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Street Hawk debuted on ABC in 1985, at the height of vehicular television popularity (Knight Rider, Airwolf). A show about a vigilante riding a super powered motorcycle, sounds like something the American public would love. Sadly, Street Hawk lasted only 12 episodes. However, thanks to the fine folks at Shout! Factory you can relive those 12 episodes, along with a slew of great extra content in the four disc DVD set Street Hawk: The Complete Series.

Jesse Mach (played by Rex Smith) is a motorcycle cop who runs afoul of a cocaine dealer (played by Christopher Lloyd) who kills his partner and cripples Jesse. Bionic-Man style, the government makes Mach an offer he can’t refuse. The rebuild his leg injury and in return he works for them as the driver of the Street Hawk motorcycle. Much like KITT on Knight Rider, the Street Hawk motorcycle was capable of speeds close to 300 mph and loaded with weapons. Mach takes the job and starts by tracking down the group that killed his partner and crippled him.

Alright, so the plots aren’t anything to write home about and 25 years later, the acting doesn’t seem as good either. But, the show still entertains. It’s like an action movie. There are things you want to see in an episode of Street Hawk (cool motorcycle, fights, action) and each episode delivers that. Looking at the show with 25-years of perspective, you can enjoy it for what it was—a well done Knight Rider knock-off.

Enjoy it you will on this excellent DVD set. Shout! Factory included the original pilot episode, as well as all 12 original episodes. They also dug up an alternate pilot featuring a different motorcycle.

To top things off perfectly, Shout! Factory has produced Street Hawk: The Making of a Legend. This all new, 40-minute documentary is a overview of the show and how it came to be. Featuring original show stars Rex Smith, Joe Regalbuto, and Jeannie Wilson, it offers up enough behind-the-scenes talk to be interesting.

The original pilot I mentioned above is added in the extras section. The quality isn’t great, but I always get a kick out of watching pilot episodes and seeing where a show started. The rest of the extras are made up of an extensive stills gallery and an eight page booklet. It may not sound like much, but for a 25-year old cult television show, Shout! Factory did a great job.

If you’re looking for a 1980’s TV fix, you could do a lot worse than Street Hawk. It’s an entertaining show that holds up surprisingly well. The concept is simple enough and one that’s not been on TV for quite some time. Head on over to Amazon.com and order your copy now.