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GUEST
STARS
A
meeting of TV giants occurred when Leonard Nimoy guested in the second
season episode "Vengeance is Mine." His stint as Paul
McGuire, an old detective friend of Hooker's saw Nimoy's character ruthlessly
hunt down the man who raped his daughter (the rapist, a lawyer with
a penchant for repeating his victims' names over and over -- "Sweet
Val...sweet, sweet Val" -- was saved from McGuire's wrath at episode's
end when Hooker talked McGuire out of killing him. "Pull yourself
together, damnit!" is all Hooker needs to say, and McGuire lets
the lawyer walk).
Appearing in the fourth-season episode "Hollywood Starr,"
Sharon Stone made an early TV appearance as detective Dani Starr, a
character not only cursed to endure the on-screen advances of T.J. Hooker,
but also with one of the most cheerleader-esque names in the history
of television.
Years
before she was recruited by David Hasselhoff to become one of the nameless,
faceless bodies on Baywatch (and even before her stint
on the likable Scott Baio vehicle Charles in Charge), Nicole
Eggert (about 6-10 years younger than she appears above) had a recurring
role on T.J. Hooker as Hooker's daughter Chrissy, a "Brownie
Girl" who used her father's wiles to make her the top-selling Brownie
Cookie Girl for three years in a row.
Trying
to break out of the typecasting that came with his role as the eldest
son of Dick Van Patten on TV's Eight is Enough, Grant Goodeve
took the role of Officer Roper, a no-goodnick vigilante cop who kills
criminals on the street at the behest of an evil LCPD captain, in the
third season shocker "Blue Murder." Roper also hits on Stacy
Sheridan in Sherry's bar, prompting a stellar beer-toss-and-right-hook
combination from officer Jim Corrigan. Roper's final humiliation comes
when he loses to Hooker in the annual academy shooting match, during
which he accidentally reveals his penchant for carrying a spare pistol
tucked into his belt, which of course puts Hooker on the trail to discovering
Roper's vigilante tendencies.
The
third season episode "Gang War" is not only famous for its
extremely tiny (seven-member) street gangs ... it is also famous for
a pre-Fame Nia Peeples starring as Maria Dominguez, the girlfriend
of one of the gang leaders involved in the "war." Maria is
viciously attacked by members of her boyfriend's own gang who do so
to drum up bad blood between the two rival factions.
Appearing
in the fourth-season gem "The Hardcore Connection," the pre-Hill
Street Blues Dennis Franz makes an appearance as an overweight man
with a Chicago accent (a stretch for Mr. Franz) who is only viewed speaking
on the telephone with the episode's main villain.
Appearing
in the same episode as Dennis Franz, Heather Thomas (of TV's The
Fall Guy) plays Sandy, a prostitute who begrudgingly befriends T.J.
Hooker, helps him nab some criminals, then sucks face with the 50-something
street cop at episode's end for no apparent reason other than perhaps
to provide Shatner with a cheap thrill. Thomas' performance has to rank
at the very bottom of the heap of any actor to ever make an appearance
on the show...her sloppy, whiny delivery of her lines is almost enough
to distract the viewer from the ridiculously revealing outfits she is
made to wear.
Only
a man who married his own cousin could be the perfect musical guest
on T.J. Hooker. The Killer's performance in the second-season
thriller "The Fast Lane" only consists of a few poorly-delivered
lines and a pedestrian version of "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On,"
but he manages to suck almost as much as Heather Thomas, who has at
least three times as much screen time. It's worth it though, just to
watch the regulars of the cast dressed in cowboy shirts and hats wriggle
in their seats as Jerry Lee tickles the ivories.
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"You
like his music too? Well well well, we finally have something in common."
--Hooker
to Romano on Jerry Lee Lewis
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