Booker (TV series)
Booker is an American crime drama series starring Richard Grieco that aired on the Fox Network from September 24, 1989, to May 6, 1990. The series is a spin-off of 21 Jump Street and the second installment of the Jump Street franchise. The character of Dennis Booker was originally a recurring character on that police drama during its third season.
| Booker | |
|---|---|
| Genre | |
| Created by | Eric Blackeney Stephen J. Cannell |
| Starring | Richard Grieco Carmen Argenziano Marcia Strassman |
| Opening theme | "Hot in the City" performed by Billy Idol |
| Ending theme | "Hot in the City" performed by Billy Idol |
| Composer | Mike Post |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 22 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Bill Nuss |
| Producers | Carleton Eastlake Brooke Kennedy Jo Swerling, Jr. |
| Production location | Vancouver |
| Running time | 45–48 minutes |
| Production company | Stephen J. Cannell Productions |
| Release | |
| Original network | Fox |
| Picture format | Color |
| Audio format | Stereo |
| Original release | September 24, 1989 – May 6, 1990 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | 21 Jump Street |
Synopsis
Dennis Booker, who once worked for a large metropolitan police department, is now hired by the US office of a large Japanese company to investigate some suspicious insurance claims. Booker is portrayed as despising authority, and he is often openly disdainful of the orders he receives. He also occasionally undertakes non-work-related tasks in order to help friends and family. Katie Rich left the show in the middle of its run, and Lori Petty was added to the cast.
Fox scheduled Booker as its Sunday night leadoff program, airing in the 7/6 pm slot that was vacated by its parent series, 21 Jump Street; the latter moved to Monday nights.[1] Booker was not the hit that its predecessor had been, with Fox eventually moving the show to 10:00 pm (during the period when the network was programming past that hour on Sundays) and later cancelling it following the season.[2]
Cast
Main
- Richard Grieco as Dennis Booker
- Carmen Argenziano as Chick Sterling
- Marcia Strassman as Alicia Rudd
- Katie Rich as Elaine Grazzo
- Lori Petty as Suzanne Dunne
Notable guest stars
- Thomas Haden Church as Michael
- Peter DeLuise as Doug
- Lori Petty as Kelly
- Jason Priestley As Fred
- Holly Robinson Peete as Judy
- Ben Vereen as Ben
- Mariska Hargitay as Molly
- Don S. Davis as Riley
- Maura Tierney as Susan
- Steven Williams
- Marcia Cross
- Don Cheadle
- Vanity
- Gedde Watanabe
- Tawny Kitaen
- James Hong
- Heavy D
- Jay O. Sanders as Gordon Rudd
Episodes
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Prod. code |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Booker" | David Jackson | Stephen J. Cannell | September 24, 1989 | 31101 |
| Dennis Booker helps Elena clear a man she thinks was wrongly convicted when she served jury duty. | |||||
| 2 | "The Pump" | Mark Sobel | T : Stephen J. Cannell; S/T : Nicolas J. Corea | October 1, 1989 | 31102 |
| Booker is targeted by a gang seeking revenge for the death of a member who shot Judy (Holly Robinson Peete guest-starring from 21 Jump Street). | |||||
| 3 | "Raising Arrizola" | Rob Bowman | Gordon Dawson | October 8, 1989 | 31106 |
| Booker has a busy day getting involved with a Teshima executive, avoiding a supposedly reformed ex-con and trying to keep a homeless kid on the right path. | |||||
| 4 | "High Rise" | Jorge Montesi | Carleton Eastlake | October 22, 1989 | 31109 |
| In an homage to Die Hard, Booker takes action when gunmen take the execs of Teshima hostage. | |||||
| 5 | "All You Gotta Do Is Do It" | Reynaldo Villalobos | Stephen J. Cannell | October 29, 1989 | 31105 |
| Alicia asks Booker to find her gambler ex-husband when he takes off with their daughter. | |||||
| 6 | "Bête Noir" | James Whitmore, Jr. | Charles Grant Craig | November 5, 1989 | 31110 |
| Booker concocts a plan to catch a woman he suspects murdered her two husbands for insurance money. | |||||
| 7 | "Flat Out" | Jefferson Kibbee | Carleton Eastlake | November 12, 1989 | 31111 |
| Booker races to find a young woman who skipped bail before mobsters kill her. | |||||
| 8 | "Wheels and Deals – Part 1" | Mark Sobel | Charles Grant Craig & Thania St. John | November 26, 1989 | 31113 |
| Booker plots the downfall of his nemesis Raymond Crane. This episode concludes on 21 Jump Street. | |||||
