Hunter

Hunter
Format	Action-Crime-Drama
Created by	Frank Lupo
Starring	Fred Dryer Stepfanie Kramer Charles Hallahan John Amos Bruce Davison Darlanne Fluegel Lauren Lane Arthur Rosenburg John Shearin Garrett Morris James Whitmore, Jr. Ruby Ramos Perry Cook Richard Beauchamp Courtney Barilla
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	7
No. of episodes	153
Production
Executive producer(s)	Stephen J. Cannell (1984-1985) Roy Huggins (1985-1988) George Geiger (1988-1989) Fred Dryer (1989-1991)
Running time	1 hour
Production company(s)	Stephen J. Cannell Productions
Broadcast
Original channel	NBC
Original run	September 18, 1984 – April 26, 1991

Hunter is a police drama television series starring Fred Dryer which ran on NBC from 1984 to 1991. The titular character, Sgt. Rick Hunter, was a wily, physically imposing, and often rule-breaking homicide detective (badge# 089 in the early seasons, badge# 378 in later seasons) with the Los Angeles Police Department. Stepfanie Kramer co-starred in the first six of the series' seven seasons as Hunter's female partner Sgt. Dee Dee McCall.

Created by Frank Lupo, the show in its early episodes played as television's answer to Dirty Harry^{[citation needed]}. Even after the show's violence was toned down during the second season in hopes of boosting ratings, Hunter and McCall still managed to resolve many cases by shooting the perpetrators dead.

The show's executive producer during the first season was Stephen J. Cannell, whose company produced the series.

Show history

Season 1 (1984-1985)

Initially placed in a Friday-night slot against Dallas, the show struggled to find an audience and drew criticism for its often graphic depiction of violence. In the first season, the producers sought to create a hook by giving the main character a catch phrase, "Works for me", which was sometimes used two or three times an episode and was even tacked on to the end of Mike Post and Pete Carpenter's opening theme music. Several early episodes featured montages set to popular songs from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, in a style not unlike the way Miami Vice used music.

Fred Dryer and Stepfanie Kramer in a 1984 photograph together.

Mid-way through the first season, with ratings showing no sign of improvement, Cannell gave network chief Brandon Tartikoff a private screening of a two-part episode ("The Snow Queen") that had yet to air and asked him to give the show time to find its feet. Tartikoff liked what he saw and put the show on hiatus until a better time slot could be found. Two months later, Hunter returned to the screens on Saturday nights and viewership slowly started to rise. The first season ended in joint 79th place in the Nielsen Ratings.^{[citation needed]}

Season 2 (1985-1986)

For its second season, Cannell brought in his mentor, Roy Huggins, best known for his work on Maverick and The Rockford Files, to refine the show. As the new executive producer, Huggins toned down the violence, softened the main character's fractious relationship with his superiors, dropped a backstory concerning Hunter's family ties to the mob, and played up the chemistry between Hunter and McCall. Huggins also moved the show's setting out of the back streets and into the more desirable areas of Los Angeles. Emboldened, Dryer and Kramer frequently toyed with the scripts by ad-libbing, and the Hunter character broke the fourth wall for the first time with an aside to viewers at the end of the two-parter "The Beautiful And The Dead". Viewers responded to the changes, and the show's second season ended in 38th place in the Nielsen Ratings. Hunter continued this progress to become a mainstay of NBC's Saturday night schedule.

Season 3 (1986-1987)

Just before work on the third season began, Dryer threatened to walk out unless his salary, reportedly US$21,000 per episode, was raised and creative changes were made. Cannell hit back with a US$20 million breach-of-contract suit. A compromise was reached, with Dryer reportedly landing a new deal worth US$50,000 per episode. The third season, again helmed by Huggins, saw the arrivals of Charles Hallahan as Captain Charlie Devane and Garrett Morris as police informant and street hustler Arnold "Sporty" James. When Hunter went missing, Dee Dee teamed with Columbo-like Detective Kitty O'Hearn (Shelley Taylor Morgan) (Shades episode #22). This was the show's first season in the top 30, coming in at 25th.

Season 4 (1987-1988)

Huggins retired at the end of the fourth season, which placed 18th in the Nielsen Ratings. A three-part storyline, "City of Passion," teamed Hunter and Dee Dee with Detective Kitty O'Hearn (Shelley Taylor Morgan) and her new partner, Sgt. Brad Navarro, played by Erik Estrada. Together they solved the rape case of "Stinky".

