Hooperman

Harry Hooperman (John Ritter) is an unconventional irreverent police detective in San Francisco. His favorite move is to throw a watermelon off the ledge to scare jumpers. In the pilot, his beloved landlord Stella is killed by a robber and she leaves him her building and her ill-temper dog Bijoux. He hires aspiring writer Susan Smith as the handywoman who is his romantic lead in the first season. Captain C.Z. Stern is his emotional boss with an unstable personal life. Inspector Bobo Pritzger is an old fashion grumpy redneck and Inspector Clarence McNeil is the black one. Patrol officer Mo DeMott keeps making passes at her gay partner Rick Silardi. Betty Bushkin is the quirky dispatcher.

It's a Steven Bochco cop show. Along with Terry Louise Fisher, it's the same team that created L.A. Law. It's gritty drama with some quirky touches. It's not really funny which is very odd for a show with John Ritter. The sarcastic quirkiness is a little endearing but no actual laughs. One does wonder if Ritter is going to take a pratfall. The half hour format also doesn't feel right for the genre. This show had too many things that are a little off. Otherwise this could have been a good show.