Martial Law

Premise
Martial Law was a crime drama/martial arts show running from September 26, 1998 to May 13, 2000 on CBS. It was a crime drama starring martial artist Sammo Hung and various other actors. They included stage actor Tom Wright, TV actress Gretchen Egolf and comedian Arsenio Hall.

It was part of two cross-over episodes (where two TV series come together). One with Early Edition and one with the similarly themed Walker, Texas Ranger also starring a martial artist (Chuck Norris).

Season 1
Season 1 was Martial Law's first outing. The first episode focuses around the main plotline, Sammo Law (played by Sammo Hung) pursuing major criminal, Lee Hei across the globe from Hong Kong to America. The main storyline is Sammo helping the LAPD to catch Lee Hei. But intertwined with these episodes are many other stories of Sammo and the LAPD attempting to solve various crimes from murder to drug dealing.

Season 2
Season 2 was rebooted to keep audience numbers up. This included dropping many of the original characters such as Lieutenant Ben Winship (the team's leader, played by Tom Wright) and Detective Louis Malone (Sammo's original partner, played by Lois Mandaylor) and the appointment of Lieutenant Terrell Parker as Sammo's new partner (played by Arsenio Hall) and Commander Amy Dylan (played by Gretchen Egolf) as the team's new lader.

The main stroyline here wasn't unveiled until mid-season. It involved a prominent terrorist group, Scorpio, and its effects on Sammo and the team. This season was much more violent as Scorpio was a much more violent anatgonist than Lee Hei. This included Grace Cheng (Sammo's student, played by Kelly Hu) almost being tortured and Amy Dylan being buried alive with her fiancee.

This was to be the last Martial Law season. Sammo was to return to China with his long-lost son for some soul searching. But before Scorpio's leader, 'The One', was arrested, he mentioned that just beacause he was finished, it didn't mean Scorpio was finished, leaving a loose end to carry on the series. But as yet, there has been no movement and the various actors have moved on to different projects.

Season 1

 * Sammo Hung as Det. Sammo Law
 * Kelly Hu as Det. Grace Chen
 * Lois Mandylor as Det. Louis Malone
 * Tammy Lauren as Det. Dana Dixon
 * Tom Wright as Lt. Benjamin Winship
 * Arsenio Hall as Det. Terrell Parker

Tammy Lauren left mid-season, her character having moved away to "live with her parents". Arsenio Hall was bought in to replace her as a police spokesman wanting to go back to being a detective.

Season 2

 * Sammo Hung as Det. Sammo Law
 * Kelly Hu as Det. Grace Chen
 * Arsenio Hall as Det. Terrell Parker
 * Gretchen Egolf as Cmdr. Amy Dylan

Only 3 characters remain from the original season. Changes to the show include Lt. Winship retiring, Terrell's past as a spokesman being scrapped and Lois transferring to NYPD, as well as the remaining team perhaps being relocated to the Major Crimes Unit as it is never mentioned in Season 1 they were part of the MCU.

New charcters include Gretchen Egolf's character, Commander Amy Dylan, a high-flying officer who achieved her high rank at a very young age. She is at first sceptical of Sammo's methods but warms to Sammo's kind and caring nature and she begins martial arts training under his tutoring.