# Martial Law (1998)

> A Hong Kong martial arts star plays a one-man police force in Los Angeles, drafted into the LAPD while hunting down a former protege.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/553

## Facts

- Seasons: 2
- Episodes: 44
- Episode runtime: 43 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: action, comedy, crime
- Created by: Carlton Cuse
- Network: CBS
- Cast: Sammo Hung Kam-bo, Gretchen Egolf, Louis Mandylor, Tom Wright, Kelly Hu, Arsenio Hall, Mako, Suzanne Krull
- TMDB rating: 6.9/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0163949/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: moderate
- Complexity: simple
- Violence: mild
- Tone: breezy, playful, comforting, propulsive

## What critics say

Reviewers and audiences found the martial arts action and Sammo Hung's physical comedy entertaining, though the buddy-cop format felt familiar and uneven.

## Synopsis

Martial Law (1998-2000) is an American action comedy series created by Carlton Cuse for CBS. Sammo Hung Kam-bo stars as Sammo Law, a Hong Kong-born martial artist who arrives in Los Angeles searching for a former friend and protege and ends up drafted into the LAPD. Kelly Hu plays Chen Pei Pei, Arsenio Hall plays Terrell Parker, and Gretchen Egolf and Louis Mandylor round out the department ensemble. Each episode is built around a self-contained crime that lets Law spin, kick and chop his way through suspects, with the tension of an outsider learning to work inside a rigid police system. The tone is breezy and playful, with light banter across cultural lines and a steady stream of action, in the spirit of Walker, Texas Ranger and Hunter. Across two seasons and forty-four episodes of broadcast television, the format stays mostly case-of-the-week, offering a warm, easygoing action romp rooted in Los Angeles street life and the martial arts traditions Hung brought from Hong Kong cinema.

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