Explaining the appeal of "Walker, Texas Ranger" is, well, pretty much impossible. And yet, predictable plotting, a wooden lead (Chuck Norris), leaden "humor" and more violence than any parent should want their child to see have all added up to a bona fide hit.
"Walker" is by far the most popular show on any network's schedule on Saturday nights. Which explains why CBS would want more of the same -- particularly given the fact that Norris is talking about retiring the show at some point in the relatively near future.So it's no surprise that the network is trotting out the "Walker" spinoff "Sons of Thunder," which debuts tonight at 9 p.m. on Ch. 2. It's a show that was co-created and is co-executive produced by Norris himself -- and he'll be making multiple appearances as Walker in the next few weeks.
"Sons" isn't exactly new, however. It actually debuted as a "Walker" TV movie back in 1997. A violent, predictable TV movie.
This is standard stuff. Trent Malloy (Jimmy Wlek) is a former special forces operative who teams up with ex-cop Carlos Sandoval (Marco Sanchez) to fight crime in and around Dallas. And they get a little help from their friend Butch McMann (Alan Autry of "In the Heat of the Night"), who's an ex-prize fighter.
There's plenty of kicks and hits and jumps -- as much violence as you'll see on TV this side of the WWF.
In tonight's pilot episode, Sandoval incurs the wrath of a serial killer who promptly offs the police officer's partner. So Sandoval quits the force and teams up with Malloy to bring the killer to justice.
(Anybody wanna place bets on whether they succeed or not?)
If you like "Walker," you'll probably like "Sons of Thunder." If you don't, then steer clear.
MORE "TOTAL RECALL": It takes only a few moments to realize that the new sci-fi series "Total Recall 2070" was produced for the pay-cable channel Showtime. That's because it takes only a few moments before viewers are treated to nudity and extreme violence.
Just exactly what we've come to expect from Showtime.
This new series is loosely based on the 1990 Arnold Schwarzenegger movie. None of the characters recur, but it is the same rather grim vision of the future.
Michael Easton stars as police detective David Hume, a generally good guy who goes a bit over-the-top when his partner is murdered by androids. His new partner, Ian Farve (Karl Pruner) turns out to be an android, which is sort of problematic.
The "2070" pilot movie, titled "Machine Dreams" (Sunday, 9 p.m., Showtime) has Hume and Farve running around looking for those murderous androids. They uncover a much bigger conspiracy that takes their investigation to Mars.
It's all extraordinarily dark and forboding, not to mention violent and convoluted. The art direction and special effects are pretty cool, but it's simply not enough to make for interesting television.
"Total Recall 2070" will air at least 20 more one-hour episodes (Fridays at 11:45 p.m.), but tuning in to this every week seems more like a chore than entertainment.