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Five episodes into Street Hawk now, and it's taking shape nicely. Seems a definite shame that so few were made. I can't understand it really - this is no worse than most other stuff of the era. They've ironed out a few little niggles from the pilot, which helps. The terrible PR woman is gone, replaced by somebody who in all honesty might as well not be there for all she gets to do. Still, at least what little she does do is done well. Bad guys still die, though not very often (so far), and Jesse either tries to save them, or looks sorry about their deaths now. Quite a departure from his cold-blooded killing of the head bad guy in the pilot. Possibly the only bad change is the precinct commander, Jesse's boss in his day job. He was a tough guy in the pilot, but in the series he's something of a comedy character, and as such totally unbelievable. I don't understand why he keeps his two PR people so close to hand all the time, too. Why do they investigate all his cases for him?! Still, that's the sort of daftness that all these shows suffer from. Look at Silent Witness, where all the investigative work is done by Leo and his band of coroners. It's unfair to single out any one show.
Norman's shaping up beautifully too. I do like Norman. :) His slightly antagonistic relationship with Jesse in the pilot has grown into a definite friendship, albeit a sometimes awkward one. I don't remember noticing all those years ago, but Norman actually lives at Street Hawk Central, in a very university digs sort of place behind the control room. Nice touch, as is his habit of referring to Jesse as "Mach" much of the time, and then suddenly switching to "Jesse" whenever Jesse is in danger. Good character stuff there.
The plots are pretty generic. Lots of pretty young women in distress, who Jesse falls for, and then uses Street Hawk to help. The Las Vegas showgirl who knows too much; the pop singer who sees something she shouldn't; plus the old stand-by of the old friend who turns out to be mixed up in something dastardly. It's eighties action fare, though, so I'm not going to knock it for having unoriginal plots. What eighties action series didn't have unoriginal plots?! And it's all done with a sense of fun, and some really fabulous stunt set pieces. So why only thirteen episodes? Rumour has always had it that the studio felt Street Hawk to be treading ground that was already too well trodden, but that's never stopped any studio before. Maybe it was expensive, with all those custom bikes, and all the jumping, and all the cars that get trashed. That never seemed to bother the likes of The A-Team or The Fall Guy, though. Maybe it's just about who's in charge, and what they do or don't have faith in? It's a shame, though. I'd rather have Street Hawk lasting the distance than Knight Rider, I think.
And check out episode five's guest star:
It's Daphne Ashbrook, ten years away from making fans explode by snogging the Doctor. What a costume. No trouble telling what decade the show is from, is there?! :D
Norman's shaping up beautifully too. I do like Norman. :) His slightly antagonistic relationship with Jesse in the pilot has grown into a definite friendship, albeit a sometimes awkward one. I don't remember noticing all those years ago, but Norman actually lives at Street Hawk Central, in a very university digs sort of place behind the control room. Nice touch, as is his habit of referring to Jesse as "Mach" much of the time, and then suddenly switching to "Jesse" whenever Jesse is in danger. Good character stuff there.
The plots are pretty generic. Lots of pretty young women in distress, who Jesse falls for, and then uses Street Hawk to help. The Las Vegas showgirl who knows too much; the pop singer who sees something she shouldn't; plus the old stand-by of the old friend who turns out to be mixed up in something dastardly. It's eighties action fare, though, so I'm not going to knock it for having unoriginal plots. What eighties action series didn't have unoriginal plots?! And it's all done with a sense of fun, and some really fabulous stunt set pieces. So why only thirteen episodes? Rumour has always had it that the studio felt Street Hawk to be treading ground that was already too well trodden, but that's never stopped any studio before. Maybe it was expensive, with all those custom bikes, and all the jumping, and all the cars that get trashed. That never seemed to bother the likes of The A-Team or The Fall Guy, though. Maybe it's just about who's in charge, and what they do or don't have faith in? It's a shame, though. I'd rather have Street Hawk lasting the distance than Knight Rider, I think.
And check out episode five's guest star:
It's Daphne Ashbrook, ten years away from making fans explode by snogging the Doctor. What a costume. No trouble telling what decade the show is from, is there?! :D
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