Before he was Captain of Deep Space Nine thirty years ago, Avery Brooks was A Man Called Hawk, which premiered on ABC on Saturday, January 28, 1989.
Based on the character from author Robert B. Parker, the series was a spin-off (all too short-lived) of Spenser: For Hire (1985-88) that starred Robert B. Ulrich as the titular Boston private investigator who always had his friend Hawk to back him up. Bold and black, the streetwise, sharp-dressed, strong and silent, and proud Hawk was indeed a man of a few words: a shadowy enforcer with his own code of ethics, willing to let his .357 Magnum do most of the talking for him.
Sadly only lasting 13 episodes, you can say that A Man Called Hawk was a cross between Marvel’s Luke Cage and The Equalizer, with Hawk leaving Boston and heading to Washington, D.C. There, he becomes a noble gun-for-hire/hero-for-hire/knight-for-hire for those who can’t help themselves: serving both righteous vengeance unlimited and justice against a corrupt, powerful system.
Reruns of A Man Called Hawk aired on TV One several years ago on Saturday afternoons. Now you can watch all 13 episodes on Tubi.