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Ohara is an American police procedural television series that first aired on the ABC television network from January 17, 1987, until May 7, 1988, starring Pat Morita in the title role of Lt. Ohara. Morita also co-created the series along with Michael Braveman and John A. Kuri. Kevin Conroy, Jon Polito, Rachel Ticotin, and Robert Clohessy also starred in supporting roles. The series was notable for being one of the first television series to have a Japanese-American actor in the leading role.
Premise[]
The series focuses on an unconventional Los Angeles-based Japanese American police lieutenant named Ohara (Pat Morita) who uses spirituality methods such as meditation in his home shrine to solve crimes without the use of a gun or a partner, although he would use martial arts if necessary. He often talked in the form of epigrams. He was later paired with a partner named Lt. George Shaver (Robert Clohessy) who was a more conventional cop.
Main cast[]
- Pat Morita as Lt. Ohara
Season 1
- Kevin Conroy as Capt. Lloyd Hamilton(episode 1-7)
- Jon Polito as Capt. Ross(episode 8-11)
- Madge Sinclair as Gussie Lemmons
- Catherine Keener as Lt. Cricket Sideris
- Richard Yniguez as Det. Jesse Guerrera
Season 2
- Robert Clohessy as Lt. George Shaver
- Rachel Ticotin as Asst. U.S. Atty. Teresa Storm
- Meagen Fay as Roxy
Notable guest stars[]
- Brandon Lee appeared in the Season 2 episode "What's in a Name" which first aired on January 23, 1988 as Kenji, the evil son of a yakuza godfather. This was Lee's first and only appearance in a television series and his only acting role as a villain, although in Kung Fu: The Movie, his character was possessed and forced to be evil for most of the movie.
- Other guest stars in the series included Michael Des Barres, Nana Visitor, Mitch Pileggi, Benicio del Toro, Shannon Tweed, and Eve McVeagh.
Episodes list[]
Season 1 (1987)[]
| No. overall |
No. in season |
Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | “Pilot” | E.W. Swackhamer | Richard Christian Danus | January 17, 1987 |
| 2 | 2 | “Eddie” | E.W. Swackhamer | Richard Danus | January 24, 1987 |
| 3 | 3 | “Darryl” | E.W. Swackhamer | Bill D'Arvay (story); Bill D'Arvay and Daniel Freudenberger (teleplay) | January 31, 1987 |
| 4 | 4 | “Will” | E.W. Swackhamer | Paul F. Edwards and Howard Friedland & Ken Peragine (story); Paul F. Edwards (teleplay) | February 7, 1987 |
| 5 | 5 | “Toshi” | Jackie Cooper | Len Mlodinow & Scott Rubenstein & John Wells | February 14, 1987 |
| 6 | 6 | “Terry” | Jerry Jameson | Richard Danus & Daniel Freudberger & Hal Sitowitz | February 21, 1987 |
| 7 | 7 | “Louie” | Jerry Jameson | Hal Sitowitz | March 7, 1987 |
| 8 | 8 | “Laura” | E.W. Swackhamer | Bill Bleich | March 14, 1987 |
| 9 | 9 | “Jesse” | Jerry Jameson | Michael Marks | March 21, 1987 |
| 10 | 10 | “Frannie” | E.W. Swackhammer | Paul F. Edwards | March 28, 1987 |
| 11 | 11 | “Brian” | Jerry Jameson | Johnathan Glasner | April 4, 1987 |
Season 2 (1987–88)[]
| No. overall |
No. in season |
Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | 1 | “'Y' Wanna Live Forever?” | Tony Wharmby | Ronald M. Cohen | October 3, 1987 |
| 13 | 2 | “Artful Dodgers” | Tony Wharmby | Robert McCullough | October 10, 1987 |
| 14 | 3 | “The Sparrow” | Bruce Kessler | Linda Elstad | October 24, 1987 |
| 15 | 4 | “Fagin All Over Again” | Robert Sweeney | Rama Blum | November 7, 1987 |
| 16 | 5 | “Take the Money and Run” | Bruce Kessler | Robert McCullough & Joseph Gunn | November 14, 1987 |
| 17 | 6 | “The Intruders” | Colin Bucksey | Joseph Gunn | November 21, 1987 |
| 18 | 7 | “Hot Rocks” | Tony Wharmby | Robert McCullough & Joseph Gunn | December 5, 1987 |
| 19 | 8 | “And a Child Shall Lead Them” | Bruce Kessler | Joseph Gunn & Robert McCullough | December 12, 1987 |
| 20 | 9 | “Silver in the Hills” | Michael Caffey | Joseph Gunn & Robert McCullough | December 19, 1987 |
| 21 | 10 | “They Shoot Witnesses, Don't They?” | Don Chaffey | Rama Blum | January 2, 1988 |
| 22 | 11 | “You Bet Your Life” | Dale White | David Braff | January 16, 1988 |
| 23 | 12 | “What's in a Name?” | Tony Wharmby | Jerome Lew | January 23, 1988 |
| Brandon Lee appears in this episode. | |||||
| 24 | 13 | “Sign of the Times” | Dale White | David Braff & Joseph Gunn & Robert McCullough | January 30, 1988 |
| 25 | 14 | “The Light Around the Body” | Tony Wharmby | Roderick Taylor & Bruce A. Taylor & Jeff Mandel | February 6, 1988 |
| Last episode to feature Rachel Ticotin and Meagen Fay. Ohara and Shaver quit the force to become private eyes at the end of the episode. | |||||
| 26 | 15 | “X” | Richard C. Sarafian | Story by : Roderick Taylor & William Mickelberry Teleplay by : William Mickelberry | March 5, 1988 |
| 27 | 16 | “Last Year's Model” | Bradford May | Story by : Roderick Taylor & Bruce A. Taylor & Jeff Mandel Teleplay by : Jeff Mandel & Bruce A. Taylor | March 12, 1988 |
| 28 | 17 | “Open Season” | Richard C. Sarafian | Story by : Roderick Taylor & Bruce A. Taylor & Jeff Mandel Teleplay by : Bruce A. Taylor & Jeff Mandel | March 26, 1988 |
| 29 | 18 | “Seeing Something That Isn't There” | Bradford May | Story by : Roderick Taylor & Bruce A. Taylor & Jeff Mandel Teleplay by : Jeff Mandel & Bruce A. Taylor | April 30, 1988 |
| 30 | 19 | “Hot Spell” | May 7, 1988 | ||
Format changes and cancellation[]
Following its premiere, the show was not attracting the audience ABC had hoped for. They put it through several format changes to increase the ratings. The first major change was to change title character Ohara from a lieutenant to a federal police officer; he was also paired with a partner. Later on in the season Ohara became a more conventional cop using a gun to assist him in his investigations. The second season had a final format change in which Ohara and his partner were turned into private investigators. These changes failed to improve the show's declining ratings and the show was cancelled after the second season.
External links[]
Ohara at the Internet Movie Database
