner.

It became more layered as it progressed, the characters became more three dimensional and even "issues" were tackled within the story lines. Effort such as this, at that time, is the beginning of the evolution to the cop shows of today, to move beyond being subservient to property destruction.

That said, the new Hawaii Five 0 seems to be back in this old vein and Justified is very much "old school" in its approach and consequently both a firm faves of mine.

Fred Dryer, considering he was a professional sportsman at the beginning of his career, managed to take Rick Hunter beyond being just an imposing presence against the scum he had to deal with and made him laconic, witty and even warmly human on occasion. Likewise Stepfanie Kramer, over the course of the shows run, made Dee Dee McCall a fully formed, professional law enforcement officer.

As with Hunter's character, it was revealed she had thoughts and feelings and was far more than just an attractive foil to Hunter and could crack skulls just as well as he could. Again, these efforts made at that time are what has helped to round out the TV tecs of today.

In summation, i was truly surprised and impressed by Hunter when i finally got to see all of them recently, yes a few episodes go clunk, but the ones that really work easily surpass them.

I recommend this show unreservedly, if you like good cop shows, you'll like this.

This was a great show when it first aired in the 80's and it still is a great show in re-runs and on DVD. It says something about a series when it is still being aired 20 years after its original date. The production value for this show with all its action and stunt sequences was incredible. Of course, the chemistry between Fred Dryer and Stephanie Kramer was what really made this show. You were always thinking, "Are they ever going to date?" LOL - good memories. It's too bad that Stephanie Kramer had to quit the show because of health issues (kept spraining/breaking her ankle because of all the stunt work involved - surprising, considering she was a former female wrestler). Unlike the A-Team in that it had lots of hard stories, murder, blood, and violence. But very exciting to watch!