"Walker, Texas Ranger" (1993) TV series 1993-2001

User Rating:

5.2/10   

Creators:

Christopher Canaan
Leslie Greif
Paul Haggis

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9

Release Date:

21 April 1993 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Crime | Drama | Western

Plot:

Walker, a martial artist, and his partner Trivette are Texas Rangers. They make it their business to...

Plot Keywords:

Texas | Texas Ranger | Justice | Tough Guy | Modern Western

Awards:

Nominated for Primetime Emmy. Another 9 wins & 5 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Mon. Nov. 9	1:00 AM	HALMRK	Unfinished Business	#2.8
Mon. Nov. 9	2:00 AM	HALMRK	An Innocent Man	#2.9

Cast

Chuck Norris	...	Cordell Walker (196 episodes, 1993-2001)
Clarence Gilyard Jr.	...	James Trivette (194 episodes, 1993-2001)
Sheree J. Wilson	...	Alex Cahill (189 episodes, 1993-2001)
Noble Willingham	...	C.D. Parker / ... (141 episodes, 1993-1999)

Also Known As:

Walker (Australia)

Runtime:

45 min (203 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:12 (some epiosodes) | Iceland:16 (some epiosodes) | New Zealand:M (season 5) | Argentina:13 | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Austin, Texas, USA

Company:

Amadea Film Productions

Trivia:

In the show, the Rangers' headquarters are located in Dallas, Texas. In real life, they are actually located in Austin, Texas. This info is backed up by official web sites for the City of Austin. The building shown as the Rangers' headquarters is actually the Tarrant County Courthouse in Fort Worth.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the Pilot of the series, CD says he was a ranger 5 years. But in season 2, Alex asks him how long he was a ranger for and he says "28 years"

Quotes:

[On their first day as partners, Walker and Trivette have busted an arms runner]
Ranger Cordell Walker: Come on, Trivit.
Ranger Jimmy Trivette: It's not Trivet; It's TRIVETTE!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006)

Unbelievable, but in a good way

You pick your favorite episode and I'll pick mine. I just watched the episode where Walker helps run a karate school for disadvantaged kids and earnestly works to keep one particular kid from becoming a gangbanger. The acting couldn't be worse, the dialog is atrocious ("My little sister was killed in a drive-by shooting so I put my purple belt in her coffin"), the blocking and even the action are all third-rate. Instead of immediately taking down the bad boys near the end, Norris challenges the entire gang (all 50 of them) to a fistfight -- which he naturally wins, and handily, I might add. Then and only then does his backup posse move in to make the arrest. The whole thing is made of moldy cardboard and cheese. And yet...it works. Norris the Most Wooden Indian of Actors since Charlie Bronson clearly cares about the subject, and it shows. The gangbanger stuff is cartoonish but true enough at its core, even if most of the gangbangers on screen are right out of "West Side Story," and there is a touching dedication to what I assume was a real-life dead gangbanger at the end. The footage of real street kids in a real karate class is heart-tugging, even when two young gangbangers show up at the 11th hour and haltingly ask if they may join the class. The message is loud and clear: no drugs, no gangs. Of course, Norris plays the Great White Hope and it is only because of his efforts that these poor Mexican-American kids ever see the light. Let it stand. The message is heartfelt. I'd say show this episode in schools, except the kids would probably laugh at it. For one thing, no blood. Plenty of shootings and violent fighting, but no blood. No one dies, either. Or not that I know of. If any of the gangbangers buy the farm after being shot, the episode does not make this clear. The focus is on the running down and subsequent recovery of Walker's bar owner buddy plus the drive-by shooting and recovery of a very clean-cut adult Mexican-American who runs a garage and was a former gangbanger whom Walker turned around. Natch. Oddly enough, Walker's longtime partner and constant companion Trivett spends all but the last 30 seconds of this episode in or near their office. Walker goes solo for reasons best understood by the scripters. Maybe the actor playing Trivett was sick or injured during the episode's shooting. I wish I had never found out Norris wears a rug. It is all too evident in this episode, and quite distracting as it is a mullet job. Norris wore much shorter and far less obtrusive rugs in the final years of the series.