Martial Law (TV series)

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Martial Law
Format Crime Action/Adventure
Created by Carlton Cuse
Starring Sammo Hung
Arsenio Hall
Kelly Hu
Louis Mandylor
Tom Wright
Gretchen Egolf
Tammy Lauren
Country of origin Flag of the United States United States
Flag of Canada Canada
No. of seasons 2
No. of episodes 44
Production
Running time 60 minutes (approx. 42 min)
Broadcast
Original channel CBS (1998-2000)
Original run September 26, 1998 – May 13, 2000
External links
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Martial Law is a television show that ran from 1998 to 2000. It was created by Carlton Cuse, of Nash Bridges fame.

The title character, Sammo Law, portrayed by Sammo Hung, was a Chinese law officer and martial arts expert who came to Los Angeles in search of a colleague and wound up sticking around.

The cast endured turnover from the beginning. Detective Dana Dickson (played by Tammy Lauren) exited the show after a handful of episodes. Not long after that, Arsenio Hall joined the cast as Terrell Parker, a wisecracking former LAPD press liaison who began helping out Sammo and the gang on cases. The pairing of Hung and Hall as partners was similar to, albeit a bit less overtly comedic than, the partnership between Sammo's friend, Jackie Chan, and Chris Tucker in the Rush Hour films.

New producers took the helm at the beginning of the second season. They more or less pretended that the first season did not exist, retaining only the basic concept of a fish-out-of-water detective. Cast members Louis Mandylor and Tom Wright were dropped. Gretchen Egolf was brought in to play the unit's new leader, Amy Dylan. Additionally, Parker's past in public relations was scrapped. The first season's cliffhanger ending was explained away with a few throwaway lines.

Law made crossover appearances on episodes of Early Edition and Walker, Texas Ranger. Chuck Norris's Walker character, Cordell Walker, also made an appearance as part of the two-part Martial Law/Walker, Texas Ranger crossover.

Contents

[edit] Cast

[edit] Story

The basic storyline is that Sammo Law, a well-respected Chinese cop, is transferred to America. As he works for the police department, fighting crime in Los Angeles, and later New York, he is met with a clash in culture. He is also the mentor of Grace "Pei Pei" Chen, an undercover officer. When American techniques don't work, Sammo amits some Chinese cop work to get the job done.

[edit] Season 1 Plot

Sammo is sent by the Chinese government to apprehend an old nemesis named Lee Hei. He finds out that his disciple, Pei Pei, had infiltrated Lee Hei's criminal empire. His goal is to capture Lee Hei and ends his criminal organization. Unfortunately, this plot line was unresolved and Season 1 ended in a cliffhanger.

[edit] Season 2 Plot

Winship retires. Louis transfers to NYPD. Law decides to stay in Los Angeles and now is partned with Pei Pei. The department also gets a new captain, Amy Dylan, who thinks that the Chinese way of police work isn't the best way of handling things. In addition, there are revelations of a secret society whose members include Law's long lost son. While Law decided to return to China in the last episode, a line of dialogue left open the possibility of a follow-up.

[edit] Episode List

Season 1
Season 2
01: Shanghai Express
02: Diamond Fever
03: Dead Ringers
04: Funny Money
05: Cop Out
06: Extreme Measures
07: Trackdown
08: Takeout
09: How Sammo Got His Groove Back
10: Bad Seed
11: Lock-Up
12: Painted Faces
13: Substitutes
14: Wildlife
15: Breakout
16: Captive Hearts
17: Trifecta
18: Big Trouble
19: Nitro Man
20: Red Storm
21: Requiem (Part One)
22: End Game (Part Two) st Season		 01: Sammo Blammo
02: Thieves Among Thieves
03: This Shogun for Hire
04: 24 Hours
05: 90 Million Reasons to Die
06: My Man Sammo
07: The Friendly Skies
08: Call of the Wild
09: Blue Flu
10: Sammo Claus
11: No Quarter
12: Scorpio Rising
13: No Fare
14: Dog Day Afternoon
15: Deathfist 5: Major Crimes Unit
16: Honor Among Strangers*
17: Freefall
18: The Thrill is Gone
19: Heartless
20: In the Dark
21: Final Conflict, Part 1
22: Final Conflict, Part 2

Notes: * This episode's storyline is continued on Walker, Texas Ranger

[edit] Known Foreign Broadcasters

In Britain, Martial Law can be seen on ITV4 throughout the week. In France, Martial Law (Le Flic de Shanghaï) can be seen on M6 and W9.It was previously broadcast on Britain's Channel 5 at 8pm on Sundays scoring high ratings in 98, Australia's Seven Network in 1998, on ATV in Hong Kong, on TV4 in Sweden and on TV3, Sky1 and Channel 4 in New Zealand. It was previously broadcast on Dubai based MBC 2 but can now be seen on MBC Action. In Germany the series was broadcast on VOX. In Brazil, the series can be seen on Rede Bandeirantes since November, 2007.

[edit] DVD Releases

As of September, 2006, there is no news about a release of Martial Law on DVD. According to TVShowsOnDVD.com, DVD releases have yet to be available despite the push and petitions of fans.

[edit] External links

Languages