# Hardcastle and McCormick

Hardcastle and McCormick is an American action crime drama television series that aired on ABC from September 18, 1983, through May 5, 1986. The series stars Brian Keith as Judge Milton C. Hardcastle and Daniel Hugh Kelly as ex-con and race car driver Mark "Skid" McCormick.
During an interview in the early 1980s, producer Stephen J. Cannell referred to the then-upcoming series as Rolling Thunder.

## Premise

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Milton C. "Hardcase" Hardcastle is an eccentric judge notorious for being strict with the law in both his duties and towards defendants. Preparing for his retirement, he notices file drawers filled with 200 people who escaped conviction due to legal technicalities. Inspired by his childhood hero the Lone Ranger, Hardcastle desires to make the criminals answer for their crimes.
Mark McCormick is a smart-mouthed, streetwise car thief. He faces a long incarceration for his latest theft, a prototype sports car called the Coyote X, designed by his murdered best friend. Together, the judge and the car thief strike a deal in which Hardcastle helps McCormick catch the murderer and McCormick agrees to work (his conditional parole) as the judge's agent. In addition, McCormick is allowed to keep the Coyote, which proves to be an excellent pursuit vehicle for their needs.

## Cast

* Brian Keith as Judge Milton C. "Hardcase" Hardcastle
* Daniel Hugh Kelly as "Skid" Mark McCormick
* Mary Jackson as Sarah Wicks (1983)
* John Hancock as Lt. Michael Delaney (1984–85)
* Ed Bernard as Lt. Bill Giles (1984–85)
* Joe Santos as Lt. Frank Harper (1985–86)
* John Ashley as narrator during show opening

## Episodes
### Season 1 (1983–84)

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date |
| 1 | 1 | "Rolling Thunder" | Roger Young | Patrick Hasburgh & Stephen J. Cannell | September 18, 1983 (1983-09-18) |
| 2 | 2 | "Rolling Thunder" | Roger Young | Patrick Hasburgh & Stephen J. Cannell | September 18, 1983 (1983-09-18) |
| 3 | 3 | "Man in a Glass House" | Guy Magar | Stephen J. Cannell | September 25, 1983 (1983-09-25) |
| 4 | 4 | "The Crystal Duck" | Bruce Kessler | Stephen Katz | October 2, 1983 (1983-10-02) |
| 5 | 5 | "Goin' Nowhere Fast" | Guy Magar | Patrick Hasburgh | October 9, 1983 (1983-10-09) |
| 6 | 6 | "The Black Widow" | Richard Compton | Stephen J. Cannell | October 16, 1983 (1983-10-16) |
| 7 | 7 | "The Boxer" | Tony Mordente | Patrick Hasburgh | October 23, 1983 (1983-10-23) |
| 8 | 8 | "Once Again with Vigorish" | Arnold Laven | Patrick Hasburgh | October 30, 1983 (1983-10-30) |
| 9 | 9 | "Killer B's" | Ron Satlof | Stephen Katz | November 6, 1983 (1983-11-06) |
| 10 | 10 | "The Prince of Fat City" | Tony Mordente | Patrick Hasburgh | November 13, 1983 (1983-11-13) |
| 11 | 11 | "Hotshoes" | Richard Compton | Patrick Hasburgh | November 27, 1983 (1983-11-27) |
| 12 | 12 | "Flying Down to Rio" | Tony Mordente | Stephen Katz | December 4, 1983 (1983-12-04) |
| 13 | 13 | "Just Another Round of That Old Song" | Allen Reisner | Patrick Hasburgh | December 11, 1983 (1983-12-11) |
| 14 | 14 | "Third Down and Twenty Years to Life" | Georg Stanford Brown | Evan Lawrence | January 1, 1984 (1984-01-01) |
| 15 | 15 | "Whistler's Pride" | Tony Mordente | Stephen Katz | January 8, 1984 (1984-01-08) |
| 16 | 16 | "Mr. Hardcastle Goes to Washington" | Arnold Laven | Patrick Hasburgh | January 15, 1984 (1984-01-15) |
| 17 | 17 | "School for Scandal" | Tony Mordente | Tom Blomquist | January 29, 1984 (1984-01-29) |
| 18 | 18 | "The Georgia Street Motors" | Joseph Manduke | Shel Willens | February 5, 1984 (1984-02-05) |
| 19 | 19 | "The Homecoming: Part One" | Tony Mordente | Patrick Hasburgh | March 4, 1984 (1984-03-04) |
| 20 | 20 | "The Homecoming: Part Two" | Bruce Kessler | Patrick Hasburgh | March 11, 1984 (1984-03-11) |
| 21 | 21 | "Did You See the One that Got Away?" | Ron Satlof | Lawrence Hertzog | March 18, 1984 (1984-03-18) |
| 22 | 22 | "Really Neat Cars and Guys with a Sense of Humor" | Ron Satlof | Lawrence Hertzog | March 25, 1984 (1984-03-25) |
| 23 | 23 | "Scared Stiff" | Tony Mordente | Tom Blomquist | April 1, 1984 (1984-04-01) |

