Hunter (1984) - General Discussion

[WendyCR72]

Anyone remember this? It ran on NBC for seven seasons, from 1984 to 1991. I ask because the H&I (Heroes & Icons) channel now runs repeats during the week in the middle of the night and for three-hour prime time blocks on Saturday nights (the original night it ran on NBC for much of its run, ironically).

Also ironically, as I type this, the 2-hour pilot with Brian Dennehy/police shrink by day, nut by night, is on. 🙂

[WendyCR72]

Speaking of the pilot, I had forgotten that Joanna Kerns - who would go on to play Maggie Seaver on Growing Pains a year later - was in it. And that another actor originated Captain Kane.

The replacement music in the episodes H&I has sucks, but German Amazon sells DVDs of the series and all of the original music is intact. (The show loved it some Rolling Stones early on!)

[langford peel]

I love me some Dee Dee McCall.

Now you’re talking!

[jaimesommers]

I listened to the pilot yesterday (can’t watch TV at work but I can listen!) since this show has been added to Amazon Prime. That theme song is pure 80’s gold. 

[WendyCR72]

Had no clue the show is now on Amazon Prime. Cool!

[bmasters9]

It's on Hulu, too!

[WendyCR72]

11 hours ago, bmasters9 said:

It's on Hulu, too!

That, I did know! (Watched it there a few times, but ages ago, so I didn't know if it was still on there.) Thanks, again!

[Thomas Crown]

Another Hunter fan here ! It's another one of those action gems from the 80's that I loved. To be a kid in the 80's was great. I bought the complete series box set a few years ago before it went out of print. I plan to revisit it one day. I'm remember in the later seasons they had several episodes arcs that were two or three parts and they were really good.

"Works for me" is catchphrase that I remember from the show.  A few years ago, Fred Dryer played a villain on another NBC show (Crisis) and his character would repeat that line. 

[WendyCR72]

31 minutes ago, Thomas Crown said:

Another Hunter fan here ! It's another one of those action gems from the 80's that I loved. To be a kid in the 80's was great. I bought the complete series box set a few years ago before it went out of print. I plan to revisit it one day. I'm remember in the later seasons they had several episodes arcs that were two or three parts and they were really good.

"Works for me" is catchphrase that I remember from the show.  A few years ago, Fred Dryer played a villain on another NBC show (Crisis) and his character would repeat that line. 

I had the US set, but the replacement music in the early seasons (when the show used a lot of popular music) killed it for me. I have a region-free DVD player and invested in the German season sets at Amazon.de with the original music.   🙂

[WendyCR72]

So, a thread is finally created...and now H&I has pulled the show. LOL! (Still on their site, so probably resting while other stuff gets a try.) At least it is still on Amazon and Hulu right now.

[Thomas Crown]

On 4/28/2019 at 7:16 PM, WendyCR72 said:

I had the US set, but the replacement music in the early seasons (when the show used a lot of popular music) killed it for me. I have a region-free DVD player and invested in the German season sets at Amazon.de with the original music.   🙂

Thanks. I might do that.  I know the U.S. set is out of print so I might be tempted to sell it and go for the German set.  Music replacement is a killer for me since often the music is integral to the show.  At least it is for me which is why I'm grateful that some of my other favourites (Quantum Leap, WKRP and the Wonder Years) have all been released with the majority of their music intact. 

As for Hunter, just another great cop show from the 80s IMO. I know there was a revival a decade after it ended but it didn't have the same feel to it as the original show in the 80s. I 

[WendyCR72]

3 minutes ago, Thomas Crown said:

Thanks. I might do that.  I know the U.S. set is out of print so I might be tempted to sell it and go for the German set.  Music replacement is a killer for me since often the music is integral to the show.  At least it is for me which is why I'm grateful that some of my other favourites (Quantum Leap, WKRP and the Wonder Years) have all been released with the majority of their music intact. 

As for Hunter, just another great cop show from the 80s IMO. I know there was a revival a decade after it ended but it didn't have the same feel to it as the original show in the 80s. I 

Just be aware, if you do go for the German Complete Series or the individual sets, you have to have a region-free DVD player as German DVDs are Region 2 and US DVD players play Region 1. But region-free DVD players are fairly inexpensive now. If you have any questions, let me know.

[Jaded]

The Stirr app that I watch the Buzzr channel through just added their own Retro channel that looks to be airing Hunter a few times a day.

[WendyCR72]

2 minutes ago, Jaded said:

The Stirr app that I watch the Buzzr channel through just added their own Retro channel that looks to be airing Hunter a few times a day.

Never heard of the Stirr app. But thanks for the heads up!

