Not only was August 15, 2006 my birthday, but it was also the day that Jason Morgan and Elizabeth Webber (Liason) had their "Night of Passion" on ABC's General Hospital, and it was when Canada's Visual Entertainment Inc. (VEI) released season two of Hardcastle and McCormick in a five-disc set of all 22 episodes, as this modern-day Lone Ranger and Tonto continues to track down criminals that have beaten the rap thanks to legal technicalities and slick attorneys with the Coyote X, which is now in the form of a Delorean.
With the new Coyote comes the new theme song "Back to Back" from Joey Scarbury, who's known for singing "Believe It or Not", the theme from The Greatest American Hero that went to number two in 1981 and won Scarbury a Grammy. "Back to Back" was pop and light-hearted, but fan response was lukewarm, and the hard-rockin' and pulse-pounding "Drive" returned halfway in season two. Still, "Back to Back" represents the budding relationship between Hardcastle & McCormick. Both Stephen J. Cannell and Patrick Hasburgh goes back to Rockford Files territory with season two episodes such as "Ties My Father Sold Me", "You and the Horse You Rode in On", and "The Birthday Present".
Justice Begins At Home
This season, we're introduced to Hardcastle's sister-in law ("D-Day"), his niece Warren ("It Coula Been a Worse... She Coulda Been a Welder"), and his aunts ("Hardcastle, Hardcastle, Hardcastle and McCormick"), showing that the judge isn't the only Hardcastle with an interest in crime and justice. A flip side of that coin is Mark's long-lost father Sonny Daye (Steve Lawrence), whom we meet in "Ties My Father Sold Me".
Affairs Of The Heart
Besides going after "the ones that got away" from justice, Cannell and the writers allow Hardcastle & McCormick for romance in episodes that includes "Never My Love", where Mark (Daniel Hugh Kelly) comes to the aid of his college girlfriend, while Hardcastle (Brian Keith) reunites with "The Long Ago Girl": a movie star he fell in love with during his days as an soldier from World War II.
Pop Culture References
"You Would Cry, too, If It Happened to You" takes a page out of Risky Business, when Mark gets the house to himself while Hardcastle's away. He decides to invite some prison pals for what seems to be a game for poker that turns into "the party of the century" that gets out of hand, and when Mark picks up Hardcastle from the airport, the place is empty and all of the judge's files are gone.
"Whatever Happened to Guts?" pokes at The People's Court, when Hardcastle becomes a media sensation -- and the object of an obsessed fan.
"It Coula Been a Worse... She Coulda Been a Welder" is from Flashdance, as Hardcastle's niece is a law student who moonlights as an dancer for an university pub she's trying to save from becoming a law library.
Cannell cracks at competition Knight Rider with "The Long Ago Girl", where Mark told Hardcastle that cars can actually talk, and the Coyote tells him what happened as a way to cover up his illegal break-in of obtaining evidence that'll help clear the judge's former flame of murder.
Conclusion
Though moving away from the premise, season two of Hardcastle & McCormick brought more character-driven stories mixed with humor and drama while still providing an dose of action and the Coyote that made the first season stand out.
Both are available online at Amazon.com.
