Monday, May 11, 2009

T.J. Hooker TV Guide article

(Click on images to view full-size.)

The cover of TV Guide from August 14, 1982.


(SALE ALERT! I will sell this TV Guide for $15 plus Priority shipping if you are interested in adding it to your collection! Email me through my blog profile and let me know if you are interested. Once sold, this notice will be removed.)


Snipped from the TV Guide out the week of the premiere.
Premiering on March 13, 1982, "T. J. Hooker" was Shatner's first successful starring role since Star Trek. It's no accident that T. J. is the reverse of J. T., the first two initials of Captain Kirk, as it was intended as an homage to the character and a nod to his many Trek fans.

Below is the two-page-spanning ad for the episode that co-starred Leonard Nimoy, which was aired on Feb. 5th, 1983. Nimoy not only guested in, but also directed the episode, titled "Vengeance is Mine".

I was never actually watched this show more than a time or two, I really only cared about his work as Captain Kirk. But I still collected the pictures and things about any actor on the show whether or not it was directly Trek-related, and it was good to see Bill getting a series again. On the other hand, I do own "Kingdom of the Spiders," "The Devil's Rain" and "Incubus" on DVD because he starred in them, so I suppose I didn't watch "Hooker" mainly because cops shows never did much for me.

And below, more of the self-serving part of this blog, another personal drawing. I know, these matter only to me and no-one else, but they do serve to show my interest and fan efforts, so I post them. This one was done when I was in high school, about the 11th grade, in 1975. I was 16 and living in Ft. Lauderdale, which happily gave me the opportunity to add much to my collection, as more and more Trek-oriented items were coming out. Not all was official; many of the photos and such were unauthorized, and many of the magazines were fan-produced, like the excellent "Trek" and "Enterprise Incidents." I'm telling you, it was a good and exciting time to be a fan living in Florida!


You can see that I was into the Franz Joseph Technical Manual, also!

It was in the same year that videotape came out, and the school's audio-visual department, which naturally I was involved in, acquired a reel-to-reel videotape recorder/player. (I still recall the smell of the videotape!) It was there I made my first videotape of an episode off the air, the second half of "The Menagerie."

Every day for a week, me and some fellow Trek fans would gather in a room off the library and watch that one black-and-white tape. As others saw what we were doing, they joined us, and by the end of the second week we had a packed roomful each lunch period, re-watching that one episode! The fight on Rigel 7 was a popular and exciting scene, as was the laser-cannon assault on the knoll on Talos 4; but the biggest reaction was to the dance by Vina as the Green Orion Slave Girl. Everyone was so into that, cheering, clapping and catcalling! Finally, the library staff made us quit since the crowd was getting too big and noisy. Fun memories.


Since we're talking about "The Menagerie": Above is a clipping (circa 1985 or so) from a video store trade publication, with the Great Bird being presented with the original painting of the beautiful art for "The Cage" poster. I'm fortunate to have a copy of that poster advertising the video release.

11 comments:

Jay said...

Wow, what great stuff today!

Shatner looked like a million bucks there. I also wasn't a T.J. Hooker viewer, probably for the same reason as you, Frederick, but I do rememebr the hype about Nimoy's guest appearance on the show. I wonder if Hooker is on DVD?

I, for one, enjoy seeing your artwork and I hope you continue posting it. I drew a lot of Star Trek when I was a kid and stopped, probably, in my early teens, but seeing your stuff is a wonderful callback to those days. So I encourage you to continue digging into your old portfolio!

Also, that artwork for "The Cage" VHS release is beautiful and I always thought it was a shame it hasn't had an avenue for people to continue to see it over the years. Thankfully some of us remember.

Good stuff!

Frederick said...

Jay,

Thanks for your kind words, and for the encouragement about the old artwork! I had a lot of fun doing that back then. Perhaps someday soon I'll start a blog where my Apes stuff can be seen.

And thanks for the fluury of posts on other blogs! Looked like you were having a good time exploring!

Jay said...

I did! And thank you for not minding me commenting on everything! My Saturday night plans fell through at the last minute, so it was a pleasure to pass a leisurely evening by looking through all those old movie ads.

Nick said...

Great story and fun seeing the pictures!

The passion is evident and boy does it take me back. What am I saying ... it's all still true!

Frederick said...

Nick,

Thanks for stopping by and for commenting! Now that I know about your blog I have added it to my list of links.

טכנאי מחשבים said...

The movie was awesome. Need to see it again, for sure.

Anonymous said...

Yes, I think we all need to see that T.J. Hooker movie again.

Nobody does it like Toby J.

CMX said...

That pic of Shatner with the headband and hairy chest is just priceless! LOL!

CMX said...

Now THERE is a Cage pic I've NEVER seen before!! Thanks for posting it!

Kyle said...

I just found your blog today and i love it. ive been a fan since '80. i love the artwork and will continue to explore the archives.

Anonymous said...

Shatner tweeted that TJ Hooker tv guide ad recently https://twitter.com/WilliamShatner/status/909088666714120192