Nothing William Shatner has ever done is safe. First they replaced him as Captain Kirk in the new Star Trek, and now Hollywood is on the lookout for some stud to take over as T.J. Hooker. Variety reports that a T.J. Hooker movie is happening as an action-comedy. I’m not sure how you make a feature out of Rescue 911, but rest assured that too will happen eventually.
Chuck Russell, who helmed The Mask, is in talks to direct the film. Weirdly, word is that the story will focus on T.J. Hooker’s relationship with his father when, everybody knows the whole thing really ought to be about hood-sliding. The original television show, which ran from 1982 to 1986, starred William Shatner as the titular Hooker, a plainclothes detective who after the murder of his partner goes back the life of sirens and uniforms. Even in its first season, which was by far it’s most successful, T.J. Hooker never ranked higher in the ratings than 28th. It wasn’t exactly Friends.
So does anybody really care about T.J. Hooker’s relationship with his dad? Scratch that does anybody really care about T.J. Hooker? I love you Bill but really, T.J. Hooker is barely a television footnote and let’s face it, the only reason anyone still talks about it at all is because Captain Kirk was in it. Otherwise it’s just another random, generic cop show from the 80s. Even Starsky & Hutch had more personality… and look how badly they screwed that up.
Here's a quick taste of Shatner in action as T.J. Hooker:
