Richard Herd: Stern at every turn

Richard Herd as Captain Dennis Sheridan in "T.J. Hooker".
Source: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0715488/mediaviewer/rm2097173504
(may be subject to copyright)

He was the one giving orders to T.J. Hooker and later leading a force of friendly aliens who turned out to be something much more sinister.

Always looking stern and serious, I wondered if Richard Herd ever smiled.

I thought about him, and his two most prominent roles in the 1980s, when he died on May 26, 2020, at the age of 87.

Reeling in Hooker

Richard Herd as John "V".Source: https://http://www.ksitetv.com/
(may be subject to copyright)

T.J. Hooker debuted in 1982, starring William Shatner in his first regular series role since the short-lived "Barbary Coast". That I recall always being mentioned in "TV Guide" and "Entertainment Tonight". Shatner played detective T.J. Hooker who, after his partner is killed, leaves his plain clothes behind to teach recruits at the police academy. He also returned to a beat with partner Vince Romano, to rid the streets of the criminals.

Keeping him in check and under some semblance of control was Captain Dennis Sheridan.

Sheridan’s character had another dimension added in the third season when his daughter Stacy joined the precinct. She was played by Heather Locklear, fresh off a stint as Sammy-Jo in the nighttime drama “Dynasty”.

He always looked solemn, and thoughtful with his hands clasped behind his back.

Top visitor

A mini-series aired in 1983 when I was in Grade 9 that absolutely captured my attention and held it.

“V” started with massive space ships coming to Earth and hovering over the capital cities of the world. (Long before a different race of aliens descended on Earth a decade later in “Independence Day”).

The aliens, called ”Visitors”, came in peace to help mankind solve its problems. It is soon revealed they have a much more sinister plan – to denude the Earth of its resources and use humans as a source of food when everything else has been extracted from them.

“V” was an allegory for Nazi Germany in the 1930s, making references to the way the Visitors promised prosperity then slowly tightened their grip, rounding up and discrediting intellectuals, faking a terrorist attack to impose martial law, creating a youth group strikingly similar to the Hitler youth, and creating an atmosphere of distrust turning citizen against citizen.

There is even one scene where a scientist, played by Michael Durrell, has to flee with his family. His father, a Concentration Camp survivor, who had been warning his family he had seen this movie before, stayed behind to distract the Visitors. It was a bit obvious and over the top, but left no doubt what the writers were trying to communicate.

“V” was a ratings winner and was left unresolved, so the following year, a sequel was made and again topped the ratings. Called “V: The Final Battle”, it chronicled the burgeoning resistance movement and how they finally saved the Earth.

Sitting at the top of the “Visitor” food chain, calling the shots, with a stern look and his hands clasped behind his back was Richard Herd.

The years after

Richard Herd would go onto to play a lot more characters of authority, from George Costanza’s boss in “Seinfeld” to Admiral Owen Paris, the father of renegade Tom Paris in “Star Trek Voayger”.

Parting thoughts

Richard Herd definitely had a type in the 1980s, of a sort. He was stern and authoritative, and that is exactly what the characters he played had to be. Over the years, he realized that and, in his role in “Seinfeld”, poked fun at that very type.

Every story needs the boss, the guy who has to play it straight and call the shots.

Richard Herd played that role perfectly, whether he headed a fictitious police squad or insidious alien invaders.