[Jaded]

1 minute ago, WendyCR72 said:

Never heard of the Stirr app. But thanks for the heads up!

Their content can be viewed through a computer too like with Pluto. I tried watching Buzzr through Pluto and had issues with skipping and commercial cuttoffs at weird times. That's what led me into looking at Stirr. It's weird though I can watch other channels through Pluto fine. 🤷‍♀️

https://stirr.com

[WendyCR72]

2 minutes ago, Jaded said:

Their content can be viewed through a computer too like with Pluto. I tried watching Buzzr through Pluto and had issues with skipping and commercial cuttoffs at weird times. That's what led me into looking at Stirr. It's weird though I can watch other channels through Pluto fine. 🤷‍♀️

https://stirr.com

I'll have to check it out! Thanks.

[methodwriter85]

I vaguely remember the show, but I mainly remember watching a late 1990's Hollywood news show that talked about how Fred Dyer was really famous either in Japan or China because the reruns of the show were doing gangbusters there.

[mustbekarma]

I loved this show. I know what I'm going to be binge watching now. The beauty of it it's been so long it will all be new to me.

[WendyCR72]

The revival series from 2003 was mentioned above. It never was going to have the same feel. It was 19 years following the original and at the time of said revival, Fred Dryer was around 57 and Stepfanie Kramer was around 47. The Dirty Harry schtick for Hunter would have been ridiculous then.

I know two episodes of that revival went unaired. The funny thing is, actor John Beck was in one of them that did air, "Dead Heat", and had played McCall's boyfriend at least once or twice in the original series. The actor must have been well liked! (I also recall the revival also aired on Saturday nights like the original. But Saturdays, even in 2003, were fast becoming a TV Wasteland night, so I'm not surprised it didn't last.)

I do find it funny that Dee Dee's second hubby - that she left the original series for - seemed retconned out of existence (as was her move to London) and she was engaged to yet another shady guy (before he got killed or went to jail, forget which!)  before working as a cop with Hunter again. Can't recall if the change from Los Angeles to San Diego was ever explained, either. Shrug. Although I did like that Charlie Devane/Charles Hallahan was remembered, showing McCall visiting his crypt at some point.

[Raja]

Throw out the first two and the last seasons and I was all over this show when it was in strip syndication. It mad a full turn from semi spoof to a solid procedural for its era.

The real life LAPD Chief Gates even made a cameo as Hunter went from Metropolitan PD to LAPD, and then LAPD with more realistic uniforms.

[WendyCR72]

57 minutes ago, Raja said:

Throw out the first two and the last seasons and I was all over this show when it was in strip syndication. It mad a full turn from semi spoof to a solid procedural for its era.

The real life LAPD Chief Gates even made a cameo as Hunter went from Metropolitan PD to LAPD, and then LAPD with more realistic uniforms.

The first season was rough, what with every captain hating Hunter because of his father's mob/criminal background, but I think S2 was pretty decent. If I recall, S2 was when EP Roy Huggins stepped in and downplayed the S1 hokeyness. Of course, there were the clichés, still, with Dee Dee being raped, but can't win 'em all. And I did like Bruce Davison's Capt. Wyler. If anything, I think Seasons 2 through 4 were great TV. S5 started to show the age and also had Hunter and McCall often on separate cases or whatever and not together nearly as much. Makes me wonder if Kramer was making noises about leaving and those in charge wanted to lessen the connection in S5 so when Dee Dee left at the end of the following season (S6), it wouldn't feel so abrupt.

If so, it didn't work for many, since S7 ended up being the end, but hey... (And then there were the rumored issues between Fred Dryer and Kramer's replacement, Darlanne Fluegel, whose Joanne Molinski ended up dead in the middle of S7 before Lauren Lane's Kris Novak became Hunter's final partner and, naturally, also just had to be another old flame of his.)

As an aside, I wasn't really a fan of S7. McCall had just left her mark and, IMO, made the show as much as Rick Hunter alone. Still, I was surprised and a bit saddened to read - when looking to see whatever became of Darlanne Fluegel out of bored curiosity - that she was diagnosed with early Alzheimer's at just 56 and was gone by age 64 in 2017. No one deserves that.  😞

[Dr.OO7]

The two-part "Rape & Revenge" episode is my favorite. As is "Unfinished Business". 

[Thomas Crown]

On 5/1/2019 at 7:20 PM, WendyCR72 said:

Just be aware, if you do go for the German Complete Series or the individual sets, you have to have a region-free DVD player as German DVDs are Region 2 and US DVD players play Region 1. But region-free DVD players are fairly inexpensive now. If you have any questions, let me know.

