You may or may not know this, but East has met West on CBS almost two decades ago with Martial Law starring international martial arts superstar Sammo Hung and comedian/actor Arsenio Hall. The premise: a Chinese cop who is skilled in martial arts teams up with a fast-talking LAPD cop to fight the bad guys. Sounds familiar? It should – because Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker preceded on the big screen with Rush Hour, where the fastest hands in the East meets the fastest mouth in the West. A franchise was born, and history was being made.
Now, CBS hopes to make Thursdays at 10pm Rush Hour with Justin Hires and Jon Foo as the new Carter and Lee, but we should by now that the first episode is somewhat similar to the original 1998 blockbuster. Handsome Lee – aka an “Asian Orlando Bloom ” – believes in rules and order. After all, he is a trained martial artist, so he probably believes in martial law, perhaps? Carter, on the other hand, may be all about law and justice like his new partner, but he doesn’t have none of the order, which is where the humor lies within the chemistry between the strong, silent Lee and the not-so strong, not-so silent Carter.
Rush Hour may be CBS’ opportunity in rebooting the franchise, but it may also be their opportunity in making up for the loss of Martial Law, which was canceled in 2000 after two successful seasons. A repeat of the pilot is set to air on Saturday night, where Chuck Norris punched and kicked his way into the hearts of viewers in the mid-1990s as Walker, Texas Ranger, who once crossed over with Sammo’s Martial Law, which also aired on Saturday nights alongside Walker.
To illustrate, if you weren’t able to catch the first Rush Hour (and the sequels) on Thursdays, then CBS could give you a second chance to not beat or miss the Rush Hour as a possible part of the Eye Network’s “Crimetime Saturday” line-up.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars