Waste of time

Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Just so...so bad

Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

This CBS television series was totally 80s. I was 14 when it came out. Beautiful women, a cool action hero, what's not to like. I don't believe it's available for purchase, but there's low quality episodes on youtube. Jon-Erik Hexum's death was such a tragedy. I still enjoyed the series with Hamilton, but Hexum was the #1 choice for obvious reasons. The series will seem dated and even a bit silly by today's standards, but it was hot stuff in 1984. Elizabeth Daily's singing of "Holding Out for a Hero" is better than Bonnie Tyler's, but I don't see the song available for purchase either.

The "hero," played by Jon-Erik Hexum (Mac Harper) was a sort of Macgyver, before MacGyver, and CBS' seeming answer to the A-Team. He was an "undercover fashion model" for the CIA. Jennifer O'Neill was his partner, and the fashion photographer that made his status plausible. The show was heavy on action, short on scripts. It was sort of an early, not as good or believable, version of the TNT show "Leverage."After 7 episodes, Mr. Hexum, while he was bored waiting for shooting to resume, made the tragic mistake of doing some shooting of his own. Even he realized how insanely and inanely implausible the scripts were, and took a .44 Magnum, partially loaded with "blanks," said something along the lines of "let's see if I can get me," put it to his head and squeezed the trigger. The wadding from the blank sent a chunk of his skull into his brain. Life support was withdrawn 8 days later. Anthony Hamilton (Jack Striker) was brought in as another undercover fashion model for the CIA to complete the remaining episodes. The show was not the answer to the A-Team that CBS had hoped for; and, despite decent ratings, was canceled after one season. If not for Jennifer O'Neill being in every episode, and the brief media sensation caused by Mr. Hexum's tragic demise, it is questionable if the show would have made it through a whole season. There was a brief frenzy also about the need for gun control based on Mr. Hexum's accidental suicide. The theme song can sometimes still be heard: "Holding Out for a Hero."

Cover Up was one of the best. I've enjoyed it so much. But I discovered later that nobody watched it except me !!It was a good espionage plot with a lot of erotic elements. You can get it easily from a small plot summary such as (a young photographer and her models in the spying business) or (a fashion house as a front for special intelligence). So it provides good sexy girls with good action too. And no wonder, it was the Charlie's Angels-era. It came out 8 years after of the beginning of Charlie's Angels, and OH BOY, the 1980s were the golden years for the female beauty on TV where every thing was at its top : the fashion, the hairdos…WAW it was my golden years too !Here you'll have it all. I think this show, and its likes of the same era, put the ideal definition for the most exquisite female seduction you'd ever have from a TV-series, starting from all the pretty girls in here (Jennifer O'Neill is out of them of course) to the bright colorful cinematography. There are moments of pure sexiness yet done with class. Some of them went directly to the classic section of my memories. For example, who can forget Catherine Oxenberg taking a bubble bath in the pilot episode? It seems now so peaceful and tame, but back then, it was daring. Yes, the sudden death of Jon-Erik Hexum was disappointing, being an early reason to end the show. But for me, Antony Hamilton was that good as well. Unfortunately THEY finally canceled it after only 20 episodes, and it's my eternal importunate question : Why on earth did they cancel it ?! My fuss gets larger and larger when you find another shows (real very stupid ones) that lasted that long; like La Femme Nikita (5 Seasons), or Nash Bridges (6 Seasons)..etc, while there were a lot of nice shows that got canceled for no convincing reason. Therefore I'm giving you my list of them as honoring and as an epitaph ! : 1 - Secret Agent Man (2000) 12 Episodes2 - Cover Up (1984) 20 Episodes3 - Vengeance Unlimited (1998) 16 Episodes4 - Over My Dead Body (1990) 12 Episodes5 - The Lone Gunmen (2001) 13 Episodes 6 - The Hat Squad (1992) 12 Episodes 7 - A Man Called Hawk (1989) 13 Episodes A due tribute to all of them and their die hard fans. Oh how I miss the rare good time which I've had with these previous, rather late, shows. If only they lasted a bit more !

I seldom give a 10 on a review, but this series was absolutely great, in my humble opinion. The music is first-rate as well. Watching the episode where Dani is told Mac is not coming back was so poignant, there is no doubt that a bond existed between all the players. Jon-Erik's tragic demise truly hit them hard. They wrote his death into the script with grace and respect, almost reverence. I've been lucky enough to get an entire set of the show on DVD, so I am truly blessed. Jennifer O'Neill is stunningly beautiful and it is a shame we have not seen more of her in recent years. I am a fan of Richard Anderson as well, and he played his role convincingly with dignity and gentleness.