The Eighties Club
The Politics and Pop Culture of the 1980s
The A-Z of Television in the '80s (H)
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Hagen
(CBS, 3.1.80-4.24.80)
Arthur Hill and Chad Everett starred in this short-lived, detective drama about a sophisticated San Francisco attorney (Hill) who teamed up with a rugged outdoorsman (Everett) to solve crime. There were only nine one-hour episodes. Hill had tried something similar -- and more successful -- before, with Owen Marshall, Counselor-at-Law (1971-74).
Hail to the Chief
(ABC, 4.9.85-6.30.85)
This half-hour sitcom starred Patty Duke as America's first female chief executive. Ted Bessell was her husband, Dick Shawn the lunatic Soviet premier, and Glynn Turman was the black Secretary of State. By the creator of Soap, the show lasted only seven episodes.
Half Nelson
(NBC, 3.24.85-5.10.85)
Joe Pesci starred as Rocky Nelson, a pugnacious former NYC cop who moved to Beverly Hills and went to work for an upscale security service for the rich and famous. Not content to be a high-rent security guard, Rocky solved major crimes and regularly confided in his friend Dean Martin.
(7 one-hour episodes)
The Hamptons
(ABC, 7.27-83-8.24.83)
This summer primetime soap focused on the Chadways and the Duncan Mortimers, two old-line families joined by romance and co-ownership of a chain of high-class department stores, not to mention residency in the fashionable Hamptons. Michael Goodwin starred as Peter Chadway, who, when the series ended after five episodes, was accused of murder. Also starred Leigh Taylor-Young and Bib Besch.
Hard Copy
(CBS, 2.1.87-7.3.87)
This hour-long drama was set in the newsroom of a Los Angeles newspaper where a highly-competitive bunch of journalists jockeyed for the Big Scoop. The cast included Ben Murphy as veteran newshound Andy Omart and Dean Devlin as the fresh-from-journalism-school youngster David Del Valle. Fionnula Flanagan was Police Lt. Guyla Cook.
Hard Time on Planet Earth
(CBS, 3.1.89-7.5.89)
Martin Kove starred as Jesse, an intergalactic warrior banished from his society for being too violent. Changed into human form, he was transferred to Earth to serve "hard time" until he learned how to be nice. Jesse traveled hither and yon and tried to help people, but he often resorted to violence to do so, and he had trouble adapting to human customs. Viewers had trouble adapting to the hour-long show, which was soon canceled. j(13 episodes)
Hardball
(NBC, 9.21.89-6.29.90)
John Ashton and Richard Tyson starred in this hour-long action series as two hard-hitting cops who really didn't like each other. One was a middle-aged veteran, the other a long-haired young gun who rode a Harley. Somehow they managed to get along well enough to bust the bad guys. The theme song, "Roll It Over," was performed by Eddie Money. (18 episodes)
Hardcastle & McCormick
Featured Series

Harry
(ABC, 3.4.87-3.25.87)
Alan Arkin played the title role, a poker-playing, wheeler-dealer of a supply clerk in County General Hospital, in this (extremely) short-lived sitcom that also featured comedian Richard Lewis. Of the seven episodes made, only four of them aired.
Harper Valley P.T.A.
(NBC, 1.16.81-8.14.82)
Based on the hit 1968 song by Jeannie C. Riley, which was followed by a 1978 film with Barbara Eden, who reprised her role for the series as a liberated widow trying to deal with hypocrisy in a small town. Jenn Thompson, Anne Francine, George Gobel co-starred. When the half-hour sitcom returned for its first full season in the Fall of 1981 "P.T.A." had been dropped from the title.
Hart to Hart
Featured Series
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Have Faith
(ABC, 4.18.89-7.23.89)
This sitcom was about four priests at an inner-city Chicago church. Joel Higgins played the somewhat irreverent Mac MacKenzie while Frank Hamilton played the uptight Father Tuttle.
(Seven half-hour episodes)
Hawaiian Heat
(ABC, 9.14.84-12.21.84)
Jeff McCracken and Robert Ginty played a pair of Chicago street cops who moved to sunny Hawaii in this hour-long police drama, where they went to work as undercover officers for the HPD. Mako co-starred as their boss, Oshira, who was never too sure about the duo, while Tracy Scoggins had a small recurring role as a helicopter pilot.
