Hardcastle and McCormick

Hardcastle and McCormickis an Americanactioncrime dramatelevision series that aired onABCfrom September 18, 1983, through May 5, 1986. The series starsBrian Keithas Judge Milton C. Hardcastle andDaniel Hugh Kellyasex-conandrace cardriver Mark "Skid" McCormick.

Hardcastle and McCormick
Title screen from season 1 and from the last ten episodes of season 2
Genre	Crime drama Action
Created by	Stephen J. Cannell Patrick Hasburgh
Starring	Brian Keith Daniel Hugh Kelly
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No.of seasons	3
No.of episodes	67
Production
Executive producers	Stephen J. Cannell Patrick Hasburgh
Producers	Lawrence Hertzog Les Sheldon
Running time	60 minutes per episode
Production company	Stephen J. Cannell Productions
Original release
Network	ABC
Release	September 18, 1983(1983-09-18)– May 5, 1986(1986-05-05)

During an interview in the early 1980s, producerStephen J. Cannellreferred to the then-upcoming series asRolling Thunder.

Premise

Los Angeles County Superior CourtJudge Milton C. "Hardcase" Hardcastle is an eccentric judge notorious for being strict with the law in both his duties and towardsdefendants.Preparing for his retirement, he notices file drawers filled with 200 people who escaped conviction due tolegal technicalities.Inspired by his childhood hero theLone Ranger,Hardcastle desires to make the criminals answer for their crimes.

Mark McCormick is a smart-mouthed, streetwisecar thief.He faces a long incarceration for his latest theft, aprototypesports carcalled the Coyote X, designed by his murdered best friend. Together, the judge and the car thief strike a deal in which Hardcastle helps McCormick catch the murderer and McCormick agrees to work (his conditionalparole) as the judge's agent. In addition, McCormick is allowed to keep the Coyote, which proves to be an excellent pursuit vehicle for their needs.

Cast

• Brian Keithas Judge Milton C. "Hardcase" Hardcastle
• Daniel Hugh Kellyas "Skid" Mark McCormick
• Mary Jacksonas Sarah Wicks (1983)
• John Hancockas Lt. Michael Delaney (1984–85)
• Ed Bernardas Lt. Bill Giles (1984–85)
• Joe Santosas Lt. Frank Harper (1985–86)
• John Ashleyas narrator during show opening

Episodes

Season 1 (1983–84)

No. overall	No.in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
1	1	"Rolling Thunder"	Roger Young	Patrick Hasburgh & Stephen J. Cannell	September 18, 1983(1983-09-18)
2	2
3	3	"Man in a Glass House"	Guy Magar	Stephen J. Cannell	September 25, 1983(1983-09-25)
4	4	"The Crystal Duck"	Bruce Kessler	Stephen Katz	October 2, 1983(1983-10-02)
5	5	"Goin' Nowhere Fast"	Guy Magar	Patrick Hasburgh	October 9, 1983(1983-10-09)
6	6	"The Black Widow"	Richard Compton	Stephen J. Cannell	October 16, 1983(1983-10-16)
7	7	"The Boxer"	Tony Mordente	Patrick Hasburgh	October 23, 1983(1983-10-23)
8	8	"Once Again with Vigorish"	Arnold Laven	Patrick Hasburgh	October 30, 1983(1983-10-30)
9	9	"Killer B's"	Ron Satlof	Stephen Katz	November 6, 1983(1983-11-06)
10	10	"The Prince of Fat City"	Tony Mordente	Patrick Hasburgh	November 13, 1983(1983-11-13)
11	11	"Hotshoes"	Richard Compton	Patrick Hasburgh	November 27, 1983(1983-11-27)
12	12	"Flying Down to Rio"	Tony Mordente	Stephen Katz	December 4, 1983(1983-12-04)
13	13	"Just Another Round of That Old Song"	Allen Reisner	Patrick Hasburgh	December 11, 1983(1983-12-11)
14	14	"Third Down and Twenty Years to Life"	Georg Stanford Brown	Evan Lawrence	January 1, 1984(1984-01-01)
15	15	"Whistler's Pride"	Tony Mordente	Stephen Katz	January 8, 1984(1984-01-08)
16	16	"Mr. Hardcastle Goes to Washington"	Arnold Laven	Patrick Hasburgh	January 15, 1984(1984-01-15)
17	17	"School for Scandal"	Tony Mordente	Tom Blomquist	January 29, 1984(1984-01-29)
18	18	"The Georgia Street Motors"	Joseph Manduke	Shel Willens	February 5, 1984(1984-02-05)
19	19	"The Homecoming: Part One"	Tony Mordente	Patrick Hasburgh	March 4, 1984(1984-03-04)
20	20	"The Homecoming: Part Two"	Bruce Kessler	Patrick Hasburgh	March 11, 1984(1984-03-11)
21	21	"Did You See the One that Got Away?"	Ron Satlof	Lawrence Hertzog	March 18, 1984(1984-03-18)
22	22	"Really Neat Cars and Guys with a Sense of Humor"	Ron Satlof	Lawrence Hertzog	March 25, 1984(1984-03-25)
23	23	"Scared Stiff"	Tony Mordente	Tom Blomquist	April 1, 1984(1984-04-01)