### Season 2 (1984–85)

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date |
| 24 | 1 | "Outlaw Champion" | Leo Penn | Patrick Hasburgh | September 23, 1984 (1984-09-23) |
| 25 | 2 | "Ties My Father Sold Me" | Ron Satlof | Patrick Hasburgh | September 30, 1984 (1984-09-30) |
| 26 | 3 | "You Would Cry, Too, If It Happened to You" | Tony Mordente | Lawrence Hertzog | October 7, 1984 (1984-10-07) |
| 27 | 4 | "D-Day" | Bruce Kessler | Lawrence Hertzog | October 14, 1984 (1984-10-14) |
| 28 | 5 | "Never My Love" | Bruce Kessler | Thomas E. Szollosi & Richard Christian Matheson | October 28, 1984 (1984-10-28) |
| 29 | 6 | "Whatever Happened to Guts?" | Michael Hiatt | Thomas E. Szollosi & Richard Christian Matheson | November 4, 1984 (1984-11-04) |
| 30 | 7 | "You and the Horse You Rode in On" | Patrick Hasburgh | Patrick Hasburgh | November 18, 1984 (1984-11-18) |
| 31 | 8 | "One of the Girls from Accounting" | Bruce Kessler | Stephen J. Cannell | November 25, 1984 (1984-11-25) |
| 32 | 9 | "It Coulda Been Worse, She Coulda Been a Welder" | Tony Mordente | Lawrence Hertzog | December 2, 1984 (1984-12-02) |
| 33 | 10 | "Hate the Picture, Love the Frame" | Dennis Donnelly | Erica Byrne | December 9, 1984 (1984-12-09) |
| 34 | 11 | "Pennies from a Dead Man's Eyes" | Tony Mordente | Marianne Clarkson | December 31, 1984 (1984-12-31) |
| 35 | 12 | "There Goes the Neighborhood" | Ron Satlof | Lawrence Hertzog | January 7, 1985 (1985-01-07) |
| 36 | 13 | "Too Rich and Too Thin" | Michael J. Kane | T : Ross Thomas S/T : Richard Christian Matheson & Thomas E. Szollosi | January 14, 1985 (1985-01-14) |
| 37 | 14 | "What's So Funny?" | Tony Mordente | Patrick Hasburgh | January 21, 1985 (1985-01-21) |
| 38 | 15 | "Hardcastle, Hardcastle, Hardcastle and McCormick" | Kim Manners | Lawrence Hertzog | February 4, 1985 (1985-02-04) |
| 39 | 16 | "The Long Ago Girl" | Richard A. Colla | Stephen J. Cannell | February 11, 1985 (1985-02-11) |
| 40 | 17 | "You Don't Hear the One that Gets You" | Tony Mordente | Lawrence Hertzog | February 18, 1985 (1985-02-18) |
| 41 | 18 | "The Birthday Present" | Tony Mordente | Stephen J. Cannell | February 25, 1985 (1985-02-25) |
| 42 | 19 | "Surprise on Seagull Beach" | Michael O'Herilhy | Michael O'Herlihy | March 4, 1985 (1985-03-04) |
| 43 | 20 | "Undercover McCormick" | Les Sheldon | Marianne Clarkson | March 11, 1985 (1985-03-11) |
| 44 | 21 | "The Game You Learn from Your Father" | Kim Manners | Patrick Hasburgh | March 18, 1985 (1985-03-18) |
| 45 | 22 | "Angie's Choice" | Bruce Kessler | Thomas E. Szollosi & Richard Christian Matheson | April 1, 1985 (1985-04-01) |

