mainestay Stacy Keach's Mike Hammer can be divided into the 80s version and then this one, the 90s version. In my opinion the 80s Hammer was much better. Look, call me a chauvinist, but beautiful women and cleavage are part of the Mike Hammer mystique. It's one of the things that made the 80s Hammer so popular. Unfortunately for the "new & improved" 90s private eye, Keach's wife Malgosia Tomassi, who also plays the useless yoga instructor, insisted there be less emphasis on skin. Can you say Yoko Ono?? I knew you could.Also, say you're a private dick in New York. You carry a .45 for protection. Suddenly you round a corner and get jumped by two huge gorillas who begin pounding you with baseball bats. Obviously they intend to kill you or at least maim the crap out of you. Do you...A) Grab your gun and repay the favor, or B) Lay there like an 88-year-old woman and take it.If you said "A" then you're more of a man than THIS Hammer is. I don't know how many episodes I've seen this pathetic scene played out. I kept yelling at the TV "Grab Betsy, dumb ass, that's what you have her for!!" But alas, Keach never heard me. (BTW, "Betsy" is his gun) Until they release the 80s Mike Hammer on DVD, I'd suggest watching two Hammer movies Keach did: "Murder Me, Murder You," and "More Than Murder," both from the 80s. And both B.M.T. (Before Malgosia Tomassi).

SavalasFan I must respectfully disagree with Jimbo. This series is indeed grittier than the original. I'm a huge fan of the 80's Mike Hammer series starring Stacey Keach and I never missed a episode. I found out about the '97 reprise only after it had ended and wished for years that I could check it out somehow. Thank GOD for DVDs! Mike Hammer, Private Eye is now available on DVD and it's definitely grittier and a step closer to the vengeful Hammer of Mickey Spillane. Jimbo calls the show "cheap" because this Hammer series obviously didn't have the same network budget that the original series did. I find that the lower budget feel of Private Eye really works in it's favor. This production makes Hammer's world seedier and that makes Hammer all the more nobler in his efforts to take out the trash.Mike Hammer, Private Eye is a very enjoyable series. I like Keach even more this time around. The older Hammer is more vicious and hard boiled. The older the bull, the stiffer the horn. His flaws and foibles also add to the fun. I've watched all of the episodes in the DVD set and each one highly entertained me. It's all good fun. I'm damn glad Keach came back for this show. I'm also damn glad somebody put this series out on DVD. Mike Hammer, Private Eye delivers!

Jimbo52 I must disagree with TC-4. The "grittiness" he describes, I would call "cheap".I think the original CBS series of 1983-87 was superior to this one. With Don Stroud as Pat Chambers, Donna Denton as "The Face" Lindsay Bloom as Velda and the other regular supporting actors, it was a class act all around.While Shannon Whirry makes a tasty Velda, the rest of this production was just a bargain-basement attempt at bringing back a good series. Obviously, it didn't work, with so few episodes shot.Stacy Keach was good as always, but I miss his previous co-stars.

TC-4 This syndicated show is a much grittier version of the show that was on the network in the 80's. Hammer is a tougher guy and is much more like the Darren McGavin version of the 50's which I liked best of all. There are no better scenes than when he tangles with the D.A. Barrington played by Kent Williams who should have gotten an Emmy. I hope that Stacy makes newer episodes as this character will never die.