| 9 | "Someone Stole Lucille" | Kim Manners | Bill Nuss | December 10, 1989 | 31112 |
| Booker and a young executive are sent to find B.B. King's stolen guitar. | |||||
| 10 | "Cementhead" | Jorge Montesi | Glen Morgan & James Wong | December 17, 1989 | 31114 |
| Booker deals with his childhood idol, a hockey player seeking to make a comeback on a team owned by Teshima. | |||||
| 11 | "The Red Dot" | Mario Azzopardi | S : Carleton Eastlake; T : Bill Nuss & Charles Grant Craig | January 14, 1990 | 31118 |
| A woman hires Booker to find her missing boyfriend, who's also the target of a hit man. | |||||
| 12 | "Who Framed Roger Thorton?" | Jefferson Kibbee | S : Thania St. John; T : Charles Grant Craig | January 21, 1990 | 31115 |
| Booker investigates the murder of a fashion-designer and encounters an old acquaintance. | |||||
| 13 | "Hacker" | Bryan Spicer | T : Charles Grant Craig and Thania St. John; S/T : Carleton Eastlake | February 4, 1990 | 31119 |
| Booker is pursued by the FBI as soon as he cracks a computer hacker's code. | |||||
| 14 | "The Life and Death of Chick Sterling" | Kim Manners | Bill Nuss & Thania St. John | February 11, 1990 | 31122 |
| Chick and an old Army buddy are targeted for assassination because of a past incident. | |||||
| 15 | "Black Diamond Run" | Peter D. Marshall | Seth Pearlman | February 18, 1990 | 31120 |
| A cat burglar is stealing from guests at a ski resort who are insured by Teshima. | |||||
| 16 | "Love Life" | Jefferson Kibbee | S : Gary Rosen; S/T : Jacqueline Zambrano | February 25, 1990 | 31121 |
| Booker sets out to prove that a prostitute was framed for stabbing a Teshima executive. | |||||
| 17 | "Reunion" | Jan Eliasberg | Carleton Eastlake & Thania St. John | March 25, 1990 | 31124 |
| Booker attends his high school reunion where an old girlfriend asks him to find her missing fiancé, who happens to be the guy she left Booker for. | |||||
| 18 | "Wedding Bell Blues" | Jefferson Kibbee | Charles Grant Craig, Bill Nuss and Thania St. John | April 1, 1990 | 31125 |
| An old high school friend of Booker's is engaged to two women, both of whom have vengeful relatives. | |||||
| 19 | "Molly and Eddie" | David Nutter | Charles Grant Craig, Bill Nuss and Thania St. John | April 8, 1990 | 31123 |
| Booker takes care of a 6-year-old girl while he searches for her father, a repo man who may have gotten involved in a stolen-car ring. | |||||
| 20 | "Crazy" | Bill Corcoran | Chad Hayes & Carey W. Hayes | April 15, 1990 | 31127 |
| A crazy killer escapes custody and leads Booker on a through his troubled psyche. | |||||
| 21 | "Mobile Home" | Christopher T. Welch | S : David Kemper; T : Charles Grant Craig, Bill Nuss and Thania St. John | April 29, 1990 | 31128 |
| Booker helps a friend search for his first home, which has been stolen by three siblings hunting for treasure. | |||||
| 22 | "Father's Day" | Jan Eliasberg | Jan Eliasberg | May 6, 1990 | 31129 |
| Booker's father asks for his help when he must testify against the mob. | |||||
Home media
On September 17, 2008, Beyond Home Entertainment released Booker- The Complete Series on DVD in Australia (Region 4). The episode titled "Deals and Wheels pt.1" has been removed as it is part of a crossover with 21 Jump Street. Both episodes are included on the 4th season release of 21 Jump Street. The original Billy Idol "Hot in the City" main theme song is in tact on the episodes. The episode "Someone Stole Lucille" is included in this set as well.
On August 25, 2009, Mill Creek Entertainment released Booker- Collector's Edition on DVD in Region 1.[3] Music rights have kept the episode "Someone Stole Lucille" from appearing on the set, thus the reason why the title of the release was changed from 'complete series'. The theme song was also changed to a generic action piece (entitled "Hot Summer Night") as the rights to "Hot in the City" could not be negotiated.
| DVD Name | Ep # | Region 1 | Region 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Booker: Collector's Edition | 22 | August 25, 2009 | September 17, 2008 |
References
- Shales, Tom (1989-07-29). "FOX Finds Success By Aiming Low". archive.deseretnews.com. Retrieved 2011-04-09.
- "Top 10 Worst TV Spin-Offs". time.com. October 1, 2008. Retrieved 2009-02-25.
- "Booker DVD news: Update About Booker - Collector's Edition". TVShowsOnDVD.com. 2009-12-08. Archived from the original on 2014-05-20. Retrieved 2014-05-19.