Trivia / Hunter (1984)

• Actor Leaves, Character Dies: Darlanne Fluegel's character Joanne Molenski was killed off halfway into season 7 after the actress had trouble getting along with Fred Dryer and wanted out of the show.
• Bad Export for You: The US retail DVD set unfortunately replaced the licensed songs from earlier seasons with songs by unknown bands, including Nu Metal which clashes with the 80's setting. The German DVD sets however retained all the original songs.
• The Cast Showoff: Besides playing McCall, Stepfanie Kramer also had a career as a singer. She shows this off in an episode where McCall goes undercover as a singer.
• The Danza: Charles Hallahan as Captain Charlie Devane.
• Directed by Cast Member: Fred Dryer, Stepfanie Kramer, and James Whitmore Jr. (Sgt. Bernie Terwilliger) each directed episodes. Whitmore directed 23 episodes, Dryer directed five episodes, and Kramer directed two episodes.
• Executive Meddling: Dryer and Kramer objected to the season 6 episode "Unfinished Business", where it was revealed that Hunter and McCall slept together, which was included to appease the network and fans. Dryer felt that it turned the show into Hart to Hart.
• Fake Brit: In "Lullaby", American actor Gary Sinise plays an Englishman pretending to be American.
• Hostility on the Set:
  • Reportedly, Dryer grew more annoyed with the amount of screentime Kramer was getting, complaining that "the show's name isn't 'Hunter and McCall.' " Stepfanie Kramer left the show shortly thereafter, wanting to pursue her singing career. Nevertheless they made up by the time the revival happened.
  • A repeat happened between Dryer and Fluegel during season 7, leading to her leaving the show halfway through.
• The Other Darrin: In the pilot episode, Captain Lester Cain was played by Michael Cavanaugh. For the rest of the character's limited run on the series, the role was played by Arthur Rosenberg.
• Produced by Cast Member: Fred Dryer served as executive producer for the final two seasons.
• Real-Life Relative:
  • Tracy Vaccaro, Fred Dryer's wife at the time, guest-starred on the series several times. She was the Playboy Playmate of the Month for October 1983.
  • During Roy Huggins' tenure as executive producer, Roy's son, Thomas Huggins, as well as Thomas' wife, Charlotte Clay, served as story editors.
• Recycled Script: Both "Partners" & "Return of White Cloud" have several similarities, namely 1) most of the episode has the detectives focus on someone romantically linked to the victim, 2) an accomplice to the killer calls them and tells them they've gone to far and are going to go to the cops, only to be killed themselves and 3) the killer turns out to be someone who had only appeared for maybe a few minutes beforehand.
• Similarly Named Works: There was another series named Hunter, a spy series starring James Franciscus, that ran for a few months in 1977.
• Troubled Production: Season 7 is this in spades. After Stepfanie Kramer left the show, she was replaced by Darlanne Fluegel as Joanne Molenski. Fluegel had trouble getting along with Fred Dryer and Molenski was written off the show, and was replaced by Lauren Lane as Chris Novak. Combined with low rating and a salary dispute with Dryer, Hunter was cancelled at the end of the season.
• Wag the Director:
  • Originally, Bernie Terwilliger was supposed to have been Killed Off for Real in season 3. However, Fred Dryer objected, because he and James Whitmore, Jr. were actually close friends in real life. As a result, the script was revised and season 2 character Riley Causland, played by Robert Firth, was brought in to take the fatal bullet. Amusingly, however, Whitmore himself didn't mind either way, and in fact, actually directed the episode in which his character was supposed to have been killed off.
  • Stepfanie Kramer objected to the plot of the season 4 episode "City of Passion", which originally depicted McCall being raped again, and threatened to quit unless the storyline is changed. In the filmed episode, McCall successfully fought off the would-be rapist.
• What Could Have Been: Stepfanie Kramer was invited to reprise her role as McCall in the 1995 special The Return of Hunter, but declined as she was pregnant at the time.
• Written by Cast Member: Stepfanie Kramer co-wrote the story for the season 5 episode, "Return of White Cloud".

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