# Gung Ho (TV series)

Gung Ho is an American sitcom based on the 1986 film of the same name. The series aired for one season on ABC from December 5, 1986, to February 9, 1987.

## Synopsis

Just like in the movie, the TV series follows the exploits of Hunt Stevenson (here, played by Scott Bakula as opposed to Michael Keaton in the movie), a laid-back American employee liaison of a Japanese car company (Assan Motors) in the fictional city of Hadleyville, Pennsylvania. Much of the humor arises from the abounding clashes between Hunt and the new Japanese plant manager, Kaz Kazuhiro (Gedde Watanabe, reprising his role from the movie) while looking for ways to bridge the culture gap between one another.

## Cast

Besides Watanabe, many of the other Japanese actors from the movie also reprised their roles for the series. Clint Howard (brother of Gung Ho movie director Ron Howard) was the only Caucasian actor from the film also to appear in the TV series.
* Scott Atari as Kenji
* Scott Bakula as Hunt Stevenson
* Heidi Banks as Randi
* Clint Howard as Googie
* Rodney Kageyama as Ito
* Stephen Lee as Buster
* Gedde Watanabe as Kaz Kazuhiro
* Patti Yasutake as Umeki Kazuhiro
* Sab Shimono as Saito
* Mary-Margaret Humes as Melissa
* Wendy Schaal As Kelly
* Kenneth Kimmins as Wacky Wally
* Emily Kuroda as Yukiko

## Episodes

| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date |
| 1 | "Pilot" | Jeff Chambers | Lowell Ganz & Babaloo Mandel | December 5, 1986 (1986-12-5) |
| Hunt, acting as labor's liaison to management, tries to restore the job of a fellow worker who brashly expressed his opinion of a new employee rule book. |||||
| 2 | "Line of Credit" | John Bowab | Bruce Ferber & David Lerner | December 12, 1986 (1986-12-12) |
| Hunt uses a new company credit card to entertain a date (Mary-Margaret Humes), an action that lands him back on the assembly line. |||||
| 3 | "Talk of the Town" | Dick Martin | Unknown | December 26, 1986 (1986-12-26) |
| Hunt invites Kaz to a civic meeting, where Kaz's straight talk is a hit with the crowd after Hunt's ramblings strike out. |||||
| 4 | "Sick and Tired" | Dick Martin | Unknown | January 2, 1987 (1987-1-2) |
| The flu puts Kaz in bed, leaving Saito in charge, just as a reporter (Earl Boen) arrives to do a story on cooperation between the Americans and the Japanese. |||||
| 5 | "Love Me Tender" | Art Dielhenn | Unknown | January 9, 1987 (1987-1-9) |
| Hunt proclaims himself a one-woman man, but Kaz and Umeki have evidence that his girl friend isn't similarly inclined. |||||
| 6 | "Help Wanted" | John Bowab | James Berg & Stan Zimmerman | January 16, 1987 (1987-1-16) |
| Hunt encourages Umeki to get a job selling TVs and stereos, but Kaz is outraged by the idea of his wife working. |||||
| 7 | "Kaz Over Easy (a.k.a. All Work And No Play...)" | Dick Martin | Bruce Ferber | January 23, 1987 (1987-1-23) |
| When Kaz's workaholic friend from Japan dies of a heart attack, Kaz drastically alters his own work habits. |||||
| 8 | "Where the Boys Are" | Dick Martin & George Sunga | James Berg & Stan Zimmerman | January 30, 1987 (1987-1-30) |
| Umeki can't contact Kaz to tell him that the prototype he plans to introduce at the auto show was totaled in transit. |||||
| 9 | "Brother, Can You Spare a Dollar?" | Thomas Lofaro | Unknown | February 6, 1987 (1987-2-6) |
| A visit from Hunt's brother Eddie (Marc Poppel), a Chicago commodities broker, sparks sibling rivalry. Eddie gets Kaz and Saito to invest in a high risk investment where they end up losing money. |||||