Thanks. I'm really tempted to go the route of a region free DVD player. There are a few shows from my youth that are only available in Region 2 so I'm exploring the idea of investing in one.  Plus having complete unedited episodes is really appealing. I'm going to revisit some of the later episodes later this summer as I miss this type of action show.  

[ljenkins782]

On 5/3/2019 at 1:16 AM, WendyCR72 said:

The first season was rough, what with every captain hating Hunter because of his father's mob/criminal background, but I think S2 was pretty decent. If I recall, S2 was when EP Roy Huggins stepped in and downplayed the S1 hokeyness. Of course, there were the clichés, still, with Dee Dee being raped, but can't win 'em all. And I did like Bruce Davison's Capt. Wyler. If anything, I think Seasons 2 through 4 were great TV. S5 started to show the age and also had Hunter and McCall often on separate cases or whatever and not together nearly as much. Makes me wonder if Kramer was making noises about leaving and those in charge wanted to lessen the connection in S5 so when Dee Dee left at the end of the following season (S6), it wouldn't feel so abrupt.

If so, it didn't work for many, since S7 ended up being the end, but hey... (And then there were the rumored issues between Fred Dryer and Kramer's replacement, Darlanne Fluegel, whose Joanne Molinski ended up dead in the middle of S7 before Lauren Lane's Kris Novak became Hunter's final partner and, naturally, also just had to be another old flame of his.)

As an aside, I wasn't really a fan of S7. McCall had just left her mark and, IMO, made the show as much as Rick Hunter alone. Still, I was surprised and a bit saddened to read - when looking to see whatever became of Darlanne Fluegel out of bored curiosity - that she was diagnosed with early Alzheimer's at just 56 and was gone by age 64 in 2017. No one deserves that.  😞

I thought the tenor of the very first episode was interesting in the fact that it had Hunter being the outlier in his strategies of what was essentially "stop and frisk" (later denounced as it was often racially motivated) and "shoot first, ask questions later." They had the higher ups proposing much more measured approaches and he was against it.

Given what would go down with the LAPD, including Daryl Gates who appeared on the show, just a few years later, I thought it was interesting that they were attempting to portray the LAPD as TOO fair.

Agreed on McCall, she was an equal part of the show. I never really watch the very last episodes, so I don't have any thoughts on her replacement(s), but I really liked the dynamic between Hunter and McCall.

Some of my favorites are Night on Bald Mountain, the one where McCall's housekeeper gets murdered (seriously, that episode haunted me as a kid, I don't know why that particular one stuck with me, but it's one of the few that I distinctly remembered), and the one where Hunter dates the woman from Silver Spoons, who's a radio dj.

[WendyCR72]

Apparently, the Hunter Complete Series Region 2 DVD set (2015 release - gold box; I say this as there is apparently a newer release from 2017 in a black box) is at EUR 29.97, which translates to $33.56 in US dollars if anyone has a region-free DVD player and may be considering buying the series (with, again, the original music).

(As an aside, the newer release looks like it just added Stepfanie Kramer's, Lauren Lane's, and Darlanne Fluegel's names to the cover. While the DVD details in the newer listing do not mention an English track, enlarging the picture shows the back of the box set, which does mention an English audio track again with German audio track, as well. So it basically comes down to the packaging you like and the price you want to pay.)

If not? Cool. Just thought I'd give a heads up, in any case!

[WendyCR72]

Full disclosure: This is from my YT account, but I am not trying to sell anything. LOL! But one scene I put up ages ago from S2 with the music used when it aired in '85 from the German DVD was one scene I think lost its punch with the replacement music. It's from the end of "Rich Girl", after Cynthia Flagg got away with killing her stepmother and attempting to murder her father - for money, of course.

But her father lived and re-did the will so she would only get her inheritance if she confessed, so she decided to kill herself instead. The song used when on NBC - and here - was a cover of Marianne Faithful's "Ashes in My Hand". Here it is, if you want to remind yourself. Enjoy!

[Thomas Crown]

6 hours ago, WendyCR72 said:

Full disclosure: This is from my YT account, but I am not trying to sell anything. LOL! But one scene I put up ages ago from S2 with the music used when it aired in '85 from the German DVD was one scene I think lost its punch with the replacement music. It's from the end of "Rich Girl", after Cynthia Flagg got away with killing her stepmother and attempting to murder her father - for money, of course.

But her father lived and re-did the will so she would only get her inheritance if she confessed, so she decided to kill herself instead. The song used when on NBC - and here - was a cover of Marianne Faithful's "Ashes in My Hand". Here it is, if you want to remind yourself. Enjoy!

