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Martial Law (TV series)

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Martial Law
GenreAction
Crime drama
Created byCarlton Cuse
StarringSammo Hung
Arsenio Hall
Kelly Hu
Louis Mandylor
Tom Wright
Gretchen Egolf
Tammy Lauren
Country of originUnited States
Canada
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes44 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time45 minutes.
Production companiesCarlton Cuse Productions
Ruddy Morgan Productions
20th Century Fox Television
CBS Productions
Original release
NetworkCBS (1998-2000)[1]
ReleaseSeptember 26, 1998 (1998-09-26) –
May 13, 2000 (2000-05-13)

Martial Law (Traditional Chinese: 過江龍) is an American/Canadian action crime drama series that aired on CBS from 1998 to 2000, and was created by Carlton Cuse.[2][3] The title character, Sammo Law, portrayed by Sammo Hung, was a Chinese law officer and martial arts expert who came to Los Angeles in search of a colleague and remains in the US.[4]

The show was a surprise hit, making Hung the only East Asian headlining a prime-time network series in the United States. At the time, Hung was not fluent in English, and he reportedly recited some of his dialogue phonetically.[5] In many scenes, Hung did not speak at all, making Martial Law perhaps the only US television series in history that featured so little dialogue from the lead character.[6][7]

Cast

Supporting cast

The cast endured turnover from the beginning. Detective Dana Dickson (played by Tammy Lauren) exited the show after Episode 6, "Extreme Measures", as she moved away to live with "her parents" as noted on the following episode. Then on Episode 9, "How Sammo Got His Groove Back", Arsenio Hall joined the cast as Terrell Parker, a wisecracking former LAPD press liaison who began helping out Sammo and the gang on cases. The pairing of Hung and Hall as partners was similar to, albeit a bit less overtly comedic than, the partnership between Sammo's friend, Jackie Chan, and Chris Tucker in the Rush Hour feature films. At the end of the episode "Cop Out", when Sammo Law is driving through Los Angeles, a sign is seen which advertises Rush Hour, as the movie was released at the time of the episode. Tzi Ma, who portrayed Council Han in Rush Hour, guest starred as villain Lee Hei for six episodes in this series.

Changes

New executive producers Lee Goldberg & William Rabkin took the helm at the beginning of the second season due to runaway production costs. They more or less pretended that the first season did not exist, retaining only the basic concept of a fish-out-of-water detective. Cast members Louis Mandylor and Tom Wright were dropped. Gretchen Egolf was brought in to play the unit's new leader, Amy Dylan, from the beginning of Season 2. Additionally, Parker's past in public relations was scrapped. The first season's cliffhanger ending (plus the dropping of Mandylor and Wright's characters) was explained away with a few throwaway lines.

Law made crossover appearances on episodes of Early Edition and Walker, Texas Ranger, the former preceding it and the latter following it in its Saturday time slot. Chuck Norris's Walker character, Cordell Walker, also made an appearance as part of the two-part Martial Law/Walker, Texas Ranger crossover.

Story

The basic storyline is that Sammo Law, a well-respected Chinese cop, is transferred to America. As he works for the police department, fighting crime in Los Angeles, he is met with a clash in culture. He is also the mentor of Grace "Pei Pei" Chen, an undercover officer. When American techniques do not work, Sammo employs some Chinese cop work to get the job done.

Season 1 plot

Sammo is sent by the Chinese government to apprehend an old nemesis, Lee Hei (Tzi Ma). He finds out that his disciple, Pei Pei, had infiltrated Lee Hei's criminal empire. His goal is to capture Lee Hei and end his criminal organization. Unfortunately, this plot line was unresolved and Season 1 ended in a cliffhanger, although season two's premiere has Sammo alluding to Lee Hei's death (by way of accusing a one-shot villain of trying to avenge it). Dana Dickson (Tammy Lauren) was initially billed as a main character but left after only a few episodes; it was explained that she had moved to another police force to be closer to her family.

Season 2 plot

After Winship's retirement and Louis's transfer to the NYPD, Law decides to stay in Los Angeles and is now partnered with Pei Pei. The department also gets a new captain, Amy Dylan, who thinks that the Chinese way of police work is not the best way of handling things. In addition, there are revelations of a secret society whose members include Law's long lost son. While Law decided to return to China in the last episode, a line of dialogue leaves open the possibility of a follow-up.

Cancellation

After season 2, CBS offered Sammo Hung a third season, however Sammo said it was very unlikely to happen. Sammo said that the new screenwriter CBS assigned to the show for season 2 made him nothing but a fighting machine and so he would not do it without a final say on scripts.[10]

Episodes

Main article: List of Martial Law episodes

"Honor Among Strangers" is part one of a crossover with Walker, Texas Ranger where Sammo teams with Cordell Walker to apprehend a hatemongering former military officer who later escapes Walker's custody in the Walker, Texas Ranger episode "The Day of Cleansing".

Ratings

Season U.S. ratings Network Rank
1 1998–1999 11.00 million CBS #57
2 1999–2000 10.08 million CBS #59

The show aired on Saturday nights throughout its run.

