William Shatner may best be known for his turn as Captain James T. Kirk in the Star Trek franchise, but back in the ’80s, he was leading the charge on the popularity of police procedurals too.
It’s all happening now for T.J. Hooker, starring the actor, now 94, in the title role as a veteran police sergeant who returns to his uniform after the death of his partner when they were plainclothes detectives. It also starred Heather Locklear, Adrian Zmed and James Darren.
© Getty ImagesThe series began airing in 1982 on ABC and ran for five seasons (switching to CBS for its final season) until 1986, with 91 episodes in total released, and now, a cinematic revival.
Per Deadline, Netflix has picked up the rights to a movie version of T.J. Hooker nearly four decades after its conclusion, in the vein of the successful reboot of The Naked Gun franchise, starring Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson.
Jarrad Paul and Andy Mogel have been tapped to write an action-comedy version of the show, although it is unclear at this point whether the Star Trek legend will himself be involved. Original series creator Rick Husky will serve as an executive producer for the film as well.
The TV show was originally canceled by ABC after four seasons, but was picked up by CBS for a fifth, ending with 17 more episodes and a two-hour TV movie titled “Blood Sport.” A film version of the series was originally rumored to be in development as far back as the late aughts, although those were eventually debunked.
While many fans associate the actor with living long and prospering, he has often spoken about the fond memories he had filming the police procedural for five years.
© Getty Images“I loved T.J. Hooker,” he previously told The Aquarian. “I loved the cast and I loved doing what I did. It was great fun, yes. I directed a number of them. It was when I really began to understand the nature of directing and how to do it efficiently. If you’re working on the cheap, how to get three shots of one, that sort of thing.”
Commenting on some of the more outlandish and even superhero-esque feats action stars were performing at the time, including himself in the show, he even recalled an incident that took place while they were filming.
© Getty Images“There is a story that I don’t believe I’ve ever told,” he noted. “We were shooting in Long Beach, and the headlines in the Long Beach paper said that T.J. Hooker is shooting in Long Beach.”
“The next day a police officer handcuffed a perp, and then had to hurry and get the other guy but left him with his hands cuffed,” he continued. “Anyway, the suspect jumped into the police car and started to drive the police car away, whereupon the officer ran after the car and jumped on the hood to stop the guy from driving off.”
© Getty ImagesThe actor concluded by quipping: “The headlines in the Long Beach paper the next day said, Officer so-and-so did a T.J. Hooker.”
