Street Hawk is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
television series that aired for 13 episodes on
ABCThe American Broadcasting Company is an American television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. It first broadcast on television in 1948...
in 1985. This series was originally planned for the fall of 1984, Mondays at 8:00/7:00 CST. However, ABC executives changed their minds when the summer series
Call to GloryCall to Glory was an American television series that aired 23 episodes during the 1984/1985 TV seasons on the ABC-TV network. Starring Craig T. Nelson as USAF pilot Col...
did well, and
Street Hawk was pushed to mid-season.
Street Hawk made its debut on January 4, 1985 on ABC at 9 PM EST and ran until May 16, 1985.
The show was about a police officer and former amateur dirt-bike racer named Jesse Mach (
Rex SmithFor the baseball player, see Rex Smith Rex Smith is an American actor and singer.-Music career:...
) who was secretly chosen to test a top-secret project—an all-terrain attack motorcycle capable of speeds in excess of 300
miles per hourThe mile per hour is a unit of speed, measured in Imperial units expressing the number of international miles covered per hour.It is currently the unit used for speed limits, and speeds, on roads in the United Kingdom and United States...
.
Street Hawk is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
television series that aired for 13 episodes on
ABCThe American Broadcasting Company is an American television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. It first broadcast on television in 1948...
in 1985. This series was originally planned for the fall of 1984, Mondays at 8:00/7:00 CST. However, ABC executives changed their minds when the summer series
Call to GloryCall to Glory was an American television series that aired 23 episodes during the 1984/1985 TV seasons on the ABC-TV network. Starring Craig T. Nelson as USAF pilot Col...
did well, and
Street Hawk was pushed to mid-season.
Street Hawk made its debut on January 4, 1985 on ABC at 9 PM EST and ran until May 16, 1985.
Synopsis
The show was about a police officer and former amateur dirt-bike racer named Jesse Mach (
Rex SmithFor the baseball player, see Rex Smith Rex Smith is an American actor and singer.-Music career:...
) who was secretly chosen to test a top-secret project—an all-terrain attack motorcycle capable of speeds in excess of 300
miles per hourThe mile per hour is a unit of speed, measured in Imperial units expressing the number of international miles covered per hour.It is currently the unit used for speed limits, and speeds, on roads in the United Kingdom and United States...
. Backing the motorcycle was a computerized command system that allowed its operator to provide the motorcycle's rider with real-time information from various sources and to autopilot the motorcycle during its high-speed runs after clearing traffic along the intended route. Norman Tuttle, an engineer employed with the
Law Enforcement Assistance AdministrationThe Law Enforcement Assistance Administration was a U.S. federal agency within the U.S. Dept. of Justice. It administered federal funding to state and local law enforcement agencies, and funded educational programs, research, state planning agencies, and local crime initiatives.The LEAA was...
of the
Department of JusticeThe United States Department of Justice is a Cabinet department in the United States government designed to enforce the law and defend the interests of the United States according to the law and to ensure fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans...
, was the designer of the motorcycle and reluctantly picked Jesse to test it. Mach began to lead a
double lifeDouble Life is a 2-CD compilation album of songs by Värttinä. It includes the entire 6.12 live album, and songs from studio albums Seleniko, Aitara and Ilmatar...
, a police
public relationsPublic relations is the practice of managing the communication between an organization and its publics. Public relations gains an organization or individual exposure to their audiences using topics of public interest and news items that do not require direct payment...
officer by day, and crime-fighter by night.
The musical theme was composed by
Tangerine DreamTangerine Dream is a German electronic music group founded in 1967 by Edgar Froese. The band has undergone many personnel changes over the years, with Froese being the only continuous member...
and produced by
Christopher FrankeChristopher Franke is a musician and composer. From 1971 to 1988 he was a member of the German electronic group Tangerine Dream. Initially a drummer with The Agitation later renamed Agitation Free, his primary focus eventually shifted to keyboards and synthesizers as the group moved away from its...