Season 5 (1988-1989)

For the fifth season, George Geiger took on the role of executive producer, having worked in the same capacity on Scarecrow and Mrs. King and as co-executive producer on Miami Vice. In the first four seasons, Hunter and McCall typically worked on cases together, allowing the producers to showcase the chemistry between the actors. But the fifth season increasingly had them working apart, ostensibly to lessen the workload of Dryer and Kramer and to allow richer, more complex stories. The fifth season placed 17th in the Nielsen ratings.

Season 6 (1989-1990)

By the sixth season, Dryer's growing influence had won him the role of executive producer. The sixth season featured an episode ("Unfinished Business") in which it was revealed that Hunter and McCall had once slept together, causing a rift in their working relationship. At the end of the sixth season, which placed in the top 25 of the Nielsen Ratings, Kramer left the series to pursue a career in music. In the season's final episode, McCall was shown marrying an old flame and moving out of Los Angeles.

Season 7 (1990-1991)

For the seventh and final season, the producers moved the lead character (and Capt. Devane) from divisional homicide to the elite "Metro" unit based at Parker Center, and NBC shifted the show to 10 p.m. on Wednesdays. A new female co-star, Darlanne Fluegel as Officer Joanne Molenski, was brought in, only to leave halfway through the season when her character was murdered by a female serial killer. Her replacement for the second half of the season was Lauren Lane as Sgt. Chris Novak. Hunter's signature unmarked vehicle, a moss green '76-'78 era Dodge Monaco/Plymouth Fury, was also finally replaced (after an accident with Molenski's cruiser in the season's first episode) by a silver '90 Ford LTD. For the first time (barring the sixth season finale) Hunter also made sporadic appearances in uniform.

Revivals

A revival NBC TV movie, The Return of Hunter: Everyone Walks in L.A., saw Dryer and Hallahan reprise their roles (Hunter had also been promoted to lieutenant). Airing on NBC on March 6, 1995, the movie took the O. J. Simpson case as its inspiration. Kramer, pregnant at the time, did not appear as McCall. The TV-movie co-starred Barry Bostwick and John C. McGinley.

In November 2002, 11 years after the original series ended, the TV movie Hunter: Return to Justice made its premiere to strong ratings. Kramer also returned to her role of McCall, but the show's setting switched from Los Angeles to San Diego.

Given the success of the revival, Cannell, Dryer and NBC attempted to bring back Hunter as a regular series. In the weeks following the airing in April 2003 of another TV movie, Hunter: Back in Force, the network broadcast three new one-hour episodes of Hunter. Another two episodes were filmed but never shown in the U.S, likely because the ratings demographics for the one-hour episodes skewed toward older viewers. Dryer subsequently cited creative difficulties and budget constraints.

Firearms

In the first season and for several subsequent seasons, the pistol that Hunter carries is a Heckler and Koch P9S 9 mm with a muzzle compensator attached. It is also the pistol in the title introduction. McCall used a stainless Beretta 90 in the first season. The Walther PPK that McCall uses is most likely a Walther PPK/S. The Desert Eagle that he uses in the occasional episode was a gift from his Mafia father for graduating^{[citation needed]}.

During the first two seasons, he used a Desert Eagle in .44 Magnum and she used a Walther PPK in .32 ACP.

In several episodes, a Franchi SPAS 12 12 gauge shotgun (slide or semi auto) was kept in the trunk of his car.

During the second season for a couple of episodes, Rick Hunter used a Smith & Wesson 629 in .44 Magnum (2 1/2" bbl).

During one episode of the second season, Rick Hunter used a .44 Magnum Desert Eagle in stainless steel with an extended barrel.

During seasons 3 and 4, Rick used Smith & Wesson 629 in .44 Magnum (2 1/2" bbl).

During one episode of the fifth season, Dee McCall used a .38 Special S&W Model 60 in this time in stainless steel.

During seasons 5 through 7, Rick used a 9 mm Beretta 92F/FS, while during seasons 5 through 6 Dee Dee used a .44 Magnum, Smith & Wesson Model 629 in this time in stainless steel.

