Ohara (TV series)

Ohara is an American television series that first aired on the ABC television network from January 17, 1987, until May 7, 1988, starring Pat Morita in the title role of Lt. Ohara. Morita also co-created the series along with Michael Braveman and John A. Kuri. Kevin Conroy, Jon Polito, Rachel Ticotin, and Robert Clohessy also starred in supporting roles. The series was notable for being one of the first television series to have a Japanese-American actor in the leading role. However it proved to be unsuccessful and only lasted for two seasons ending after 30 episodes. The series has not been released on VHS or DVD.

Premise

The series focuses on an unconventional Los Angeles-based Japanese American police lieutenant named Ohara (Pat Morita) who uses spirituality methods such as meditation in his home shrine to solve crimes without the use of a gun or a partner although he would use martial arts if necessary. He often talked in the form of epigrams. He was later paired with a partner named Lt. George Shaver (Robert Clohessy) who was a more conventional cop.

Main cast

• Pat Morita .... Lt. Ohara
• Robert Clohessy .... Lt. George Shaver
• Kevin Conroy .... Capt. Lloyd Hamilton
• Jon Polito .... Capt. Ross
• Madge Sinclair .... Gussie Lemmons
• Catherine Keener .... Lt. Cricket Sideris
• Rachel Ticotin .... Asst. U.S. Atty. Teresa Storm
• Meagen Fay .... Roxy

Notable guest stars

• Brandon Lee appeared in the Season 2 episode "What's in a Name" which first aired on January 23, 1988 as Kenji, the evil son of a yakuza godfather. This was Lee's only acting role as a villain, although in Kung Fu: The Movie, his character was possessed and forced to be evil for most of the movie..
• Other guest stars in the series included Michael Des Barres, Nana Visitor, Mitch Pileggi and Benicio del Toro.

Episodes list

Season 1

• "Pilot" (January 17, 1987)
• "Eddie" (January 24, 1987)
• "Darryl" (January 31, 1987)
• "Will" (February 7, 1987)
• "Toshi" (February 14, 1987)
• "Terry" (February 21, 1987)
• "Louie" (February 28, 1987)
• "Laura" (March 7, 1987)
• "Jesse" (March 14, 1987)
• "Frannie" (March 28, 1987)
• "Brian" (April 4, 1987)

Season 2

• "Y' Wanna Live Forever?" (October 3, 1987)
• "Artful Dodger" (October 10, 1987)
• "Sparrow" (October 24, 1987)
• "Fagin All Over Again" (November 7, 1987)
• "Take the Money and Run" (November 14, 1987)
• "The Intruders" (November 21, 1987)
• "Hot Rocks" (December 5, 1987)
• "And a Child Shall Lead Them" (December 12, 1987)
• "Silver In The Hills" (December 19, 1987)
• "They shoot Witnesses Don't They" (January 2, 1988)
• "You Bet Your Life" (January 16, 1988)
• "What's in a Name?" (January 23, 1988)
• "Sign Of the Times" (January 30, 1988)
• "The Light Around the Body" (February 6, 1988)
• "X" (March 5, 1988)
• "Last Year's Model" (March 12, 1988)
• "Open Season" (March 26, 1988)
• "Seeing Something That Isn't There" (April 30, 1988)
• "Hot Spell" (May 7, 1988)

Format changes and cancellation

Following its premiere, the show was not attracting the audience ABC had hoped for. They put it through many format changes to increase the ratings. The first major format change was to change title character Ohara from a lieutenant to a federal police officer; he was also paired with a partner. Later on in the season Ohara became a more conventional cop using a gun to assist him in his investigations. The second season had a final format change in which Ohara and his partner were turned into private investigators. These changes failed to improve the show's declining ratings and the show was cancelled after the second season.

External links

• Ohara at the Internet Movie Database
• Review of Ohara at Thrilling Detective.com
• Ohara Episode list and Summary on TV.com