Hawk: An Obscure Burt Reynolds TV Series

In the Sixties, Burt Reynolds's star was on the rise. Since the late Fifties, he had made several guest appearances on television. Starting in 1962 he played half-Comanche blacksmith Quint Asper on Gunsmoke. In 1966 he starred in the spaghetti Western Navajo Joe. It should have then come as no surprise that Burt Reynolds received his own television series in 1966. Hawk was historic as the first American television show to centre on a Native American in a modern-day setting (it was preceded by Brave Eagle and Broken Arrow, which were both  Westerns).

Hawk starred Burt Reynolds as New York City police lieutenant John Hawk, who was full-blooded Iroquois. Hawk worked as a special investigator for the District Attorney's office. His partner was Dan Carter (Wayne Grice). Bruce Glover played Assistant District Attorney Murray Slaken, while Leon Janney played Assistant District Attorney Ed Gorton.

Hawk was created by Allan Sloane, who had written for such television series as The Big Story, Navy Log, Lamp Unto My Feet, and East Side/West Side. He was among the entertainment professionals who had been listed in the right-wing, anti-Communist pamphlet Red Channels. As a result in November 1952, CBS informed him that it would no longer accept any of his scripts. Fortunately, Mr. Sloane would find his way back to working in the television industry.

Hawk was one of a number of Native American roles Burt Reynolds played in his career, including Quint on Gunsmoke. For much of his career, Burt Reynolds claimed to be Cherokee. In his memoir But Enough About Me, Mr. Reynolds wrote "My dad had Native American blood. By the time it got down to me there wasn't much left, but I was proud of what there was."  Regardless, none of Burt Reynold's ancestry has been verified to have been Native American, despite his claims and the fact that he played many Native Americans throughout his career.

Aside from featuring a lead character who was Native American, Hawk was a bit ahead of its time in other ways. The show was filmed on the streets of New York City. Only a few shows before Hawk, such as Naked City and Route 66 regularly shot on location, with most series during the 1966-1967 season still being shot on studio backlots. Hawk also had a grittier, more realistic feel than many police dramas of its time, and in some ways was closer to such Seventies movies as The French Connection (1971), Serpico (1973), and The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974).

Hawk debuted on ABC on September 8 1966. For the most part, the series received positive reviews. Harry Harris of The Philadelphia Inquirer described Hawk as "Taut, suspenseful." Jack Gould wrote in The New York Times, "Enough virtues to suggest the series may find a niche for itself." Terence O'Flaherty called Hawk, "One of the best crafted of the new television programs." While Hawk received positive notices, it did not receive good ratings. Hawk aired on Thursday night at 10:00 Eastern/9:00 Central opposite The Dean Martin Show on NBC (which ranked no. 14 for the season) and The CBS Thursday Night Movie (which ranked no. 29 for the season). Against such competition, Hawk did so poorly that it was cancelled on December 29 1966 after only 17 episodes.

NBC aired repeats of Hawk during the spring of 1976 following Burt Reynolds's success in such movies as Deliverance (1972) and The Longest Yard (1974). In the Eighties, Colex Enterprises syndicated Hawk to local stations. More recently, it has aired on GetTV,

By today's standards Hawk is somewhat problematic. If made today, the question of Burt Reynold's Naive American heritage or lack thereof would make the show controversial. In fact, it seems likely that if Hawk had been made today an enrolled member of a Native American tribe would be cast as John Hawk. As it was for much of the 20th Century it was standard procedure for white people or other ethnicities to be cast as American Indians. On the 1950s television show Brave Eagle, the title character was played by Keith Larsen, who was Scottish, Danish, and Spanish in descent. In the Fifties, Middle-Eastern-born Michael Ansara played lead roles as Native Americans no less than twice, playing Cochise in the TV show Broken Arrow and Deputy Marshal Sam Buckhart in Law of the Plainsman.

Another problem with Hawk is that the show is essentially an assimilationist narrative. While we are told John Hawk is Iroquois, the culture and customs of the tribe play no real role on the show. John Hawk has been thoroughly assimilated into white society. This is in sharp contrast to later shows centred on Native American lawmen. While the star of Nakia, Robert Forster, was English and Italian in descent, the show often acknowledged Navajo traditions and customs. The three adaptations of Tony Hillerman's "Leaphorn and Chee" novels that aired on PBS and the current series Dark Winds (also based on Tony Hillerman's) not only feature Native American actors in the lead roles but go even further in the portrayal of Navajo culture.

While Hawk never dealt with the customs and culture of the Iroquois, the show is notable in dealing with the racism and discrimination that John Hawk faced, both on the streets of New York City and in the District Attorney's Office. While several television Westerns had dealt with racism against American Indians over the years, in the Fifties and Sixties it was rare that discrimination against Native Americans was dealt with in a modern setting.

Of course, as noted above Hawk was the first American show to centred on a Native American in a modern setting. Outside of Westerns, Native Americans were nearly invisible on American television. It was rare that Native Americans appeared in a modern setting. The absence of Native Americans from shows set in the present day for much of American television's history could well give the impression that Native Americans are a thing of the past, that they have gone extinct, or that they are no longer relevant.

The past several years have seen representation of Native Americans in films and on television somewhat improve from what it was. Not only have there been shows starring Native Americans, but shows made by Native Americans as well. This has allowed for much more accurate portrayals of Native life. While Hawk had many flaws, in some ways the show did pave the way for Native American characters on television.