Sure, "Hill Street Blues" may have had all the hard hitting realistic cop drama that makes the police force sit back in their seat and say "wow, that's my life, that's how it is," but you know what "TJ Hooker" had? William Shatner in his classic 80's pompadour fighting with Jim Brown while dangling from a helicopter, chasing around motorcycle riding arsonist David Caruso, trying to stop fellow cop Leonard Nimoy from vigilante vengeance, thwarting a serial killer transvestite who bashes in the heads of nurses, all while training his hotshot partner Vince Romano, played by Adrien Zmed. I think you see where I'm going with this. Yes, "TJ Hooker" is the greatest 80s cop show ever! If the show featured seductive green alien women, then it would truly be the stuff that dreams are made of...as if it's not already.

The show followed around the wise and tough as nails veteran police officer TJ Hooker (Shatner) as he trained young rookies at the Police Academy, and taking special care of young hot cop Stacy Sheridan (Locklear) and taking in Zmed as a partner. Each episode seemed to revolve inside of its own little world. Something drastic or major might happen in one episode (like a main character having brain surgery) and it would be completely forgotten by the time the next episode came around. I don't know how many times Hooker and Romano had a bomb under their car and figured it out from the static coming from the radio, and acted like it was the first time that happened. But I guess when you're breaking up porn rings and saving prostitutes from certain death, then one would probably have a short term memory. There's just too much 80's glory to uphold than to remember every detail!!

Heading up the show is it's 90 minute pilot "The Protectors" in which Hooker is put in charge of the new program and puts out young rookie cops onto the streets sooner as a response to the vastly growing crime wave sweeping the city. Villains in this episode include a renegade sniper and also a pair of armed robbers. Armed robbers seemed to be the "go to" villains for most episodes of the series. I remember one particular episode where it was a new Bonnie & Clyde. The box cover to this edition makes you think that the majority of these episodes feature Locklear and her partner Corrigan (James Darren) prominently riding the streets. Well, between seasons 1 and 2 there are 27 episodes, and Locklear spends all but the last 2 sitting behind the front desk at the police academy taking phone calls. If fact, she wasn't featured in the pilot. She replaced the other eye candy police officer in the 2nd episode. Darren doesn't come into the series until Locklear is paired with him when she hits the streets. Captain Sherican (Richard Herd) was more the 3rd supporting banana in the first 2 seasons.

Everything started becoming one of its own when the series really let the characters flesh out and become exactly who they are. Meaning, Hooker was married at the beginning of the series, and lets just say that was later ditched, and suddenly there was a divorce going on. You know what that means right. That means we get pure Shatner style TJ Hooker, with Hooker seeming to bed a different girl every other episode. He became like a James Bond of the force. At the end of most episodes, he would seem to fall for a character, and then that character would never be seen again, leaving him to catch his eye on a reporter, a reporter, a neighbor, a reporter, a fellow cop, or even a reporter!

This DVD set has some classic episodes from the series, and my own personal favorites include "Lady In Blue" in which Shatner seeks revenge against thugs who wounded a fellow police officer, causing to have her leg removed. Shatner directed this episode, and did a damn fine job, as it is one of the seedier and darker looking episodes of the 2nd season. "Vengeance Is Mine" is a great dramatic episode featuring Leonard Nimoy as a police officer who seeks to kill the man who raped his daughter. There's a lot of great tension between Nimoy and Shatner in this episode as Shatner attempts to stop his friend from wrecking his career and going to jail. Needless to say Nimoy ends up kidnapping the crook. And lets not forget the arsonist episode featuring David Caruso. That's just gold right there as far as I'm concerned. When your series features Shatner vs. Caruso, you don't need Emmys, you're already a legend.

There's some grain here and there on the DVD picture, but that's perfectly okay for an 80's cop drama. I prefer mine with a little extra grain on top. Makes me feel like I've sat in a time machine. But for the most part, a lot of the images are cleaned up, and the sound appears to be just fine, without a lot of the minor static you would hear by watching the old reruns.

I really hope that when the later season become released on DVD that we get something...anything. One interview, one commentary, one featurette, just something, that's all I ask. This is the greatest cop show of the 1980's, full of all the delicious camp and over the top action sequences you could ever ask for. It deserves to have extras that sing every single one of its praises! A lot of other reviews tend to also knock the fact that the DVD contains promos for all the episodes, but I'm actually not going to do that. That is an extra feature that I'm proud of. Do you know how little DVD TV Box sets include this option? They do it on "The Sopranos" DVDs, and I can't think of many others. This is a great extra, because essentially it's a trailer for each and every included episode. These haven't been seen since the show aired. It's a great option, but dear god this classic tv series needs more in the next box set.

A&E shows reruns of this series every morning at 3am. So you know where I'm always at during the weekdays. I don't care if I have to work the next day, I don't care if I'm sleepy as all hell. And if I'm out Friday night getting a little tipsy, then I'll make for damn sure that I'm home in time to fix myself a nice burrito and get my much needed TJ Hooker fix. Without my usual dosage of TJ Hooker, I'm just not the same the next day. It's like something is missing. People are like "hey Brad, something wrong?" and I'm like "lack of 80's cop drama." They completely understand. So with that said, this 6 DVD pack is a complete godsend. I can stay out on the town later, get more sleep, and fix a burrito and watch Hooker at absolutely any time of the day! Plus people at work will like me better because they know I've got my 80's Cop Drama drug! I still prefer my "TJ Hooker" with all the fog and grain that is there in the A&E showings, but when you've got "TJ Hooker" on DVD, it is the last DVD that you'll ever need. Well, you could always use more, but you're life is most certainly pretty damn good!

Recommended: Yes