Review of Hard Time on Planet Earth

From the moment this odd series aired, it was doomed. It was too esoteric, too eccentric, and like many other sci-fi series from the 80s, it lacked a large enough audience. All of which was a great pity. Martin Kove was brilliantly cast as "Jesse", a powerful alien who's being ostracized by his race for excessive use of violence. His sentence is to do time on Earth, a planet equally renowned for its own violence. A little yet powerful orb called Control watches over Jesse and tries to help him out of jams. Hot-headed and stronger than the humans around him, the alien gradually learns patience and to think rather than lash out in blind anger. Unfortunately, the series was cancelled after a mere thirteen episodes, not giving Jesse's character much of a chance to develop. Kove was brilliant, bringing subtlety to a potentially cardboard role, and the effects, writing and supporting players were all decent. Perhaps someday it'll crop up on the Sci-Fi Channel, during the weekdays when other equally obscure but strangely compelling shows appear(such as Automan, Manimal, the Flash, etc.). It'd be fun to catch it again sometime.