(Note: This is basically mirrored from my Tumblr: http://hunter-and-mccall.tumblr.com/)
Original airdate: September 18, 1994
What’s Going On Here? Detective Sergeant Rick Hunter is the son of a mobster; he has a hard time keeping a partner because most other cops don’t trust him. With the prospect of working with incompetent Bernie Terwilliger looming, Hunter enlists another maverick cop — brassy Detective Sergeant Dee Dee McCall — to set a trap for a brutal murderer, and they become partners.
Okay, we GET it. You’re TV’s answer to Dirty Harry:
Who’s That Guest Star? Brian Dennehy(!); veteran episodic TV actor Michael Cavanaugh; Joanna Kerns from “Growing Pains”; Steven Williams (X-Files, 21 Jump Street); and James Whitmore Jr, who’s directed and acted in a ton of TV, including many episodes of “Hunter.”
Joanna Kerns as Dr. Kettering:
Brian Dennehy as Dr. Bolin and Michael Cavanaugh as Captain Cain:
Where Can I Fast-Forward Through a Car Chase? At 11:10-12:55 and at 1:15:47-1:16:57
This is a car chase you can FF. That’s McCall’s cool Dodge Daytona:
Do Hunter and/or McCall Have Sex, and Does Their Partner Live Through The Episode? Nope, no sex.
McCall and Hunter don’t understand why there’s no sex.
What Are They Wearing? Hunter: various incarnations of sportcoat, slacks, button-down shirt, tie. 2. At the country bar he wears a checked shirt and Members Only-type jacket over Levi’s with noticeable crotch bulge. 3. Later, button-down shirt, another Members Only-type jacket, bulging Levi’s, tennis shoes. …
McCall: 1. Leather halter top w/ feathers, leopard spandex pants, fuzzy magenta jacket, black boots, dangly gold earrings, hair feathers, purple streaks in her hair, teal nail polish, fake tattoo. 2. Short black leather(ish) skirt w/ hidden holster underneath, spandex top in black and aqua with a zip up the front, black boots, dangly earrings, and a gold forehead band, reminiscent of Wonder Woman if she were a streetwalker (we see this in the opening credits). 3. Coral/red blouse, light grey pencil skirt, pumps. 4. Plaid shirt, short denim skirt, suede fringed jacket, blonde wig, red cowboy boots. 5. Naked in the bath, then a short pink robe & slippers. 6. Magenta sweater over beige slacks and espadrilles. 7. Crazy pastel caftan thing over silky PJ bottoms with blonde wig, 8. High-necked dusty pink blouse & matching skirt with pumps. 9. Blue blouse under a light-colored suit and pearls. 10. Red blouse, black slacks. See McCall’s outfits here: http://thebrasscupcake.wordpress.com/2011/01/18/hunter-pilot-episode/
McCall in outfit #1:
Outfit #2:
McCall’s outfit #3:
McCall’s outfit #4. Just imagine this with a short denim skirt and cowboy boots and you’re all good. Poor McCall, forced to pretend to be blonde when clearly it doesn’t go with her coloring:
Outfit #5. Not the best shot of the outfit but it’s just a robe, and look how cute she is here, introducing Hunter to her teddy bear, Tom Dooley:
Outfit #3 for Hunter, #7 for McCall. Hello, Det. Sgt. Tightpants!
Outfit #8 for McCall. Do you suppose she really ate that chili dog with the works earlier, wearing this?
Outfit #9, where, again, McCall is forced to wear a blonde wig to impersonate the mom from Growing Pains (which won’t be on the air ‘til the following year). But this week’s killer goes for blondes so she had no choice.
McCall being badass in outfit #10.
Wow, This Is Old School: Typewriters in the squad room. The stereo at 44:20. The old-school police radio in Hunter’s car.
That “police radio” is just sad. I had to put it in quotes ‘cause I can’t believe it’s real:
My dad had a receiver like this:
What’s For Lunch? Popsicles from a street vendor at 25:00; chili dogs with the works at 1:13:48 — we don’t see them actually eat those but at the end of the car chase Hunter’s is half-eaten. Around 49:42 Hunter drinks a beer.
Where In L.A.? The building they used for McCall’s apartment is at 1721/1731 N. Sycamore Ave, Los Angeles 90028 (that’s in Hollywood, about a block away from Grauman’s Chinese Theater). Other spots we se: Under the LA River bridges downtown; the corner of 5th and Los Angeles. In Hunter’s first scene, when he parks in front of the bank he’s at 5th and Spring. They get chili dogs from a place just under/behind the Santa Monica Pier. The police station they use is really the police station in Highland Park, at 6045 York Blvd. It’s the city’s oldest surviving police station. Closed in 1983, the station is now operated as the Los Angeles Police Museum.
The old Highland Park Police Station, aka our heroes’ station house:
It’s an X-File: James Whitmore Jr. plays Terwilliger and also directed the XF episode “Fearful Symmetry.” It’s one of the worst XF episodes in the history of XF episodes. Possibly in all of television history. But let’s not blame Terwilliger. Michael Cavanaugh (Capt Cain) played the sheriff in the XF episode “Conduit.” But most importantly, Steven Williams was a pimp in this episode of Hunter and X on XF, not to mention his awesomeness on “21 Jump Street.”
Steven Williams plays a bad guy. You can tell because not only is he mean, he has a pimp hat AND an eye patch:
Who Does Hunter Shoot, and Do They Die? McCall shoots King Hayes in the shoulder at 38:30; at 39:00, Hunter shoots at a car, no deaths; McCall shoots a guy dead at 1:10:48.
I’m Hunter, and I’m pretty badass. Also, I know how to pose with my gun.
I’m McCall, and I’m the one who shot a pimp in the shoulder, then shot another guy dead this week. (McCall’s in outfit #7. It’s so hideous I’m not going to show it again in the “what are they wearing” section.)
Any Scenes Worth Watching? Around 13:22 Hunter punches a guy out then reads him his Miranda rights while he’s out cold. / At 20:43-24:45, we meet McCall, but keep going to 26:33. / At 32:30, Petrocelli says, “Is it true? Word’s out you’re teamed up with the Brass Cupcake.” Hunter: “Word’s out, huh?” Petrocelli: “Well, everyone’s put in for flak vests.” … in a moment, Petrocelli talks to himself saying, “Headhunter and the Brass Cupcake together… Marron.” ’Marron’ is a Spanish word meaning brown, but it’s also slang for a bad situation, because ‘marron’ is the color of shit:http://slangspanish.wordpress.com/2011/04/20/marron/ ) / Bathtub scene at 56:26, and just stay with it ‘til 1:01:44 to get some backstory on our leads. / At 1:33:40 or so, see Hunter go full Dirty Harry.
“Just hand me something to put on.”
Is There Banter? Yes, there is! McCall on the idea of becoming partners: “…You and me? It’s a marriage made in Disneyland.” / Hunter: “Beats getting a couple of partners we have to visit in intensive care.” McCall: “Yeah, my florist bills were starting to look like the national debt.” / Hunter: “It seems Dr. Bolin thinks I’m quite unstable.” McCall: “I could’ve told him that.” / Hunter, hiding in McCall’s closet: “Would you just get out there and get attacked like you’re supposed to?” McCall: “Oh, we finally know the woman’s place around here.”
It Works For Hunter: At 1:07:02, 1:15:03,1:25:45, and 1:31:28.
Bonus: First-ever McCall lock-picking scene (42:44).
Oh yeah. She just picked that lock.
Hunter & McCall: "Hunter" episode recaps 