Head of the Class
(ABC, 9.17.86-6.25.91)
Herman Hesseman played Charlie Moore, the somewhat untraditional teacher of a class of honors students at a Manhattan high school. The students included the nerd, the dude, the exchange student, a 12-year-old genius, the rich girl and the chemistry whiz, played by the likes of Robin Givens, Dan Frischman and Daniel J. Schneider. The sitcom was the first American series to film an episode in Moscow. (114 eps.)
Heart of the City
(ABC, 9.20.86-7.2.87)
Robert Desiderio played an LAPD detective whose wife was murdered, leaving him with two kids to raise, played by Christina Applegate (before she achieved fame in Married with Children) and Jonathan Ward. He'd transferred from the S.W.A.T. team to the night shift, but still had plenty of crimebusting to do. (Hour-long police drama; 13 episodes)
Heartbeat
(ABC, 3.23.88-4.6.89)
This one-hour medical drama with a feminist slant starred Kate Mulgrew played Dr. Joanne Springsteen, cofounder of the Women's Medical Arts clinic, who, with her colleague Dr. Eve Autrey (Laura Johnson), was continually at odds with the male-dominated administration of Bay General Hospital.  
Heartland
(CBS, 3.20.89-7.31.89)
Brian Keith starred as B.L. McCutcheon, a rural Archie Bunker who moved in with his daughter (Kathleen Layman) when the bank foreclosed on his farm. B.L. didnt get along with his son-in-law (Richard Gilliland) and had his own rather old-fashioned ideas about how the couple should raise their three kids. (Half-hour sitcom)
Hell Town
(NBC, 9.4.85-12.25.85)
Robert Blake tried to repeat the success he'd enjoyed with Baretta in this hour-long series about an unorthodox Catholic priest named Father Hardstep, who ministered to an impoverished parish in East Los Angeles. With the help of buddies One Ball (Whitman Mayo), Stump and Crazy Horse, he laid down the law as well as The Word. (One-hour drama)
Herbie, the Love Bug
(CBS, 3.17.82-4.14.82)
Dean Jones reprised the role he played in the successful Disney films (1969-1980) in this hour-long comedy series about the VW Beetle that tried to look out for its owner's welfare, often with hilarious results. Obviously not hilarious enough, though, as only five episodes were made.
Here's Boomer
(NBC, 3.14.80-8.14.82)
This half-hour series featured a mixed breed stray named Boomer who wandered into people's lives, solved their problems, and then wandered out again. Boomer ran from May to August 1980, with more new episodes showing up for the 1981-82 season. There were plans to let viewers hear Boomer thinking with a voice-over in the next season -- except there wasn't a next season.
He's the Mayor
(ABC, 1.10.86-3.21.86)
Kevin Hooks played Carl Burke, a 25-year-old town mayor who found out it isn't as easy as he thought it would be to set things right once he was in office. He was assisted by his father Alvin (Al Fann), who happened to be the City Hal janitor, and his best friend Wardell (Wesley Thompson), who served as the mayor's chauffeur. (Half-hour sitcom)
Hey Dude
(Nickelodeon, 1989-1991)
Shot on location in Tucson, Arizona, this comedy was set on the Bar None dude ranch, where a group of teenage staffers interacted with each other and the guests. 65 episodes aired.
High Mountain Rangers
(CBS, 1.2.88-7.9.88)
TV veteran Robert Conrad (Wild Wild West) starred as Jesse Hawkes who, along with his sons Matt and Cody (played by Conrad's sons Christian and Shane) operated a mountain rescue/service team. Filmed on location in the Sierra Nevada, near Lake Tahoe. Conrad's daughter Joan was the series' executive producer. (Hour-long drama, 12 episodes, plus pilot)
High Performance
(ABC, 3.2.83-3.23.83)
Mitchell Ryan and Lisa Hartman starred in this hour-long adventure series about a trio of athletic young bodyguards carrying out freelance security and rescue missions using their derring-do and some high-tech wizardry. Jack Scalia also starred.


