T.J. Hooker: Complete Series

William Shatner stars as Sgt. T.J. Hooker, a veteran police detective who trades his plainclothes post for patrolman blues after the death of his partner, in this 1980s TV cop drama that marked Shatner's first hit series since Star Trek. Hooker is a genial but no-nonsense professional who teaches at the police academy and is the training officer for brash rookie Vince Romano (Adrian Zmed). Zmed provides the youth appeal on this otherwise familiar cop show, a mix of Adam-12 cops-on-the-beat drama and big city cop thriller. Hooker clashes with Captain Sheridan (Richard Herd) over everything from overstepping his authority to departmental cost-saving measures, and he provides the conservative voice in a culture he thinks is soft on crime (Hooker has a habit of calling criminals "scum" when he arrests them). The show premiered as a five-episode midseason replacement series in the summer of 1982 and returned that fall with a full slate of 22 episodes and new cast members. Heather Locklear costars as officer Stacy Sheridan, daughter of the captain, and James Darren plays officer Jim Corrigan, who becomes Stacy's trainer. Shatner's Star Trek costar Leonard Nimoy directs the second season episode "The Decoy" and guest stars in "Vengeance Is Mine." Zmed left the show after season four and the ABC series jumped to CBS for a final year in the late-night timeslot. Marking the disc debuts of seasons three-to-five, this boxed set compiles all 91 episodes from the 1982-86 run. Likely to appeal to Shatner fans and those nostalgic for ‘80s TV, this is a strong optional purchase. (S. Axmaker)