When you think of nighttime soap operas, you think of Aaron Spelling. Mention disaster movies and most of us will come up with the name Irwin Allen. For cop shows, there is a toss-up. Either the name Steven Bochco will come to mind, or more than likely it will be Stephen J. Cannell. As one of the most prolific writer/producer/directors in cop show history, Cannell has been one of the most innovative in his field. I grew up watching most of the shows he was involved with, including “Toma”, “Rockford Files”, and “Barretta.” Occasionally he even strayed off the beaten path and gave us shows like “Baa Baa Black Sheep”, “The A-Team”, and “Greatest American Hero.” In the 80’s, he gave us shows like “21 Jump Street”, “Hardcastle and McCormick” and “Wiseguy.” He just kept chugging into the 90’s with “The Commish” and “Silk Stalkings.” Now, I can’t claim to have watched ever show he had a hand in, but I’d say I’m at least familiar with most.

Fortunately for those of us who enjoy his work, you can already find several seasons of most of these out there on DVD. And Anchor Bay is gearing up to release a whole bunch more in the coming months.

Last year, Anchor Bay released the first two seasons of “Hunter” on DVD, and followed that up with the 3rd season this month. For those of you who are not in the know and have never heard of “Hunter”, that’s a real shame because it has been considered by many to be one of his best shows. The series revolved around L.A. homicide detective Rick Hunter (Fred Dryer) and his partner Dee Dee McCall (Stepfanie Kramer). To say they have issues is an understatement. Hunter has to deal with his family’s ties to organized crime, which often causes him to be mistrusted by other officers. Most won’t even work with him, but McCall will. She has her own way of doing things and though they often butt heads, they realize they can only trust each other.

“Hunter” was one of those shows that I missed during its initial run. After watching the 1st and 2nd season episodes, I’m sorry that was the case. The series was very well written, and the characters were terrific. I should have known I was missing something considering the series lasted a full 7 seasons (1984 - 1991), and then came back for several reunion movies. There was even a brief attempt to revive the series in 2003. Why it didn’t carry on any further I can’t say.

The series went through a few changes in the beginning, the most notable being the addition of veteran character actor Bruce Davison as Captain Wyler in the 2nd season. Davison first came to my attention as the main character in the original “Willard”, then later as a convicted child molester in “Short Eyes.” Over the years, he’s popped up in numerous movies and TV shows, always adding something special when he’s there. The only problem was that he only made it through that season and did not come back for the 3rd.

The 3rd season was easily as strong as the first two, with the stories continuing to be as action packed as they were suspenseful. And the list of guest stars did not fail to disappoint. "Star Trek" alums Brent Spiner and Marina Sirtis showed up as well as "Babylon Five's" Claudia Christian. Even George Clooney (before he was GEORGE CLOONEY) made the scene in one of the episodes. Add to this, appearances by Anthony Lapaglia and Dean Stockwell, and you have quite the roster of guest stars.

The only two disappointments I found with this set were that there weren't any extra features and the use of lesser discs. Unlike most of Anchor Bay releases, this newest set comes without any extra features. We are only given the 23 episodes that make up the 3rd season. I was rather surprised by this as the previous sets both included interviews and scripts. I was also a little put off by the fact that that instead of using 6 discs for all the episodes, the studio used 3 double-sided discs. This in itself is not a huge complaint, but in my experience I've had more problems with skipping down the road when this is done.

Aside form these nit picks, the 3rd season of “Hunter” is still worthwhile simply because it was one heck of a ‘kick butt’ cop show. I can’t wait to see the upcoming seasons as they are released, I just hope they go back to single sided discs and add a few extras back in.

Episodes:
Overnight Sensation
Change Partners and Dance
Crime of Passion
The Castro Connection
High Noon in L.A.
From San Francisco with Love
True Confessions
Love, Hate and Sporty James
The Contracts
The Cradle Will Rock
Bad Company
Down and Under
Straight to the Heart
Requiem for Sergeant McCall
Double Exposure
The Girl Next Door
Any Second Now
Shades
A Child is Born
Crossfire
Hot Pursuit, Part 1
Hot Pursuit, Part 2

Starring: Fred Dryer, Stepfanie Kramer
Extras:
Specifications: Full Screen, Dolby Digital Stereo
Studio: Anchor Bay
Release Date: 1/3/2006
Region 1
MPAA Rating: NR
Website
Website

We'll give Hunter: Season 3 a B.