Date of airing: May 8, 1999 (CBS)
Nielsen ratings information: 9.24 million viewers, 6.5/14 in Households
written by: Sean Clark
directed by: Gary Nelson
Somebody needed to ask network executives why they tried to create crossovers this late in a television season, to try and create buzz for a show whose season (and potential series) finale was airing later in the week. Promoting a show within another show before the season finale airs might be a crude and horrible decision for everyone involved, since you would not be able to carry the viewers' interest in the show that guests on "your" show over to the other, because it has already gone to the summer hiatus by then. This practice of creating TV crossovers is still something I ask myself why they even exist, especially after ER and THIRD WATCH crossed over very late in the 2001/02 season and did not even give THRID WATCH the chance to win over new audiences over a couple of weeks, since their season was about to end anyway.
Now, I do not know a whole lot about MARTIAL LAW, but what I know is that Sammo Hung starred in it after Jackie Chan declined the role, he had to phonetically learn his dialogue because he did not speak English at the time (which was evident in this episode), it was a short-lived show that aired on CBS for two seasons and was something of a surprise hit during the first year, it is a show no one knows even existed, and I must have watched at least an episode or two of it because I remember it having aired on German broadcaster VOX when they used to air American television shows in the afternoon (the likes of 7TH HEAVEN, GILMORE GIRLS, EARLY EDITION, NASH BRIDGES, TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL, and that are just a few I can quickly remember), which was perfect for that time when I came home from school and could plant my butt on the couch and watch American television throughout the entire afternoon. Not that this crossover episode did anything to convince me to put MARTIAL LAW on my to-watch list, but it certainly has not been put on the "meh, I will never watch this, no matter what you tell me" list.
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| This date is so boring, you can only read the paper to amuse yourself. |
The thing is, this episode does not particularly make me want to watch MARTIAL LAW at all, due to the way it introduced Sammo Hung to an audience who has never heard of his character or the show he stars in. Sammo might have looked like no one else on television back then (a little overweight Asian man with a scar above his upper lip, looking almost menacing, but he is still the hero), but not even the martial arts action sequences could convince me to immediately start watching the show, since Sammo happened to be a generic and boring character in all other regards. And let's not mention that the martial arts sequences were cut down to a minimum, with the climactic fight around the falling balloons being the only highlight, and that is a scene Jackie Chan can do in his sleep.
First of all, no information was given as to what Sammo’s exact job in the LAPD is. Okay, he probably does not investigate homicides, but is he hunting down stolen artifacts that happen to land in Los Angeles, which makes his character similar to that of Tia Carrere's in RELIC HUNTER, only trapped in the world of a police procedural? Or does he take over all the cases in which Asian people are involved because Chicago police are a bit racist when it comes to Asian-involved crime? In addition, his character did not get a noteworthy backstory, and he turned out to be a snooze when he was talking with other characters, due to the notion that Hung had to phonetically learn the dialogue and viewers could immediately notice it. I would have thought that crossover episodes were something of establishing episodes for the show planned within the show you are watching, so maybe a bit more depth for Sammo would not have been a mistake.
But Sammo did not have the amount of charm in this episode that made Jackie Chan an interesting figure in cinema the years preceding the series creation of MARTIAL LAW, because at least Chan was able to be a good comedian, all while being the martial arts star of his movies. Sammo on the other hand was neither funny nor a hero in this episode. He came out of nowhere to beat up some goons and save Gary in the process and moved on, with his face never seen, with his character never introducing himself – you would think that interrupting crime Gary is involved in would cause a Chicago police officer to stop and ask some questions...). I assume that MARTIAL LAW came to be after Asian action cinema started becoming popular in the West (thanks to Jackie Chan, who finally broke out in America with 1995's RUMBLE IN THE BRONX), and RUSH HOUR became a hit, but I did not see any of that in this episode, making me think that MARTIAL LAW was just another CBS crime drama with nothing special to offer.
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| The CBS crime show crossover takes a trip on a bike. |
Who knows, maybe Gary was the one standing in the way of Sammo properly introducing himself and his world to a new audience. Then again, MARTIAL LAW was in the middle of a two-part episode when this episode of EARLY EDITION aired. Maybe some of the viewers were a bit confused to see Sammo getting side-tracked by the mission to get back a priceless helmet someone else stole from China when the situation he was in the week before (and the hour after, because the first season finale of MARTIAL LAW aired after this episode) was a completely different one. This brings me to say once more that the crossover with EARLY EDITION came too late and should have been scheduled much earlier in the season.
