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TVGuide
Online Blasts T.J. Hooker; 4Adam30 "Fighting Mad"
TJ-Hooker.com Webmaster Pledges
Fight to the End, Demands Public "Wake Up"
 World
Wide Web - TV Guide Online [website]
posted a scathing review [link]
of the classic television show T.J. Hooker this week, including
a profile of the hit cop show in its feature article "What
Were We Thinking?" which concerns allegedly substandard television
shows which somehow won over an apparently undiscerning viewing
public. 4Adam30, the webmaster for TJ-Hooker.com, the internet's
premier source for information regarding William Shatner's '80s
cop show, was incensed.
"We
Have Only Begun To Fight"
"This
is an outrage," 4Adam30 said in a telephone interview from
the TJ-Hooker.com offices. "The fans of this show will not
be insulted in this way. The unfounded prejudice against T.J.
Hooker has got to stop. Our staff works around the clock,
both on the content of our site and to evangelize the show. The
public needs to wake up, and that's what we intend to do. We have
only begun to fight to get this classic show some long-deserved
respect."
The
article in question, "What Were We Thinking?," examines
shows that defied critical lambasting and gained the public's
attention. However, the begrudgingly hollow "praise"
profferred on other classic shows like "CHiPs"
and "The Dukes of Hazzard" contains nothing but
backhanded compliments.
Theories
on Art
"People
don't want their personal tastes insulted by some nebulous, lofty
television critic who is completely out of touch with the current
mores and interests of the public," 4Adam30 stated. "We
don't need to be told we're stupid for liking a certain piece
of art. Take the Impressionist painters, for example. They were
reviled by the critics of their time. Can you now walk into the
gift shop of any of the world's largest, most respected museums,
and not find an Impressionist print for sale? Can you read a book
on art history without reading about how important Van Gogh, Degas,
Cezanne or any of the other truly great Impressionist painters
were? That's just what it's going to be like with T.J. Hooker."
As
of press time, TV Guide Online was unavailable for comment. 4Adam30
has offerred to write an editorial on the subject [see accompanying
sidebar] to help increase public awareness of the importance of
T.J. Hooker.
"William
Shatner is a modern renaissance man," 4Adam30 stated. "Actor.
Writer. Director. Entrepreneur. These are the forms of art we
hold most dear in our time, and he is a master of all of them.
His importance, and the importance of T.J. Hooker, can
not be denied."
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EDITORIAL:
The Importance of Being Hooker
by
4Adam30,
TJ-Hooker.com Webmaster
Many
people seem to delight in tearing apart T.J. Hooker, one
of the best television shows ever to grace the small screen. Why
is this? Take, for example, the recent TV Guide Online article,
"What Were We Thinking?" Including several factual errors
(not every episode of T.J. Hooker ended with a "car
chase set to cheap jazz"), this article misrepresents the
integrity of a long-running television show that has delighted
literally hundreds of people for years.
And
of course, one of the main reasons for this delight is the outstanding
performance of William Shatner in the title role. While most people
believe Shatner's best role was that of a certain space captain,
think again. When you really look at it objectively, Captain Kirk
could have definitely been played by another actor. What made
him so special, huh? He got into fights with aliens and kissed
a lot of women. How many other actors have done just that? Lots.
But
not T.J. Hooker. How many other actors could have played
him? Think about it. Could anyone else have filled out the LCPD
uniform like Shatner? No way. He brought a certain star quality
to the role that made it his own, and it shows. Shatner was a
last-minute replacement on Star Trek (he replaced Jeffrey
Hunter in the role of the Enterprise's captain). T.J. Hooker
was a vehicle specifically for Shatner. Without Shatner,
there would have been no T.J. Hooker.
Not
only did the show have Shatner's enormous talents, but it was
also ground-breaking television. It was really the first major
cop show to interweave the stories of the officers' personal lives
with what they did on the job. Before Hooker, how many
times did you see a cop at home on television? What did you know
about his personal life? What was Joe Friday from Dragnet
doing in his off-duty hours? You can't answer that, can you? Suffice
it to say that without T.J. Hooker, there would have been
no Hill Street Blues, no Miami Vice, no NYPD
Blue, no Cop Rock. Its influence was widespread and
is still being felt on television today.
The
show also launched the career of Heather Locklear.
If
T.J. Hooker was as bad as everyone claims, then why did
it run for nearly five years? Five years. That's right, count
'em. Five years. All you Star Trek fans who claim
that T.J. Hooker was just a lame Shatner fluke better stand
up and recognize: Star Trek ran for three years.
T.J. Hooker ran for five years. Which was the better
show? Do the math.
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