Highway to Heaven
(NBC, 9.19.84-8.4.89)
Michael Landon produced, starred and sometimes wrote for this series about an angel whose assignment is to bring love and understanding into people's lives. He does so with the aid of a burly ex-cop named Mark (Victor French), whose own life was turned around by the saintly "Jonathan Smith." There were 111 60-minute episodes.
High Risk
(CBS, 10.4.88-11.15.88)
Wayne Rogers hosted this hour-long program that featured dangerous vocations -- firefighter, Border Patrol agent, professional stuntman, etc. The hour-long show was thrown together to fill time during the 1988 writers' strike.
The Hitchhiker
(HBO, USA, 1983-1990)
This half-hour suspense anthology focused on tales of greed, lust and murder, and the episodes were hosted by the mysterious "Hitchhiker" (Nicholas Campbell from 1983-84, Page Fletcher from 1984-90). Margot Kidder and Tom Skerritt were among the numerous notable guest stars.
The Hogan Family
(NBC, 3.1.86-7.20.91)
Valerie Harper starred -- the sitcom was originally called Valerie -- as a woman trying to juggle a job and her duties as a wife and mother. When Harper left the series in 1987, the title was changed, and Sandy Duncan took over as lead. The series began to focus more on the three teenage Hogan boys (Jason Bateman, Danny Ponce, Jeremy Licht.)
Homeroom
(ABC, 9.24.89-12.17.89)
Darryl Harper quit his high-paying job in advertising to teach at an inner-city school, a move supported by his wife but oft-criticized by his father, in whose brownstone the couple lived, rent-free. Darryl Sivad, Penny Johnson and Bill Cobbs starred in this half-hour sitcom.
Hooperman
(ABC, 9.23.87-9.6.89)
John Ritter played Det. Harry Hooperman in this "dramedy," a cross between Barney Miller and Hill Street Blues. In addition to fighting crime, Hooperman found himself the landlord of an apartment complex seemingly filled with troublesome tenants. Deborah Farentino played Susan, the handy-person and Hooperman's romantic interest. (Half-hour, 42 episodes.)
Hot Pursuit
(NBC, 9.22.84-12.28.84)
Kerrie Keene and Eric Pierpoint starred as Kate and Jim, a young couple very much in love. When Kate is falsely accused of murdering her boss, auto magnate Victor Modrian, Jim stages a daring escape, and they set off across the country, seeking evidence to prove her innocence, with a one-eyed assassin hired by Modrian's widow in hot pursuit.
(Hour-long drama)
Hotel
(ABC, 9.21.83-8.6.88)
Based on the bestselling novel by Arthur Hailey, this successful drama was set in the posh St. Gregory Hotel, run by manager Peter McDermott (James Brolin) with the help of his beautiful assistant -- and lover -- Christina (Connie Selleca). The exterior of the St. Gregory was actually San Francisco's elegant Fairmont Hotel. Henry Mancini wrote the theme song. There were 116 episodes of this hour-long drama.
Hothouse
(ABC, 6.30.88-8.25.88)
This medical drama was set in a family-run psychiatric clinic near Boston. Patriarch Sam Garrison ran the place, with the help of his psychiatrist daughter and business manager son. Michael Learned also starred as veteran psychiatrist Dr. Maria Teller, and Alexis Smith played the part of Sam's ex-wife Lily.
House Calls
(CBS, 12.17.79-9.13.82)
Wayne Rogers and Lynn Redgrave co-starred in this half-hour sitcom about a nonconformist surgeon and a by-the-book (and very British) hospital administrator who are romantically linked despite the fact that they are often at odds over medical matters. When Redgrave left the show in 1981 after a contract dispute, Sharon Gless moved in as a new character who happened to be the good doctor's old flame.
Houston Knights
(CBS, 3.12.87-6.6.88)
Michael Pare and Michael Beck starred in this hour-long police drama. Pare wa the aggressive Joey La Fiamma, who was teamed up with the laid back Levon Lundy (Michael Beck). Though their methods were very different, and they didn't always see eye-to-eye, they made a good team, cleaning up the crime on the streets of Houston in a way that would have made Starsky and Hutch proud. (31 episodes)