Season 2 (1984–85)

No. overall	No.in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
24	1	"Outlaw Champion"	Leo Penn	Patrick Hasburgh	September 23, 1984(1984-09-23)
25	2	"Ties My Father Sold Me"	Ron Satlof	Patrick Hasburgh	September 30, 1984(1984-09-30)
26	3	"You Would Cry, Too, If It Happened to You"	Tony Mordente	Lawrence Hertzog	October 7, 1984(1984-10-07)
27	4	"D-Day"	Bruce Kessler	Lawrence Hertzog	October 14, 1984(1984-10-14)
28	5	"Never My Love"	Bruce Kessler	Thomas E. Szollosi & Richard Christian Matheson	October 28, 1984(1984-10-28)
29	6	"Whatever Happened to Guts?"	Michael Hiatt	Thomas E. Szollosi & Richard Christian Matheson	November 4, 1984(1984-11-04)
30	7	"You and the Horse You Rode in On"	Patrick Hasburgh	Patrick Hasburgh	November 18, 1984(1984-11-18)
31	8	"One of the Girls from Accounting"	Bruce Kessler	Stephen J. Cannell	November 25, 1984(1984-11-25)
32	9	"It Coulda Been Worse, She Coulda Been a Welder"	Tony Mordente	Lawrence Hertzog	December 2, 1984(1984-12-02)
33	10	"Hate the Picture, Love the Frame"	Dennis Donnelly	Erica Byrne	December 9, 1984(1984-12-09)
34	11	"Pennies from a Dead Man's Eyes"	Tony Mordente	Marianne Clarkson	December 31, 1984(1984-12-31)
35	12	"There Goes the Neighborhood"	Ron Satlof	Lawrence Hertzog	January 7, 1985(1985-01-07)
36	13	"Too Rich and Too Thin"	Michael J. Kane	T : Ross Thomas S/T : Richard Christian Matheson & Thomas E. Szollosi	January 14, 1985(1985-01-14)
37	14	"What's So Funny?"	Tony Mordente	Patrick Hasburgh	January 21, 1985(1985-01-21)
38	15	"Hardcastle, Hardcastle, Hardcastle and McCormick"	Kim Manners	Lawrence Hertzog	February 4, 1985(1985-02-04)
39	16	"The Long Ago Girl"	Richard A. Colla	Stephen J. Cannell	February 11, 1985(1985-02-11)
40	17	"You Don't Hear the One that Gets You"	Tony Mordente	Lawrence Hertzog	February 18, 1985(1985-02-18)
41	18	"The Birthday Present"	Tony Mordente	Stephen J. Cannell	February 25, 1985(1985-02-25)
42	19	"Surprise on Seagull Beach"	Michael O'Herilhy	Michael O'Herlihy	March 4, 1985(1985-03-04)
43	20	"Undercover McCormick"	Les Sheldon	Marianne Clarkson	March 11, 1985(1985-03-11)
44	21	"The Game You Learn from Your Father"	Kim Manners	Patrick Hasburgh	March 18, 1985(1985-03-18)
45	22	"Angie's Choice"	Bruce Kessler	Thomas E. Szollosi & Richard Christian Matheson	April 1, 1985(1985-04-01)

Season 3 (1985–86)

No. overall	No.in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
46	1	"She Ain't Deep, But She Sure Runs Fast"	Tony Mordente	Patrick Hasburgh	September 23, 1985(1985-09-23)
47	2	"Faster Hearts"	Charles Picerni	Patrick Hasburgh	September 30, 1985(1985-09-30)
48	3	"The Yankee Clipper"	Sigmund Neufeld, Jr.	Patrick Hasburgh	October 7, 1985(1985-10-07)
49	4	"Something's Going On on This Train"	Tony Mordente	Lawrence Hertzog	October 14, 1985(1985-10-14)
50	5	"The Career Breaker"	Kim Manners	Stephen J. Cannell	October 28, 1985(1985-10-28)
51	6	"Do Not Go Gently"	Bruce Kessler	Patrick Hasburgh	November 4, 1985(1985-11-04)
52	7	"Games People Play"	Peter Kiwitt	S : Tony Michelman & Scott J. Schneid T : Carol Mendelsohn & Larry Forrester	November 11, 1985(1985-11-11)
53	8	"Strangle Hold"	Michael Switzer	Marianne Clarkson	November 18, 1985(1985-11-18)
54	9	"You're Sixteen, You're Beautiful and You're His"	Kim Manners	Lawrence Hertzog	November 25, 1985(1985-11-25)
55	10	"Mirage a Trois"	Sidney Hayers	Marianne Clarkson	December 2, 1985(1985-12-02)
56	11	"Conventional Warfare"	Sigmund Newfeld, Jr.	Steven L. Sears & Burt Pearl	December 9, 1985(1985-12-09)
57	12	"Duet for Two Wind Instruments"	Robert Bralver	Lawrence Hertzog	December 16, 1985(1985-12-16)
58	13	"If You Could See What I See"	Kim Manners	Carol Mendelsohn	January 6, 1986(1986-01-06)
59	14	"Hardcastle for Mayor"	Kim Manners	Alan Cassidy	January 13, 1986(1986-01-13)
60	15	"When I Look Back on All the Things"	Steven Beers	Lawrence Hertzog	February 3, 1986(1986-02-03)
61	16	"Brother, Can You Spare a Crime?"	James L. Conway	Donald Ross	February 10, 1986(1986-02-10)
62	17	"Round Up the Old Gang"	Tony Mordente	Stephen Katz	February 17, 1986(1986-02-17)
63	18	"McCormick's Bar and Grill"	James S. Giritlian	Jeff Ray	February 24, 1986(1986-02-24)
64	19	"Poker Night"	Michael J. Kane	Marianne Clarkson	March 3, 1986(1986-03-03)
65	20	"In the Eye of the Beholder"	Daniel Hugh Kelly	Daniel Hugh Kelly	March 17, 1986(1986-03-17)
66	21	"The Day the Music Died"	Charles Picerni	Tom Blomquist	March 31, 1986(1986-03-31)
67	22	"A Chip Off the Ol' Milt"	Les Sheldon	Carol Mendelsohn & Marianne Clarkson	May 5, 1986(1986-05-05)

