Hardcastle and McCormick

Did You Know?

• On Rotten Tomatoes, 19% of 27 critics' reviews are positive for the first season.
• The series ranked #15 in the 1983–84 season with an 18.71 rating.
• Visual Entertainment released all three seasons on DVD in Region 1 (Canada only).

Premise

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Milton C. "Hardcase" Hardcastle is an eccentric judge known for strict enforcement of the law. Preparing for retirement, he finds files on 200 people who escaped conviction on technicalities. Inspired by his childhood hero the Lone Ranger, he wants to make them answer for their crimes. Mark McCormick, a streetwise car thief, faces a long sentence for stealing a prototype sports car called the Coyote X, designed by his murdered best friend. Hardcastle and McCormick strike a deal: the judge helps catch the murderer, and McCormick works as the judge's agent on conditional parole, keeping the Coyote for pursuits.

Production

The show's basic idea was a reworking of an earlier Stephen J. Cannell series, Tenspeed and Brown Shoe. Patrick Hasburgh and Cannell created it, serving as executive producers, with Stephen J. Cannell Productions handling production for ABC. The first season's opening theme was "Drive," written by Mike Post and Stephen Geyer and performed by David Morgan. For the first dozen episodes of season two, the theme changed to "Back To Back," also by Post and Geyer but sung by Joey Scarbury, who had previously performed their theme for The Greatest American Hero. Fan outcry brought "Drive" back starting with episode thirteen, where it stayed for the rest of season three. Post and Pete Carpenter composed the series' score. McCormick's car, the Coyote X, was constructed from custom molds inspired by the McLaren M6GT. Mike Fennel and Unique Movie Cars molded, modified, and assembled the original. The nose, windshield, doors, and lower body (excluding the ventral intakes) closely match the McLaren, while the shortened rear deck was a custom piece that later appeared on many Manta Montage kits with broken or missing rear windows. Most show cars were built by either Fennel or Unique Movie Cars. Like many kit cars of that era, it used a Volkswagen Beetle chassis and a Porsche 914 engine. For seasons two and three, the producers switched to a different Coyote based on a DMC DeLorean because Brian Keith had trouble getting in and out of the first one; this replacement was powered by a small-block Chevy V8.