Walking Tall

I never imagined that this short-lived and little-seen television series would be resurrected, but thanks to the remake of the "Walking Tall" movie, this series has been released on DVD. There's not much here to make this series stand out from other police shows from the '70s or '80s - the plots are pretty predictable and familiar. The main character's way of enforcing the law does sometimes become a little uncomfortable as he does stuff like using his club to smash things (or people) and other personal techniques to enforce HIS law. On the other hand, the series does showcase a surprising amount of talent for guest stars, from familiar faces (like Chuck Connors and L.Q. Jones) to people who later became famous (like Eric Stoltz and Robert Englund). And I can't say that any of the episodes that I watched were BORING. Predictable, yes, but executed in a brisk manner that keeps your interest up. In fact, there's something comforting about a series like this where the bad guys are really bad and always get punished in the end by the hero. Worth a look during a slow weekend.