Thanks for posting 🙂 you've convinced me. I'm making plans to get a multi-region player this summer.  That ending is perfect with original music. No replacement music could do it justice. I have the complete region 1 series on DVD and I'm going to check it later today to compare with the replacement music. 

I miss the 80's. That's all I have to stay. The music was perfect for great television viewing.  

[WendyCR72]

8 hours ago, Thomas Crown said:

I have the complete region 1 series on DVD and I'm going to check it later today to compare with the replacement music. 

I used to have that set. I know the replacement was some R&B-ish type tune with some woman at the end, and it wasn't awful, but I was just partial to the original, especially the fitting "staring into empty eyes" lyric.

Some other account has the full episode with the Region 1 DVD ending. If you want to compare songs, it starts at 42:49.  🙂

[eel21788]

On ‎5‎/‎8‎/‎2019 at 8:15 PM, Camille said:

The two-part "Rape & Revenge" episode is my favorite. As is "Unfinished Business". 

I'll add City of Passion to your list.

[eel21788]

On ‎5‎/‎2‎/‎2019 at 11:16 PM, WendyCR72 said:

If so, it didn't work for many, since S7 ended up being the end, but hey...

I remember hearing something about the network was willing to renew it for season 8, but someone (I don't remember who) nixed the idea because Fred Dryer was really difficult to work with.

[eel21788]

On ‎5‎/‎2‎/‎2019 at 11:16 PM, WendyCR72 said:

 (And then there were the rumored issues between Fred Dryer and Kramer's replacement, Darlanne Fluegel, whose Joanne Molinski ended up dead in the middle of S7 before Lauren Lane's Kris Novak became Hunter's final partner and, naturally, also just had to be another old flame of his.)

I always wanted Kitty O'Hearn to be Hunter's new partner. I think that would have worked really well with the viewers.

[WendyCR72]

Via my Roku device, I just saw that Film Rise - which bought the streaming rights to Unsolved Mysteries and Forensic Files, now also has the first four seasons of Hunter to stream.

So just yet another option besides Amazon, Hulu, and the Stirr App someone above wrote about.

[WendyCR72]

This article is two years old, so I don't know if she still does, but I guess Shelley Taylor Morgan (Det. Kitty O'Hearn) was hosting some radio show in Washington State, where she now lives. There is a picture with the article, and she looks pretty much the same, except for her hair.

She looks good, though!

[Joe Hellandback]

Kinda loved this, very chessey but essentially Dirty Harry the series, lame plots but Fred Dryer sold it, he 'Works for me'. 

[WendyCR72]

On 6/3/2019 at 3:03 PM, eel21788 said:

I remember hearing something about the network was willing to renew it for season 8, but someone (I don't remember who) nixed the idea because Fred Dryer was really difficult to work with.

Somehow this doesn't surprise me. I recall some TV Guide article that sort of alluded to the fact that Fred Dryer was mercurial and Stepfanie Kramer talked of how she was able to calm him, etc.

[WendyCR72]

Hey, @Thomas Crown, did you ever get that multi-region DVD player?

[Thomas Crown]

On 10/8/2019 at 5:49 PM, WendyCR72 said:

Hey, @Thomas Crown, did you ever get that multi-region DVD player?

Hi 🙂  I wish. I had my mind set on an Oppo region free blu ray only to find out that Oppo  stopped making blu ray players and providing updates. Got at suggestions? 

I have the region 1 complete set of Hunter and I can't bring myself to watch it now since you posted that clip "Rich Girl" with the original music. 

[WendyCR72]

4 minutes ago, Thomas Crown said:

Hi 🙂  I wish. I had my mind set on an Oppo region free blu ray only to find out that Oppo  stopped making blu ray players and providing updates. Got at suggestions? 

I have the region 1 complete set of Hunter and I can't bring myself to watch it now since you posted that clip "Rich Girl" with the original music. 

I have an LG, and it works just fine! If you want info, PM and I can give you the site I got it from. But most brands have such an option now, just to be clear.

[Joe Hellandback]

On 4/22/2019 at 6:25 AM, WendyCR72 said:

Anyone remember this? It ran on NBC for seven seasons, from 1984 to 1991. I ask because the H&I (Heroes & Icons) channel now runs repeats during the week in the middle of the night and for three-hour prime time blocks on Saturday nights (the original night it ran on NBC for much of its run, ironically).

Also ironically, as I type this, the 2-hour pilot with Brian Dennehy/police shrink by day, nut by night, is on. 🙂

Works for me!

[WendyCR72]

On Veterans' Day, Me-TV aired the MASH Season 11 movie finale [from February 1983], "Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen". Of course, the late Allan Arbus, who played shrink Sidney Freedman, appeared in it, as he recurred throughout the series. As Hunter viewers know, Arbus again played a shrink, this time for the police department, in "Unfinished Business" in Season 6.

But another name that appeared on Hunter also popped up in the final credits of the finale: The late John Shearin. He played Lt. Ambrose Finn on Hunter from Seasons 2 through 4, with one of the more memorable sendoffs. In the MASH finale, he had no lines, but he was the chopper pilot that eventually flew Hawkeye out of the 4077th for the last time (as Hawkeye looked down at the rocks spelling out, "GOODBYE" that BJ had left for him). Shearin was simply credited as "The Chopper Pilot".

[catlover79]

On 11/13/2019 at 2:32 AM, WendyCR72 said:

On Veterans' Day, Me-TV aired the MASH Season 11 movie finale [from February 1983], "Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen". Of course, the late Allan Arbus, who played shrink Sidney Freedman, appeared in it, as he recurred throughout the series. As Hunter viewers know, Arbus again played a shrink, this time for the police department, in "Unfinished Business" in Season 6.

But another name that appeared on Hunter also popped up in the final credits of the finale: The late John Shearin. He played Lt. Ambrose Finn on Hunter from Seasons 2 through 4, with one of the more memorable sendoffs. In the MASH finale, he had no lines, but he was the chopper pilot that eventually flew Hawkeye out of the 4077th for the last time (as Hawkeye looked down at the rocks spelling out, "GOODBYE" that BJ had left for him). Shearin was simply credited as "The Chopper Pilot".

The late Mr. Shearin is also currently being seen in Retro TV's rerun cycle of the long-defunct NBC soap opera, The Doctors. He played Dr. Mike Powers from 1977-79 (and was the seventh out of ten actors to play that role).

[catlover79]

Here is John Shearin (Ambrose Finn) on The Doctors:

[WendyCR72]

The last screen cap with the cast list also mentions Dorian LoPinto. She was on Hunter in S2 as Cynthia Flagg, who had her stepmother murdered and attempted to murder her father for money. There is a YT video with her face in the still above.  🙂

[catlover79]

Cynthia was the flip side of sweet good girl Missy Palmer!! Ironically, Missy ran away from an abusive family. In any case, Dorian Lopinto was fantastic in both roles. ☺

[WendyCR72]

Don't know how long this has been the case, but Hunter is no longer available on Amazon's Prime Video. Even more, episodes are now not even available to purchase [as is the custom for shows not on Prime Video]. Just says, "Our agreements with the content provider don’t allow purchases of this title at this time."

It is still on Hulu, though. And on the FilmRise channel on Roku.

[Jaded]

Episodes air on the TVLand Drama Channel on Pluto TV too which is what I'm watching right now. There's an episode from 1988 on titled "Boomerang" with a young Wendy Malick. I didn't recognize her at first because she seemed to have been wearing contacts that made her eyes look blue when she spoke though I knew it was her voice. 

P.S: The Stirr app seems to have a devoted Hunter channel. Once the app is opened on whatever device you're using go to the Channel Guide and it's channel 154.

Here's a screenshot I found of Wendy from the episode I mentioned online. This is what she looked like at the start of it.

[WendyCR72]

13 hours ago, Jaded said:

Episodes air on the TVLand Drama Channel on Pluto TV too which is what I'm watching right now. There's an episode from 1988 on titled "Boomerang" with a young Wendy Malick. I didn't recognize her at first because she seemed to have been wearing contacts that made her eyes look blue when she spoke though I knew it was her voice. 

P.S: The Stirr app seems to have a devoted Hunter channel. Once the app is opened on whatever device you're using go to the Channel Guide and it's channel 154.

Here's a screenshot I found of Wendy from the episode I mentioned online. This is what she looked like at the start of it.

Definitely her! Thanks for the info, too!

[WendyCR72]

Amazon has a bunch of channels one can subscribe to (CBS All Access, etc.). I am subscribed to that (Prime member here) and I must be subscribed to IMDB TV, as well, because Hunter can be streamed via Amazon again if one is subscribed to that channel.

So, if you are a Prime member, check into that, if you don't have Hulu!

[Jaded]

FilmRise apparently uploaded all episodes of the original run of Hunter onto YouTube last year. Here's the link to the Hunter YT channel.

[WendyCR72]

14 hours ago, Jaded said:

FilmRise apparently uploaded all episodes of the original run of Hunter onto YouTube last year. Here's the link to the Hunter YT channel.

FilmRise also has it on Roku. Oddly, last I saw, a couple months back, it was only up to S4 on that platform.