First viewed : 28 January 1989
This US drama series went out on Saturday nights after the news. It sought to capitalise on the growing phenomenon of talk radio but also owed a good deal to Shoestring. Gary Cole played ex-cop Jack Killian who is rescued from alcoholism after accidentally shooting his partner by radio station boss Devon King ( Wendy Kilbourne ) who gives him a late night phone in show and a persona, the Night Hawk. Jack then tries to resolve his callers' problems during the day, insomnia presumably being another of his problems. Brad Fiedel provided the musical score which seemed to have been heavily influenced by Sade.
With his strong female superior and ethnic assistant Billy ( Dennis Dun ), Midnight Caller was the cop show re-tooled for the politically correct nineties although this didn't prevent it being heavily criticised for its AIDS episode in the first season. My mum liked it but I never found it that engaging; the only episode I can really recall is the one where he put a death row inmate on the air just before his execution.
Eventually the necessarily dark look of the show and downbeat subject matter wore down its audience and the show was cancelled after three seasons. Cole hasn't had such a prominent role since but he remains a very busy actor.
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