Dennis Booker
Created by Stephen J. Cannell and Erik Blakeney

"No badge. No back-up. No problem."

Dismissed at the time as Mannix for the MTV generation, this spinoff from 21 Jump Street wasn't actually so bad after all. Of course, having Stephen J. Cannell as a co-creator, executive producer and writer didn't hurt. Nor, considering the intended audience, did having the theme song performed by then-current pop idol Billy Idol.

The whole thing started when, in 21 Jump Street's third season, the producers began to worry that series heartthrob Johnny Depp was going to jump ship. So they quickly added another hunk (Richard Grieco) to the cast as Officer DENNIS BOOKER.

But Depp decided to stick around for the fourth season, so the Booker was spun off into his own show. The premise being that, rather than accept being reassigned to a desk job following his "numerous violations of procedure", Dennis quits the force and eventually lands a plum spot as head investigator of the suspicious claims division for the Teshima Corporationa of America, a Japanese insurance corporation based in Vancouver (where both shows were filmed).

Or, as Fox put it: "You know him as the rebel cop on 21 Jump Street, but now he's off the force, and working for a corporation as a private eye. He loves his new job, he just hates showing up for work. He knows the streets; he knows the players; he just doesn't always know when to quit."

Uh-huh.

The Teshima Corporation turned out to be rather straitlaced, however, and Booker's leather jackets, tight jeans, muscle T-shirts and earrings didn't go over well (but the little girls understood). Booker's superior, Katie, played by Marcia Strassman (Mrs. Kotter!) was constantly after him to toe the company line, dress right, and, furthermore "Put your libido in mothballs!"

Surprisingly, the show wasn't as bad as it sounds, especially during the second half of the season, when Booker started to take outside cases, and the emphasis was switched from his corporate duties to his relationship with his pals. The humour was also played up, and his "rebel/bad boy" image was poked at a time or two. As one reviewer put it, it became more like "Magnum P.I. with an earring."

But it was all to no avail, and the plug was pulled after one season.

TELEVISION

• BOOKER
  (September 1989 to May 1990, Fox)
  22 60-minute episodes
  Created by Stephen J. Cannell and Erik Blakeney
  Writers: Stephen J. Cannell, Nicholas J. Corea , Gordon Dawson, Carleton Eastlake, Charles Grant Craig, Thania St. John, Bill Nuss, Kim Manners, Glen Morgan & James Wong, Jan Eliasberg, David Kemper, Chad Hayes & Carey W. Hayes, Jacqueline Zambrano & Gary Rosen, Seth Perlman
  Directors: David Jackson, Mark Sobel, Rob Bowman , Jorge Montesi , Reynaldo Villalobos, James Whitmore Jr., Jefferson Kibbee, Mark Sobe, Kim Manners, Mario Azzopardi , Bryan Spicer, Jan Eliasberg, Christopher T. Welch, Bill Corcoran, David Nutter, Peter D. Marshall
  Executive Producers: Bill Nuss, Steve Beers, Stephen J. Cannell
  Theme song "Hot in the City", performed by Billy Idol
  Starring Richard Grieco as Dennis Booker
  with Katie Rich as Elaine Grazzo
  Lori Petty as Suzanne Dunne
  Marcia Strassman as Alicia Rudd
  Carmen Argenziano as Charles "Chick" Sterling
  Reginald T. Dorsey as Reggie Mitchell
  Robert Romanus as Tony DeAngelo
  Jay Brazeau as Sgt. Keith Redding
  Guest stars Don Cheadle, Ed Lauter, Lori Petty, Vanity, Brian Bonsal, Thomas Haden Church, Blu Mankuma, Ben Vereen
  

• 1st Season...Buy the series on DVD
• "Booker" (September 24, 1989)
• "The Pump" (October 1, 1989
• "Raising Arrizola" (October 8, 1989
• "High Rise" ( October 22, 1989 )
• "All You Gotta Do is Do It" ( October 29, 1989 )
• "Bete Noir" ( November 5, 1989 )
• "Flat Out" ( November 12, 1989)
• "Deals and Wheels" (Part 1) (November 26, 1989)
  Part 2 of this story aired as episode #65 of 21 Jump Street
• "Someone Stole Lucille" (December 10, 1989)
• "Cementhead" (December 17, 1989)
• "The Red Dot" ( January 14, 1990 )
• "Who Framed Roger Thornton?" (January 21, 1990)
• "Hacker" (February 4, 1990)
• "The Life and Death of Chick Sterling" (February 11, 1990 )
• "Black Diamond Run" (February 18, 1990)
• "Love Life" (February 25, 1990)
• "Reunion" (March 25, 1990 )
• "Wedding Bell Blues" (April 1, 1990)
• "Molly and Eddie" (April 8 , 1990)
• "Crazy" (April 15, 1990)
• "Mobile Home" (April 29, 1990)
• "Father's Day" (May 6 1990)