T. J. Hooker - Cancellation and Revival

Cancellation and Revival

Hooker was canceled by ABC in the summer of 1985, but the series survived when CBS picked up the show and produced new, longer episodes: 17 ninety-minute episodes and one two-hour TV movie titled "Blood Sport". The season begins with Hooker temporarily assigned to the Chicago Police Department and partnered with a young street-wise detective to work mostly drug and gang-related crimes. William Shatner (in his autobiography Up to Now) remarked that this format shift seemed like an attempt to emulate 48 Hrs., with him stepping into the Nick Nolte character. The experiment lasted just five episodes and Hooker ended back up in LC. The 90-minute episodes were shown later at night as part of the CBS "Crime Time After Prime-Time" showcase during the late 1980s/early 1990s. In reruns and international broadcasts, the 90-minute episodes are usually cut to one-hour, and "Blood Sport" is shown in two parts. The TV movie and the penultimate episode were both aired by CBS on May 21, 1986, with the finale one week later on May 28, 1986. The season was done on a much smaller budget, but was filmed in Chicago, for those episodes based there.