Hawk (TV series) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Hawk |
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Reynolds as John Hawk.
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| Genre | Crime drama |
| Created by | Allan Sloane |
| Written by | Allan Sloane Edward Adler Don Mankiewicz Albert Ruben |
| Directed by | Sam Wanamaker Richard Benedict Paul Henreid Alexander Singer |
| Starring | Burt Reynolds Wayne Grice Bruce Glover Leon Janney |
| Theme music composer | Kenyon Hopkins Nelson Riddle |
| Composer(s) | Kenyon Hopkins Nelson Riddle (one episode) Shorty Rogers (one episode) |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 17 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Hubbell Robinson |
| Producer(s) | Paul Bogart (producer) Stan Schwimmer (associate producer) Kenneth Utt (associate producer) |
| Production location(s) | New York City |
| Editor(s) | Norman Colbert Arline Garson Murray Solomon Donald W. Starling |
| Camera setup | Single-camera |
| Running time | 60 minutes (with commercials) |
| Production company(s) | Screen Gems |
| Distributor | Colex Enterprises |
| Release | |
| Original network | ABC |
| Original release | September 8 – December 29, 1966 |
Hawk was a TV show about a special detective. It was a crime drama series. The show starred Burt Reynolds. It aired on ABC. It ran from September 8, 1966, to December 29, 1966. This was Reynolds' first main role in a TV series. He had left Gunsmoke the year before. The series was made by Screen Gems.
Meet Detective John Hawk
Burt Reynolds played John Hawk. Hawk was a police lieutenant. He was a full-blooded Iroquois man. He worked in New York City. Hawk was a special detective. He worked for the city's District Attorney's office.
Hawk had a partner named Dan Carter. Wayne Grice played Dan Carter. Hawk and Carter worked on many different cases. Being a detective was tough. Hawk also faced challenges because of his Native American heritage. He sometimes dealt with unfair treatment. This happened both on the streets and at work.
Many scenes were filmed in New York City. Some indoor scenes were filmed at the Filmways Studios. These studios were in East Harlem.
The show also featured other actors. Bruce Glover played Assistant D.A. Murray Slaken. Leon Janney played Assistant D.A. Ed Gorton.
Many famous actors appeared as guest stars. These included Gene Hackman and Martin Sheen. Others were Robert Duvall and Diana Muldaur. Scott Glenn, Diane Baker, and James Best also appeared. Bert Convy, Elizabeth Ashley, Kim Hunter, and Lou Antonio were also guests.
Burt Reynolds played a Native American character. He himself had some Cherokee ancestry. This came from his father's side of the family.
How the Show Was Made
The TV show Hawk was announced in June 1966. ABC decided to make 17 episodes. Burt Reynolds was chosen for the main role. He had some Native American background. He had also played Native Americans before. This was in Gunsmoke and in Navajo Joe.
Reynolds wanted the Native American part to feel real. He said, "I wanted the Indian thing to come naturally."
The show's producer, Paul Bogart, talked about the focus. He said, "The emphasis will be on how cops function at night." He added that the people out at night were very unusual.
Burt Reynolds described the show's style. "We're an action adventure show," he said. "It's fast paced. The music is all brass. There's a lot of cutting."
Reynolds also spoke about his character, Hawk. "Hawk is quite a character," he said. "He's very hostile." Reynolds felt he was hostile too, but wasn't sure why.
Reynolds said his acting was inspired by other actors. He looked to Kirk Douglas in Detective Story. He also looked to John Garfield. He wanted Hawk to be "Tough and hard." He saw Hawk as a "catalyst." This meant Hawk made things happen.
Reynolds made it clear that Hawk's heritage was not overdone. "We're placing no special emphasis on the fact that Hawk is an Indian," he said. "I'm not running around in moccasins or anything like that."
Reynolds was excited about his main role. He had been in two other TV series. In those, he felt he was just supporting others. He said, "this feels great." He also said he would not worry if the show didn't succeed. He felt it would be the audience's choice, not his fault.
Originally, Hawk was supposed to wear knives on his sleeves. Reynolds got this changed. He felt it was too much of a trick.
The show was filmed in New York City. Reynolds did his own stunts. He said he could do them better than anyone else.
When Hawk Aired Again
Hawk was a short-lived series. But it was shown again at least three times. This happened as Burt Reynolds became a big movie star. People wanted to see his early work.
- Hawk was shown again on NBC. This was in the spring of 1976. It was to take advantage of Reynolds' success. CBS did the same with his later series, Dan August, in 1973 and 1975.
- Later, Hawk was sold to local TV stations. This was in 1984. Colex Enterprises handled this.
- Episodes of the series have also appeared on GetTV. This is a digital TV network.