### Season 3 (1985–86)

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date |
| 46 | 1 | "She Ain't Deep, But She Sure Runs Fast" | Tony Mordente | Patrick Hasburgh | September 23, 1985 (1985-09-23) |
| 47 | 2 | "Faster Hearts" | Charles Picerni | Patrick Hasburgh | September 30, 1985 (1985-09-30) |
| 48 | 3 | "The Yankee Clipper" | Sigmund Neufeld, Jr. | Patrick Hasburgh | October 7, 1985 (1985-10-07) |
| 49 | 4 | "Something's Going On on This Train" | Tony Mordente | Lawrence Hertzog | October 14, 1985 (1985-10-14) |
| 50 | 5 | "The Career Breaker" | Kim Manners | Stephen J. Cannell | October 28, 1985 (1985-10-28) |
| 51 | 6 | "Do Not Go Gently" | Bruce Kessler | Patrick Hasburgh | November 4, 1985 (1985-11-04) |
| 52 | 7 | "Games People Play" | Peter Kiwitt | S : Tony Michelman & Scott J. Schneid T : Carol Mendelsohn & Larry Forrester | November 11, 1985 (1985-11-11) |
| 53 | 8 | "Strangle Hold" | Michael Switzer | Marianne Clarkson | November 18, 1985 (1985-11-18) |
| 54 | 9 | "You're Sixteen, You're Beautiful and You're His" | Kim Manners | Lawrence Hertzog | November 25, 1985 (1985-11-25) |
| 55 | 10 | "Mirage a Trois" | Sidney Hayers | Marianne Clarkson | December 2, 1985 (1985-12-02) |
| 56 | 11 | "Conventional Warfare" | Sigmund Newfeld, Jr. | Steven L. Sears & Burt Pearl | December 9, 1985 (1985-12-09) |
| 57 | 12 | "Duet for Two Wind Instruments" | Robert Bralver | Lawrence Hertzog | December 16, 1985 (1985-12-16) |
| 58 | 13 | "If You Could See What I See" | Kim Manners | Carol Mendelsohn | January 6, 1986 (1986-01-06) |
| 59 | 14 | "Hardcastle for Mayor" | Kim Manners | Alan Cassidy | January 13, 1986 (1986-01-13) |
| 60 | 15 | "When I Look Back on All the Things" | Steven Beers | Lawrence Hertzog | February 3, 1986 (1986-02-03) |
| 61 | 16 | "Brother, Can You Spare a Crime?" | James L. Conway | Donald Ross | February 10, 1986 (1986-02-10) |
| 62 | 17 | "Round Up the Old Gang" | Tony Mordente | Stephen Katz | February 17, 1986 (1986-02-17) |
| 63 | 18 | "McCormick's Bar and Grill" | James S. Giritlian | Jeff Ray | February 24, 1986 (1986-02-24) |
| 64 | 19 | "Poker Night" | Michael J. Kane | Marianne Clarkson | March 3, 1986 (1986-03-03) |
| 65 | 20 | "In the Eye of the Beholder" | Daniel Hugh Kelly | Daniel Hugh Kelly | March 17, 1986 (1986-03-17) |
| 66 | 21 | "The Day the Music Died" | Charles Picerni | Tom Blomquist | March 31, 1986 (1986-03-31) |
| 67 | 22 | "A Chip Off the Ol' Milt" | Les Sheldon | Carol Mendelsohn & Marianne Clarkson | May 5, 1986 (1986-05-05) |

## Production
### Development

The series premise was somewhat recycled from a previous Cannell series, Tenspeed and Brown Shoe. It was created by Patrick Hasburgh and Stephen J. Cannell, serving as the executive producers and produced by Stephen J. Cannell Productions for ABC.

### Music

The opening theme song during season one was "Drive", composed by Mike Post and Stephen Geyer and sung by David Morgan. For the first 12 episodes of season two, the theme song was "Back To Back", also composed by Post and Geyer, but sung by Joey Scarbury (who also sang Post and Geyer's theme for The Greatest American Hero). Public demand, however, resulted in the "Drive" theme being reinstated in episode 13 and kept through season three. Post and Pete Carpenter scored the music for the series.

### "Coyote X" or "Cody Coyote"

The car that McCormick drove, the Coyote X, was built from custom molds based on the McLaren M6GT. The original Coyote X was molded, modified and assembled by Mike Fennel and Unique Movie Cars. The nose, windshield, doors, and lower body (minus the ventral intakes) are faithful representations of the McLaren; the cut-down rear deck, however, was a custom component that became a feature on many Manta Montage kits with damaged or removed rear windows. The most noticeable differences between the Coyotes and Mantas are the wheel wells, roll pan height and shape, and the fact that the Coyote has a one-piece front clip that terminates about an inch before and surrounding the windshield.
Most of the cars made for the show were molded and assembled by either Mike Fennel or Unique Movie Cars. Like many kit cars of the time, the car uses a chassis from a Volkswagen Beetle and its engine from a Porsche 914. For the second and third seasons, producers used a different Coyote which was based on a DMC DeLorean, as Brian Keith had difficulty getting in and out of the original Coyote.
The season-two and -three Coyote does not resemble the Manta, as the front is larger than the original, making the car resemble a front-engined car. The season-one "Hero" car that was used in the production of Hardcastle and McCormick is owned by a private owner in New York. The stunt/skid car (used in all three seasons) was reconfigured for the Knight Rider 2000 television pilot, then consequently turned into Jay Ohrberg's show car "Taz-Mobile". In April 2011, the stunt/skid car was sold and shipped to Dallas, Texas, where it was rebodied back to its former Coyote configuration, retaining as many of the original Coyote pieces as possible (in a private collection). Note: only one season-one "Hero Car" and one "skid/stunt" car were used in all three seasons and several (center seat-mounted, dune buggy-like, see title shot) "jump cars" were used. A season-two and -three (De Lorean body) car appeared briefly on the sixth episode of season five of the sitcom Married... with Children.
* Season-one car owned by a private collector in NY
* Season-one Coyote at NJ home in 2008 and now in New York (2019)
* Season-one car rear quarter
* Season-one car front
* Rebodying Tazmobile back to Coyote skid/stunt car

## Reception
### Nielsen ratings

* 1983–84: #15 (18.71 rating)
* 1984–85: #39 (15.82 rating)
* 1985–86: #52 (13.9 rating)

## Home media

Visual Entertainment has released all three seasons of Hardcastle and McCormick on DVD in Region 1 (Canada only). VEI also released Hardcastle & McCormick: The Complete Series on DVD on September 3, 2008. As of March 2016, the complete DVD set is available on Amazon.com.
| DVD Name | Ep # | Release Date | Additional Information |
| The Complete First Season | 22 | February 14, 2006 | Includes 2-hour pilot, "Rolling Thunder" |
| The Complete Second Season | 22 | August 15, 2006 | All Original Music |
| The Complete Third and Final Season | 22 | October 30, 2007 | Photo Gallery All Original Music |
| The Complete Series | 66 | September 3, 2008 | |