T.J. Hooker

T.J. Hooker, a mid-season replacement that premiered on ABC on March 13, 1982, was the last in a string of hits from production company Spelling-Goldberg, owned by Aaron Spelling and Leonard Goldberg. The show premiered in an era when Aaron Spelling shows dominated the airwaves. He had nine primetime series on ABC in the fall of 1983 including Hart to Hart, Dynasty, The Love Boat, and Fantasy Island.

The duo were in the midst of dissolving their production company, but they still had one more pilot to deliver as part of their commitment to ABC. One day over lunch, they had an idea for a cop show based in a police academy. 

They brought in Rick Husky who had written episodes of The Rookies, S.W.A.T., and Charlie’s Angels for them. His original script for the 90-minute pilot was called “The Protectors” and was greenlit by ABC for the spring mid-season slot.

Husky fleshed out the Spelling-Goldberg premise to create the story of a hardened cop teaching newbies at a police academy. “Thomas Jefferson (‘T.J.’) Hooker” was a former detective who was assigned to train the next generation of uniformed officers to rid the street of crime at the fictional Los Angeles County Police Department. 

While Husky remembered the names Chad Everett and Robert Conrad also being bandied about as the lead character, according to Leonard Goldberg, William Shatner was their one and only choice to play the lead role. At this stage of his career, William Shatner was eager to get beyond his “Captain Kirk” from Star Trek fame. He had tried his hand at another TV series in 1975, starring as undercover agent “Jeff Cable” in Barbary Coast, but the show was canceled in the middle of its first season.

Shatner had spent the better part of a decade trying to live down his pop icon status after starring in the original Star Trek series (1966-1969), as well as Star Trek: The Animated Series (1973-1974) and the feature films Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) and Star Trek: The Wrath of Kahn. (1982) He would go on to star in five more Star Trek movies plus numerous video games during and after his time on T.J. Hooker. In 1982, Shatner told Bill Kaufman of the Los Angeles Times that his main reason for doing the series was that “the tough-cop character was like the other end of the pole from ‘Captain Kirk.’ It was the kind of role I was seeking." 

With Shatner on board, the cast was rounded out by Adrian Zmed as “Officer Vince Romano,” Richard Herd as “Captain Dennis Sheridan,” Lee Bryant as “Hooker’s” ex-wife “Fran Hooker,” and April Clough as “Officer Vicki Taylor.” They filmed a truncated five-episode first season that aired from March 13 through April 10, 1982. The show was not a hit right out of the gate, but with a respectable ranking in the Nielsen ratings, and Aaron Spelling’s dominance in primetime television, T.J. Hooker was picked up for a second season. The series joined ABC’s Saturday night line-up as the lead-in to Spelling’s hits The Love Boat and Fantasy Island and would stay there for four years.

The series was centered around hard-nosed, altruistic, slightly jaded, deeply sincere, recently divorced, former plain-clothes detective “T.J. Hooker.” Having been demoted from detective back to patrol sergeant after his partner was murdered on the job, “Hooker” was sent to the LACPD Police Academy to train rookies. He wanted to instill in them the morals and values he held so dearly, that the world was full of scum, and that they were going to take out the bad guys and clean up the streets. He quickly ended up back on the beat with his new, much younger, ex-Vietnam vet, hot-headed, rookie partner, “Vince Romano” (played by Adrian Zmed). Adding a twist to the buddy cop genre, the partners’ age difference became the basis for a mentorship and friendship between the unlikely pair.

“Romano” wasn’t the only one “Hooke”r clashed with at times -- he and his captain (“Herd”) didn’t always see eye-to-eye. But when “Captain Sheridan’s” daughter, “Officer Stacy Sheridan” (played by Heather Locklear) joined the cast in season 2, “Hooker’s” soft spot was revealed. Locklear replaced April Clough’s “Vicki Taylor” as the one woman in the main cast. Locklear also did double duty on Spelling’s payroll since she was playing “Sammy Jo Dean” on Dynasty at the same time. 

Another addition to the cast in season 2 was James Darren as “Officer Jim Corrigan,” the veteran cop partnered with rookie “Sheridan.” Together, “Hooker,” “Romano,” “Sheridan,” and “Corrigan” were off to clean up the streets and hunt down the villains of Los Angeles — often played by notable guest stars, including Sharon Stone, Delta Burke, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Vanessa Williams.

T.J. Hooker was not only a vehicle for Shatner to break out of his “Captain Kirk” typecasting, but it also gave him a chance to go behind the camera. The first episode he directed was “Sweet Sixteen and Dead” and he would go on to helm ten more episodes during the shows five-year-run. The experience prepared him for his first feature directing gig, back is his comfort zone of the Star Trek universe -- Star Trek IV: The Final Frontier. 

Shatner and the Trekkie world also crossed paths when “Spock” himself, Leonard Nimoy, guest starred on the season 2 episode, "Vengeance Is Mine,” where the pair played old friends-turned-adversaries. Nimoy’s deal with the show also included one of his earliest directing credits with the season 2 episode, “The Decoy.”

In 1985, T.J. Hooker was honored with a Media Access Award for showing positive, non-stereotypical images of people living with disabilities by casting Hugh Farrington as “Lt. Pete O’Brien,” a cigar-smoking detective for the LACPD. Farrington appeared in 18 episodes between 1984 and 1986. 

At the end of the fourth season, the show relocated “Hooker” to Chicago for an episode with an eye towards leaving sunny California behind. However, ABC had different plans and the show was canceled at the end of the season.

CBS quickly stepped in and picked up the show for another season. The network also ordered one primetime TV movie and bought the entire library of past T.J. Hooker episodes. The only actor not returning for the final season was Adrian Zmed, who began hosting Dance Fever in 1985. CBS placed T.J. Hooker in their CBS Late Night line-up (also known as The CBS Late Night Movie (1972-1984) and Crimetime After Primetime (1991-1993)). The slate of CBS shows ran in the late-night slot at 11:30 pm against ratings strongholds The Tonight Show and Nightline. CBS Late Night Movie was, up until that point, reruns of classic made-for-TV movies and CBS shows, but beginning in 1985, they ran new episodes of T.J. Hooker alongside seasons 1 through 4 reruns on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights. The series only lasted one year on CBS before being canceled for good in 1986. 

- Amy & Nancy Harrington, Pop Culture Passionistas

T.J. HOOKER

CAST

William Shatner as “Sgt. T.J. Hooker”

Adrian Zmed as “Off. Vince Romano” (seasons 1-4)

Heather Locklear as “Off. Stacy Sheridan” (seasons 2-5)

James Darren as “Off. Jim Corrigan” (seasons 2-5)

Richard Herd as “Capt. Dennis Sheridan” (seasons 1-2, recurring 3-4)

Hugh Farrington as “Lt. Pete O'Brien” (seasons 3-5)

Lee Bryant as “Fran Hooker” (seasons 1-2)

April Clough as “Off. Vicki Taylor” (season 1)

CREATED BY

Rick Husky

PRODUCERS

Leonard Goldberg, Aaron Spelling

PROGRAMMING HISTORY

March 13, 1982-May 5, 1985, ABC, Saturday 8:00 pm

September 25, 1985-May 28, 1986, CBS, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights as part of CBS Late Night, 11:30 pm 

FURTHER READING

Starr, M.S., Shatner. Applause, 2019.

Shatner, W. Live Long and…: What I Learned Along the Way, Thomas Dunne Books, 2018.

Hooker, T. J., T. J. Hooker Annual 1983. Grandreams, 1983.