, and a modified version (which was featured in the pilot episode during the sequence where Jesse takes the bike out for the first time) appeared on their album
Le ParcLe Parc is an album by electronic artists Tangerine Dream, which was released in May, 1985. Each track on the album is inspired by a particular park from somewhere around the world. Le Parc marked Tangerine Dream's last studio release with Johannes Schmoelling; he left the band in October 1985...
, titled "Le Parc (L.A. - Streethawk)."
The opening-titles narration, voiced by
Ernie AndersonErnie Anderson was an American television and radio announcer/voiceover artist.-Early life and career:...
, runs:
This is Jesse Mach, an ex-motorcycle cop, injured in the line of duty. Now a police troubleshooter, he's been recruited for a top secret government mission to ride Street Hawk--an all-terrain attack motorcycle designed to fight urban crime, capable of incredible speeds up to three hundred miles an hour...and immense firepower. Only one man, federal agent Norman Tuttle, knows Jesse Mach's true identity. The Man...The Machine...Street Hawk.
Episode 2, titled "A Second Self," featured an appearance by a young
George ClooneyGeorge Timothy Clooney is an American actor, film director, producer and screenwriter. Clooney has balanced his performances in big-budget blockbusters with work as a producer and director behind commercially riskier projects, as well as social and liberal political activism...
playing the character of Kevin Stark in one of the actor's first TV roles.
The motorcycle
The
motorcycleA motorcycle is a single-track, two-wheeled motor vehicle. Motorcycles vary considerably depending on the task for which they are designed, such as long distance travel, navigating congested urban traffic, cruising, sport and racing, or off-road conditions.Motorcycles are the most affordable form of...
in the pilot episode was based on a 1983 Honda XL500 trailbike. The motorcycles used in the series were based on 1984 Honda XR500s. The motorcycles used for the stunt shots were based on Honda CR250s. Overall, fifteen motorcycles were used in the show. The whereabouts of fourteen of these are unknown, but the fifteenth now resides in the
Cars of the Stars Motor MuseumThe Cars of the Stars Motor Museum is located in the English town of Keswick, Cumbria, and features a collection of celebrity television and film vehicles.- History :...
in
Keswick, CumbriaKeswick is a market town within the district of Allerdale, Cumbria, England. With a population of 4,281, according to the 2001 census, it is situated just north of Derwent Water, and a short distance from Bassenthwaite Lake, both in the Lake District National Park...
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, after the show's stuntman,
Chris BromhamChris Bromham , is a retired Welsh stunt man. Bromham is the current World Record holder of the motorcycle jump obstacle record, having jumped over 18 double decker buses on 29 August, 1983.-Biography:...
, restored it. The pilot motorcycle was designed by
Andrew ProbertAndrew Probert is an artist who is best known for designing the USS Enterprise for Star Trek: The Motion Picture and the Enterprise-D for Star Trek: The Next Generation....
and the series motorcycles were redesigned by
Ron CobbRon Cobb is an American cartoonist, artist, writer, film designer, and film director.By the age of 18, with no formal training in graphic illustration, Cobb was working as an animation "inbetweener" artist for Disney Studios in Burbank, California. He progressed to becoming a breakdown artist on...
.
There is also evidence that a second motorcycle survived, but the whereabouts of this motorcycle are now unknown. It
is known, however, that a motorcycle was displayed at "Star Cars" in America in the 1980s or 1990s. It is believed that that particular motorcycle is now missing.
International broadcasters
-
BTVBTV is an abbreviation that can stand for:*Bahrain Television Station, a series of channels broadcasting in Bahrain*BTV , , a television station*BTV, a television station in Mongolia...
-
VTMThe abbreviation VTM may refer to::* Vampire: The Masquerade, a popular role-playing game* Video Training Module, a video produced by 3D Buzz for the purpose of education in a variety of different computer-related media including CG software such as Autodesk Maya, Autodesk 3ds Max, and programming...
