Newspaper Page Text
Page 26
‘ Ehtertainrhent ertrfr* 178/99-fHru 1/U/99
By Suzanne Gill
©TVData Features Syndicate
Meet America’s newest cop hero:
He doesn’t talk a lot, he carries a
green card, not a gun, he furnished
his apartment with the contents of a
Price Is Right showroom, and, at over
200 pounds, he’s probably not a can
didate for one of those NYPD Blue
drawer-dropping scenes.
But Sammo Law (Sammo Hung)
and his Martial Law cohorts are
bringing home the ratings for CBS.
Sammo Hung
The Saturday series has undergone
a major amount of retooling (one
character dropped, another added)
since it premiered in September.
Audiences get where it’s going, and
they’re climbing on board fast. In
'December, Law was winning its time
■period and improving on the previous
year’s ratings for that time slot by 20
'percent.
J The key to the success of Law is a
combination of the right time period
a new martial-arts cop show
with Walker, Texas Ranger was a no
brainer) and the je ne sais quoi of a
Hong Kong superstar with a sense of
humor.
r The series is the first in recent
memory with two Asian leads: Hung
and co-star Kelly Hu. And the recent
addition of Arsenio Hall as LAPD
spin doctor Terrell Parker means
Martial Law now has the gift of gab.
1 Behind the scenes, Martial Law is
one energized series, with three exec
utive producers who’ve done this
before.
s Creator Carlton Cuse (Nash
Bridges, The Adventures of Brisco
County, Jr.) knows what audiences
are looking for in a West Coast action
show: fun. Andre E. Morgan, produc
er of Bruce Lee’s- Enter the Dragon
and co-creator of Walker, knows how
to make the genre work for American
Hung gets new
kicks practicing
Martial Law
Hong Kong superstar Sammo Hung plays cop-across-the-water
Sammo Law in Martial Law, airing Saturdays on CBS. Law is a
martial-arts expert on loan to the Los Angeles police department
to aid in fighting international crime. The series also stars
Arsenio Hall, Louis Mandylor, Kelly Hu and Tom Wright.
audiences. And director and martial
arts choreographer Stanley Tong
(First Strike, Mr. Magoo), a longtime
friend of Hung’s, is rarin’ to make his
first series a success.
“We’re trying to do an action show
with a lot of fun and stunts,” Tong
says, “but not always come out with a
gun. What’s most important is the
character himself. He never wants to
fight. What he’s trying to do is use his
bare hands to solve the crime.”
The man with the crime-solving
hands is Hung, an easygoing veteran
of 138 Hong Kong action films who
directed Jackie Chan in Mr. Nice
Guy and played Lee’s young oppo
nent in Enter the Dragon.
Taking that success in a new
direction, Hung came to grips with
his girth in Enter the Fat Dragon,
establishing himself as a physical
comic.
While Hung made his film debut
at the age of 12, his performing
career didn’t begin with martial-arts
flicks on the streets of Hong Kong.
He began his training as a child
with a master from the Beijing Opera
School who taught many forms of
movement.
As a result of his travels, Hung
can speak Cantonese, Mandarin,
Korean and Thai, which he says he
learned by haggling with Bangkok
taxi drivers.
The action emigre says he likes
the opportunities offered by the film
industry in Los Angeles. “In Hong
Kong,” he explains, “their fantasies
aren’t very big.”
While Hung is a student of
American films (Speed, Die Hard
and Rocky are favorites), in his spare
time, it’s a Scottish game he likes to
play.
“When I first came here, it was
Christmastime, and there was
nobody in town. So I played golf
every day,” he confides.
Hung says he wants his viewers to
stop and enjoy life, too. “People
work hard all week at their jobs,” he
fays/pedplS watching TV to
have a good time.”
■
p: Ssll
Ajjfe tiffe . F
- . *,W
' 3 MW*
H ' • t-if . BaMbttAa ...
.>«> .J.y-