Production

Development

The series premise was somewhat recycled from a previous Cannell series,Tenspeed and Brown Shoe.It was created byPatrick Hasburghand Stephen J. Cannell, serving as the executive producers and produced by Stephen J. Cannell Productions for ABC.

Music

The opening theme song during season one was "Drive", composed byMike PostandStephen Geyerand sung byDavid Morgan.For the first 12 episodes of season two, the theme song was "Back To Back", also composed by Post and Geyer, but sung byJoey Scarbury(who also sang Post and Geyer's theme forThe Greatest American Hero). Public demand,however, resulted in the "Drive" theme being reinstated in episode 13 and kept through season three. Post andPete Carpenterscored the music for the series.

"Coyote X" or "Cody Coyote"

The car that McCormick drove, the Coyote X, was built from custom molds based on theMcLaren M6GT.The original Coyote X was molded, modified and assembled by Mike Fennel and Unique Movie Cars. The nose, windshield, doors, and lower body (minus the ventral intakes) are faithful representations of the McLaren; the cut-down rear deck, however, was a custom component that became a feature on manyManta Montagekits with damaged or removed rear windows. The most noticeable differences between the Coyotes and Mantas are the wheel wells, roll pan height and shape, and the fact that the Coyote has a one-piece front clip that terminates about an inch before and surrounding the windshield.

Most of the cars made for the show were molded and assembled by either Mike Fennel or Unique Movie Cars. Like manykit carsof the time, the car uses a chassis from aVolkswagen Beetleand its engine from aPorsche 914.For the second and third seasons, producers used a different Coyote which was based on aDMC DeLorean,as Brian Keith had difficulty getting in and out of the original Coyote.

The season-two and -three Coyote does not resemble the Manta, as the front is larger than the original, making the car resemble a front-engined car. The season-one "Hero" car that was used in the production ofHardcastle and McCormickis owned by a private owner inNew York.The stunt/skid car (used in all three seasons) was reconfigured for theKnight Rider 2000television pilot,then consequently turned into Jay Ohrberg's show car "Taz-Mobile".In April 2011, the stunt/skid car was sold and shipped to Dallas, Texas, where it was rebodied back to its former Coyote configuration, retaining as many of the original Coyote pieces as possible (in a private collection).Note: only one season-one "Hero Car" and one "skid/stunt" car were used in all three seasons and several (center seat-mounted, dune buggy-like, see title shot) "jump cars" were used. A season-two and -three (De Lorean body) car appeared briefly on the sixth episode of season five of thesitcomMarried... with Children.

• 
  Season-one car owned by a private collector in NY
• 
  Season-one Coyote at NJ home in 2008 and now in New York (2019)
• 
  Season-one car rear quarter
• 
  Season-one car front
• 
  Rebodying Tazmobile back to Coyote skid/stunt car

Reception

Nielsen ratings

• 1983–84: #15 (18.71 rating)
• 1984–85: #39 (15.82 rating)
• 1985–86: #52 (13.9 rating)

Home media

Visual Entertainmenthas released all three seasons ofHardcastle and McCormickon DVD inRegion 1(Canada only).VEI also releasedHardcastle & McCormick: The Complete Serieson DVD on September 3, 2008.As of March 2016, the complete DVD set is available on Amazon.

DVD Name	Ep #	Release Date	Additional Information
The Complete First Season	22	February 14, 2006	Includes 2-hour pilot, "Rolling Thunder"
The Complete Second Season	22	August 15, 2006	All Original Music
The Complete Third and Final Season	22	October 30, 2007	Photo Gallery All Original Music
The Complete Series	66	September 3, 2008

External links

• Hardcastle and McCormickatIMDb
• "Hardcastle & McCormick Transcripts".TVTDB.Archived from the original on July 25, 2010.
• "Hardcastle and McCormick: Virtual Season Four".handmvirtualseason.info.