Some of the best and most interesting television series have been made north of the American border and Street Justice was one of them. When you live close to the border as I do and are fortunate to get Canadian television stations you get to see a lot of things that Americans don't normally see.
Street Justice had a run of two years and it got canceled frankly because star Carl Weathers got a much better offer to step into an established TV hit with In The Heat Of The Night. It's a pity it did not get to run longer.
The premise was an interesting one, very similar to David Carradine's modern Kung Fu series. Carl Weathers was a soldier wounded in Vietnam and missionaries with a young son saved his life. After the war he tried to look for them and found they were killed and their son was missing. Years later he turned up as martial arts expert Bryan Genesee.
In addition to being a cop in an unnamed American/Canadian city (the better to market the series with)Weathers also owned a bar with both Genesee and Charlene Fernetz. Genesee had a status similar to Adrian Monk's with the San Francisco PD as a consultant, a personal one for Weathers. Though his consultation work involved more physical than cerebral skills. They made quite a team.
Halfway through the first year Weathers came up against street gang leader Marcus Chong who he decided correctly was worth rehabilitating. Chong was the best thing in the series I thought for sure would be a breakout star. He's apparently writing and not acting any longer and that's a pity because he was one sexy hunk.
Ironically enough In The Heat Of The Night ended its run within two years, I think Street Justice would have had a long run had Weathers stayed with it. These are career decisions that you can't go back on though. Still I'm glad it's out now on DVD for the young folks of today to enjoy.
