I recently caught up on collecting this again and ended up being drawn into it once again. Surprisingly, it was one of my favorite shows BUT not because of any one character and/or actor. They were all what made the show happened. It was also one of those crime/police dramas during the ’80s that had its own flavoring to it. (Talking about that, I think Stephen J. Cannell is a genius since he created and/or co-created quite a few shows back then with its own elements–though some subject of the cases did overlap, the angle was totally different because of the main characters’ occupations and/or specialties.) I felt that it was also one of those shows that you did not feel guilty watching for youthful faces since it was focused around the idea of having young faces go on undercover jobs in high school and/or universities (or other locations at times) where it was relevant to the cases.
I am currently watching Season 3 on DVD and it was also the introduction of Officer Dennis Booker (Richard Grieco). At first, I was not used to him since I was more used to the usual five and not to mention the Hanson (Johnny Depp) and Doug (Peter DeLuise) team that was going on for the past two seasons. However, I finally understand why his character became popular and even got a spin-off later on. He was different from the others and possibly had this unpredictable aspect to him that made it even more intriguing to watch and make others want to find out more about him.
Anyway, so far, my favorite cases are: “The Dragon and the Angel”, “What About Love?”, “Woolly Bullies”, and “A.W.O.L.”. I did not like the element of the whole gang rivalry and the confrontation with Ioki’s story too much. However, I found it extremely funny with the story between Hanson and Doug. Though Hanson got shot and it was a close one, the after events were quite funny, considering how fierce Doug was, declaring to avenge Hanson’s injury (aka hunt down the supposed shooter as the one they chased and bring him in for justice) YET it was Doug who shot Hanson in the first place. Upon hearing Captain Fuller (Steven Williams)’s words when he (Capt. Fuller) read the report out loud, Doug (who was supposedly trying to feed Hanson milk) immediately looked up and squeezed the milk carton so hard that it got Hanson in the face–not to mention the straw went flying across the room. Yes, it was hilarious yet sad at the same time that Doug was responsible. Luckily, it was only a minor injury and Doug was forgiven because of the complicated situation at the time of the chase. However, Doug–who was guilt-stricken–was not able to drop it. He attempted to patch things up by practically becoming a maid (it seemed that way) and helped Hanson with every single possible task he was able to think of–getting Hanson food, drinks, gifts, and even went to the extreme of sharpening every one of Hanson’s pencils. It got to the point where Hanson was not able to stand it anymore, so he ended up confronting Doug, stating, “Enough already, Doug. I know you’re sorry, everyone knows you’re sorry. Do you know how I know? You said it 430 times already.” All the words unleashed and somewhat got of control because Hanson was feeling annoyed and was not able to concentrate because of Doug’s presence hovering over him constantly (making it hard to write his reports). Hanson even mentioned something about, “You don’t have to sharpen my pencils for me, okay? I like to sharpen my own pencils!” Doug (being his impatient self) was not able to take Hanson’s yelling either (though he claimed earlier that it was all right how Hanson treated since he was trying to make up for his error), so he yelled back, asking why Hanson was yelling at him. Hanson retorted by saying, “Of course, I’m yelling. I’m entitled to yell! I just got shot in the butt!” (Of course, it had to end because they were so loud that Capt. Fuller had to come over and tell them to go to therapy before he got on their cases.) That was not all because they ended up confessing up and telling their problems to find out that the ‘doctor’ was actually a patient herself and just happened to sneak into the doctor’s office to have some fun with the two guys. When it was the real doctor sitting down behind his desk and asking both guys what was the problem, both guys exchanged a glance and blurted out, “Nothing, everything’s fine, Doctor”, and immediately left the office.
Again, I did not like the pest inspector that tricked Judy Hoffs in “What About Love?” but I found it funnier watching Doug being kicked out of his own house and had to seek shelter elsewhere. His first stop? Who else but Hanson? The funniest part was that he just had to ask, “Oh, come on, you don’t think that our friendship could withstand moving in and living together?” Hanson looked like he was mulling things over for like a second and we see Doug back on the search for the next person on the list. When he arrived at Booker’s apartment building and pressed the doorbell, he realized it was not a good idea since Booker was ‘occupied at the moment’ and it was back on the road again. Sal (Sal Jenco) was more than happy to take Doug in YET Doug chose to evacuate out of there before Sal’s kids kill him with their guns (toy guns, not real guns of course). The choices were running low and somehow he managed to convince Ioki to take him in. I guess Harry didn’t really know Doug well since he agreed too easily. (Though Harry soon found out and it was too late to do anything about it–at least for the moment.) To top it off with all the comedy effect, they had to make Doug walk in the night of snow falling ever so dramatically while trying to seek proper shelter that one could not help but sympathize him. And though I said I did not like the whole thing with Judy’s story (aka how she had met with such a jerk), I liked the part where Judy was leaning into Capt. Fuller and crying. It was giving us some more development between the characters. Capt. Fuller was not just the boss, but a supportive figure when they needed him. Though he was strict, he really cared for them. In a way, he was like a brother (or even a father figure) to Judy.
“Woolly Bullies” was about them recounting back to the old days when they were still in school and had their fair share of encountering bullies. It first began with Doug being disturbed with his current assignment and was ditching class (though he was supposed to be observing the other kids report back to Capt. Fuller of suspicious signs) and somehow they ended up sitting around and sharing bully stories. Each had their cruel and/or painful experience. YET everyone was surprised when Booker confessed that he also encountered a bully in the past. The others were beyond surprised also (and I don’t blame them), BUT when Booker actually told the story, it was beyond hilarious. He took that guy down in two shakes! And the others were like gasping since they could not believe it ended so fast. Doug’s story was saved for last since he never had proper closure after all. It was interesting to see his real-life father (Dom DeLuise) and brother (Michael DeLuise) in here also. It was a very satisfying ending for Doug since he found out the big bully he used to fear was now in worse shape than him and was married to a very mean person. That little new information led him to become even more confident and confronted the current bully who was making it hard for him to investigate matters.
“A.W.O.L.” was Hanson and Doug’s case because they needed to escort one of the runaway soldiers back to camp. It showed Hanson and Doug’s bond even more since they were stuck in the snow and had to cope with the weather, etc. Not to mention how they managed to convince the other kid that it was for his best. They shared a special bond with that made-up song they sang along the way and even at the end of the show. Meanwhile, back on the homefront (aka Jump Street), Judy was being pestered by some annoying calls. Somehow, Booker managed to convince the other person to stop bothering Judy at last and Judy wanted to know how he’d done it. Booker’s reply was hilarious and so him. He got a date with the other person SO that was why he needed until Monday to tell Judy (LOL).
I’m not finished yet but will try to update more if I find other episodes worth mentioning. (And I’m sure there will be.) Season 3 is full of interesting episodes so yes, I’ll probably be back to discuss some more.