Cars

In the pilot, Detective Rick Hunter drove a 1978 Dodge Monaco and a 1970 Ford LTD. During the first season, Detective Rick Hunter drove a 1972 Chevrolet Impala with a brief view of a 1973 Chevrolet Impala that was painted to look like the 1972, 1971 Chevrolet Nova, 1974 Plymouth Satellite, and a 1979 Chevrolet Caprice Classic. A 1971 Impala was actually shown exploding to end the episodes with the Chevrolet Impala., During the seasons two through six and one episode during the seventh season, Detective Rick Hunter drove a 1978 Dodge Monaco. This car blew up in the third season & was replaced with an identical one. During the seventh season, Detective Rick Hunter drove a light blue 1990 Ford LTD Crown Victoria. During the first two seasons, Detective Dee McCall drove a garnet red and bright silver 1984 Dodge Daytona until it caught fire. During seasons three through five, Detective Dee McCall drove a garnet red 1986 Dodge Daytona. During the sixth season, Detective Dee McCall drove a white 1990 Dodge Dynasty.

Episode guide

Season 1 (1984-1985)

Season 2 (1985-6)

Season 3 (1986-1987)

Season 4 (1987-1988)

Season 5 (1988-1989)

Season 6 (1989-1990)

Season 7 (1990-1991)

Cast and crew

• Fred Dryer ... Det. Sgt. Rick Hunter
• Stepfanie Kramer ... Det. Sgt. Dee Dee McCall (1984-1990)
• Darlanne Fluegel ... Off. Joanne Molenski (1990-1991)
• Lauren Lane ... Police Sgt. Chris Novak (1991)
• Michael Cavanaugh ... Capt. Lester Cain #1 (1984)
• Arthur Rosenberg ... Capt. Lester Cain #2 (1984)
• John Amos ... Capt. Dolan (1984-1985)
• Bruce Davison ... Capt. Wyler (1985-1986)
• Charles Hallahan ... Capt. Charles Devane (1986-1991)
• John Shearin ... Lt. Ambrose Finn (1985-1988)
• James Whitmore, Jr. ... Sgt. Bernie Terwilliger (1984-1986)
• Garrett Morris ... Sporty James (1986-1989)

Steve Yager ... Football Fanatic Michael (1990-1991)

Guest stars over the years included James Sikking, who coincidentally played a character called Howard Hunter on Hill Street Blues.

DVD releases

Anchor Bay Entertainment released the first three seasons of Hunter on Region 1 DVD while Sony Pictures Home Entertainment distributes outside the U.S., but Warner Home Video owns the UK rights. The company's Associate Brand Manager said on 9 January 2008, that the company had no plans to release the remaining four seasons.

International airings

• In Australia, the show was shown on the regional station GTS/BKN.
• In Barbados, the show was shown on CBC TV 8.
• In Brazil, the show was shown on Rede Globo, dubbed in Portuguese.
• In China, the show was dubbed in Standard Mandarin and aired on STV. Hunter was one of the first US series to air regularly in China. Although Dryer is still widely recognised in China, his efforts to set a Hunter movie there in the late 1990s did not bear fruit. [1] The Hunter TV series is a favorite of the disgraced former Beijing Mayor Chen Xitong who had quoted the name, character and events of the TV series in various speeches he delivered.
• In Colombia, the series was presented as "El cazador" (Spanish for (the) Hunter). It was broadcast by Producciones JES on Cadena Uno every Saturday night at 21:45, from 1987 to 1991. The final season was never aired in Colombia.
• In Costa Rica, the show was shown on Teletica Canal 7 as "El cazador".
• In Czech Republic, the show was shown on TV Prima.
• In France, the show was shown on TF1.
• In Germany, the show was shown on Sat.1.
• In Hong Kong, ATV broadcast the show.
• In Indonesia, the show was shown on TVRI.
• In Italy, the show was shown on Rai Due and Rete 4.
• In Norway, the show was shown on NRK (in 1986).
• In the Philippines, the show was aired on RPN-9.
• In Sweden, the show was shown on TV4.
• In Turkey, the show was shown on Star TV and Kanal D.
• In the United Kingdom, the first two seasons aired regionally on terrestrial broadcaster ITV, the remainder on satellite channel Sky One.

External links

• Hunter at the Internet Movie Database
• Hunter at TV.com