International broadcasters

In Ireland and the UK, Martial Law has been broadcast on Bravo throughout the week. In Britain the show used to air on Five from 1998–2005, then on ITV4 showing replays of the episodes from 2005–2007, from 2009 onwards Bravo have acquired the rights to show replays of the show. In France, Martial Law (Le Flic de Shanghaï) can be seen on M6 and W9. It was previously broadcast on Britain's Channel 5 at 8pm on Sundays scoring high ratings in 98, Australia's Seven Network in 1998, on ATV in Hong Kong, on TV4 in Sweden and on TV3, Sky1 and Channel 4 in New Zealand. It was previously broadcast on Dubai based MBC 2 but can now be seen on MBC Action. In Germany the series was broadcast on VOX. In Brazil, the series can be seen on Rede Bandeirantes since November 2007 as Um Policial da Pesada ("A heavy-set cop"). In Colombia the series was broadcast on RCN Television. In Hungary the series aired on RTL Klub as A harc törvénye ("The rules of engagement").

Home media releases

VCD

Release date
 Release title
 Country
 Publisher
 Format
 Language Subtitles Notes
 Ref
1 January 2000 Martial Law: Shanghai Express Hong Kong Deltamac (HK) NTSC English Traditional Chinese 1 VCD [11]
15 April 2005 Martial Law: Diamond Fever Hong Kong Deltamac (HK) NTSC English Traditional Chinese 1 VCD [12]
15 April 2005 Martial Law: Dead Ringers Hong Kong Deltamac (HK) NTSC English Traditional Chinese 1 VCD [13]
15 April 2005 Martial Law: Funny Money Hong Kong Deltamac (HK) NTSC English Traditional Chinese 1 VCD [14]
15 April 2005 Martial Law: Extreme Mesures Hong Kong Deltamac (HK) NTSC English Traditional Chinese 1 VCD [15]
15 April 2005 Martial Law: Trackdown Hong Kong Deltamac (HK) NTSC English Traditional Chinese 1 VCD [16]
15 April 2005 Martial Law: Take Out Hong Kong Deltamac (HK) NTSC English Traditional Chinese 1 VCD [17]
15 April 2005 Martial Law: Lock-Up Hong Kong Deltamac (HK) NTSC English Traditional Chinese 1 VCD [18]
15 April 2005 Martial Law: Substitutes Hong Kong Deltamac (HK) NTSC English Traditional Chinese 1 VCD [19]
15 April 2005 Martial Law: Trifecta Hong Kong Deltamac (HK) NTSC English Traditional Chinese 1 VCD [20]
15 April 2005 Martial Law Collection Hong Kong Deltamac (HK) NTSC English Traditional Chinese 10 VCD's [21]

DVD

For many years fans had petitioned for the show to be released onto DVD.[22]

On May 4, 2015, it was announced that Visual Entertainment had acquired the rights to the series and will be releasing the complete series on DVD for the first time in the early spring of 2016.[23]

Notes

  1. ^ "Cbs' Gamble: Sammo Hung". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 2010-11-05.
  2. ^ "MASTER OF 'MARTIAL LAW'". The New York Daily News. Retrieved 2010-11-05. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help) [dead link]
  3. ^ Flaherty, Mike (1998-10-09). "Chop Shtick". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2010-12-07.
  4. ^ McDonald, William (1998-09-26). "Kung Fu Show Adds Star, Hoping For a Hit". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-11-05.
  5. ^ Johnson, Allan (1999-05-07). "`Martial Law's' Hung Is Changing Stereotypes". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2010-11-05.
  6. ^ Sterngold, James (1998-11-19). "TELEVISION REVIEW; Body Slams Illumined by Aphorisms". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-11-05.
  7. ^ Rosenberg, Howard (1998-09-26). "If Your Fantasy Is Fascinating Shows, Forget It; TV reviews: 'Fantasy Island' treads water; 'Martial Law,' 'Cupid' don't zing". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-11-05.
  8. ^ "Television: Mean Unlean Machine". Time. 1998-10-19. Retrieved 2010-11-05.
  9. ^ Michaelson, Judith (1998-10-31). "MORNING REPORT; Arts and entertainment reports from The Times, national and international news services and the nation's press". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-11-05.
  10. ^ "Sammo Hung refused to shoot "Martial Law III"". singtao.com. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
  11. ^ "Martial Law: Shanghai Express". yesasia.com. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
  12. ^ "Martial Law: Diamond Fever". yesasia.com. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
  13. ^ "Martial Law: Dead Ringers". yesasia.com. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
  14. ^ "Martial Law: Funny Money". yesasia.com. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
  15. ^ "Martial Law: Extreme Mesures". yesasia.com. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
  16. ^ "Martial Law: Trackdown". yesasia.com. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
  17. ^ "Martial Law: Take Out". yesasia.com. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
  18. ^ "Martial Law: Lock-Up". yesasia.com. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
  19. ^ "Martial Law: Substitutes". yesasia.com. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
  20. ^ "Martial Law: Trifecta". yesasia.com. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
  21. ^ "Martial Law Collection". yesasia.com. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
  22. ^ Martial Law on DVD
  23. ^ Martial Law DVD news: Update about Martial Law | TVShowsOnDVD.com
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