-
NTMNTM - A former Shalimar Television Network ChannelThe Network Television Marketing was Pakistan's first ever private sector Television Channel. NTM had started its transmission in 1990 under a 3-year agreement with Shalimar Recording & Broadcasting Company .NTM succeeded in acquiring much...
-
DoordarshanDoordarshan is the public television broadcaster of India and a division of Prasar Bharati, a public service broadcaster nominated by the Government of India. It is one of the largest broadcasting organizations in the world in terms of the infrastructure of studios and transmitters...
-
NTVThe name NTV is used by several television broadcasters throughout the world:* Nippon Television —Shiodome, Tokyo, Japan* CJON-TV St...
-
Canal 9Canal 9 is a public television station in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is run by Ràdio Televisió Valenciana which operates from Burjassot. It is broadcast in Valencian and Spanish and it can be watched in the Valencian Community and adjacent areas...
"El Condor" was the spanish name of the series. -
ITVITV is a public service network of British commercial television broadcasters, set up under the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC. ITV is the oldest commercial television network in the UK...
,
BravoBravo may refer to:*Rio Grande, a river that flows through Mexico and the United States, also known as "Río Bravo".In media:*Bravo!, a specialty arts channel in Canada*Bravo , a youth magazine in Germany and Russia...
- ZBC TV1 - Italia 1 - SABC TV1 "Straat Valk"
List of Street Hawk episodes
- Street Hawk (1.5-hour pilot) (January 4 1985)
- A Second Self (January 11 1985)
- The Adjuster (January 18 1985)
- Vegas Run (January 25 1985)
- Dog Eat Dog (February 1 1985)
- Fire on the Wing (February 8 1985)
- Chinatown Memories (February 15 1985)
- The Unsinkable 453 (February 22 1985)
- Hot Target (March 1 1985)
- Murder is a Novel Idea (March 8 1985)
- The Arabian (May 2 1985)
- Female of the Species (a.k.a. The Assassin) (May 9 1985)
- Follow the Yellow Gold Road (May 16 1985)
Video releases
There have been at least two official releases of the Street Hawk pilot movie on VHS. One was from MCA Canada and contained the full 90-minute pilot (actually 76 minutes or so without commercials), and the other was the U.S. MCA release that ran about 60 minutes. There are short bits of footage that are unique to each release (i.e., even though the U.S. version is shorter, it does include a line or two of dialogue not present in the Canadian version). Other differences include a "blue lightning"-style primary weapon in the Canadian version (whereas the red "laser beam" from the rest of the series appears on the U.S. release) and actual stunt jumps on the U.S. tape instead of "matted-in" fake jumps in the Canadian version.
There will be a fan-produced release of both versions of the pilot by PDTV in the near future, but there are no apparent plans for an official DVD to replace the VHS tapes as yet.
See also
- Airwolf
Airwolf is an American television series that ran from 1984 through 1987. The program concerned a high-tech military helicopter, code named Airwolf, and her crew as they undertook various missions, many involving espionage, with a Cold War theme....
- Automan
Automan is an American science fiction superhero television series produced by Glen A. Larson. It aired for only 12 episodes on ABC between 1983 and 1984.-Synopsis:...
- Blue Thunder
Blue Thunder is a 1984 ABC TV series based on the movie of the same title.The series used the converted Aérospatiale Gazelle helicopter and large portions of stock footage from the 1983 film. As backup to the helicopter, a ground unit, Rolling Thunder was featured...
- Knight Rider
- Viper
Viper is an action-adventure TV series about a special task force set up by the federal government to fight crime in the fictional city of Metro City, California that is perpetually under siege from one crime wave after another. The weapon used by this task force is an assault vehicle that...
- The Highwayman
The Highwayman is an action-adventure themed television series starring Sam Jones, set in "the near future." It was created by Glen A. Larson and Douglas Heyes. The pilot aired in September 1987, and was followed by a short-lived series of nine episodes, with significant changes to the cast and...
External links