I enjoy watching old "Police Story" reruns and one of the reasons is that it excelled at realism. Instead of the typical TV cops, the officers in this one often seemed more like the real thing. However, in this one, the writing just isn't up to snuff and the folks often seem more like caricatures than real men.
The setting for this installment is the Los Angeles Police Academy. It mostly focuses on three officers, Crawford (Kurt Russell), Ryan (Gary Collins) and Keegan (Gulager). Crawaford is the most one- dimensional of them and is a city boy who's come to the country. He seriously comes off like a country bumpkin and not a police candidate. And, Keegan is also rather one-dimensional, a hot-shot who is good but also thinks he's even better! He's a know-it-all who often manages to rub his fellow candidates as well as his wife the wrong way. As for Ryan, well, he's got many of Keegan's skills but a lot more humanity. But the quality of the characters isn't the only problem...some parts of the show seem downright shoddy, such as the scene where the two veteran cops tangle with a big, angry bald man.
So is this one terrible? No. It's worth seeing....but it IS a relatively bad show and is noticeable because the rest are so incredibly good. A rare disappointment, though there are some excellent scenes as well, such as when Crawford shines in his first situation involving live fire.
