T.J. Hooker (TV Series) God Bless the Child (1982) User Reviews

Hooker gets angry!!

[coltras35 · 7/10 · 24 August 2022]

The corpse of a 16 year old girl is discovered by Romano in an alley nearby. It seems like she was a junkie but closer examination prove that she was pumped full of drugs and thrown off the building. Much to Hooker's dismay, the investigation leads to her daughter's school.

Shatner's quite intense in this one, the anti-drug message is quite strong and adds to the enjoyment to the proceedings which has the usual Hooker-isms: Rolling over car bonnets, gun poses, chases and hanging over the hood of the car.

Just Say 'No'!

[JasonDanielBaker · 8 April 2014]

Veteran cop Sgt. T.J.Hooker (William Shatner) and his young partner Vince Romano (Adrian Zmed) are summoned by dispatch to investigate a disturbance downtown involving a distraught female (Deborah Foreman) being chased by two men.

Going by procedure scouring the location they happen upon a speeding car and Hooker gives chase after Romano gets out to investigate the scene. Hooker fails to chase down the car. The corpse of a 16 year old girl is discovered by Romano in an alley nearby.

At first glance the dead girl appears to be a junkie who committed suicide but upon closer examination via autopsy it is evident that things went down somewhat differently. Hooker also thinks he has seen the girl before but he can't remember where. When he finds out it hits home in a big way.

Having seen the very worst of this series it is rather a surprise to come across an episode that so perfectly captures the way a cop show should be staged and filmed.

The beginning subtly establishes the setting and offers terrific subtext on the hero that adds a new dimension to each. If every episode found its own way to do those things the show would have been much better.

But a lot of what is shown later in the episode includes corny dialogue and contrived attempts at making the hero appear folksy. My favourite aspect of the cheesiness is when Hooker engages the baddies in a standoff and tells them what kind of gun he shoots and how much damage it can do.

After that there is the goofy pursuit of the baddies wherein Hooker ends up jumping on the hood of their moving car which became an integral part of the opening credits montage. Then finally there is the whimsical denouement with Hooker and Romano laughing as they leave the precinct.

The intriguing cast of guest-stars which included Steve Sandor and Deborah Foreman as well as the consistently undervalued Rick Lenz and Paul Kent. Kent appeared on six different episodes of this show each time as a different character.

God Bless the Child

[Prismark10 · 2/10 · 3 September 2021]

William Shatner is a man with a healthy dose of humour. He would had needed every ounce of it if he read the script for this episode.

Here T J Hooker comes like a cross between Dirty Harry and Charles Bronson. There is even a showdown at the end with the bad guys when he tells them how lethal his gun is.

Hooker investigates a death that leads him to two guys that sell drugs to high school kids. In fact they blatantly offer it to kids like it was candy.

It's also the school Hooker's daughter goes to. The bad guys keep bumping into her and get suspicious about her.

It comes as no surprise that when the baddies are cornered. His daughter will be in the crossfire.

When Hooker does not want to blow drug dealers away. He sermonizes about the evils of smack.

Just say no, not just drugs. Laughably bad shows like this.