Hardcastle and McCormick

Confessions of a guy who has never seen the show.

I responded to a call from Bear Manor Media. They were offering free books to anyone willing to review their books. I being the host of This Week in Charles Bronson and writer of Tough Guy Book Club Book Reviews requested H.M Wynant by Steve Peros.

H.M. worked with Bronson and Steve and I had discussed him being a guest on the Podcast.

I guess the good people at Bear Manor Media saw my request for H.M. Wynant and thought the H.M. stood for Hardcastle and McCormick and the Wynant meant “why not?”.

Why they saw the name Steve Peros and associated it with the names of three women who wrote Hardcastle and McCormick: A Complete Viewer’s Guide to the Classic Eighties Action Series ? I seriously have no idea.

I have never seen the TV show even though its from my era and it’s action, and I was ready to email them to correct my mistake when I realized that this was a great opportunity to learn about something new. It’s TV and tough guy related so who was I to look a gift Coyote in the mouth? ( Coyote being the race car driven in the series)

Let me start by praising Bear Manor Media for their role in Pop Culture literature. There appears to be no television or film topic that they wont take on. From Paul Talbot’s Bronson’s Loose series to The Doctor Phibes Companion. If you have a Pop Culture obsession they have the book.

This is not my review of the book. I just received it, but after reading the first few pages and finding out it was written by three friends and fans of the show who met through social media. I thought the similarities between that and my very own TWICB Buchinsky Family were too great to avoid.

So I’m excited to take this journey into a familiar realm with an unfamiliar television show. I’m excited to find the links to Charles Bronson that I know will be there ( one of the stars worked with him in the 50’s) and as always I’m excited to live vicariously through someone else’s obsession and to finally watch some episodes of this show.

Why have I never seen H & M if I was 8 years old and into action and cop shows when it premiered?

First of all it was on at 9pm on a school night. Sunday night the most dreaded of all school nights. Knight Rider was on earlier on another network and that was more an 8 year old’s speed (pun intended), but I was an odd 8 year old. I loved Matt Houston and why did I never see H & M in reruns?

Some research shows that H & M was sold exclusively to the CBN Network limiting it’s syndication.

I’m excited to take this trip down lack of memory lane and Bear Manor Media and I’m

thankful for the writers of this book who I’m sure did a lot of research on this topic. Deb Ohlin, Cheri Defonteny and Lynn Walker no doubt mad this comprehensive guide for fans, but I hope they know that this future fan looks forward to reading their book.

See you on the other side with a brand new Tough Guy Book Club Review.