SERIES: Raven
Series Summary
Cast
* Jeffrey Meek as Jonathon Raven
* Lee Majors, as Herman “Ski” Jablonski
* Andy Bumatai, as The Big Kahuna
Raven, a brand new martial art television series, hit the airwaves on Wednesday, June 24, 1992, on CBS Television Network. The series was the brainchild of Frank Lupo, the name behind such hits as The A-Team and Hunter. Starring the little known lead Jeffrey Meek as Jonathan Raven, an accomplished athlete with a black belt in TKD and aikido, the show was one of the first to feature a lead who used martial arts instead of guns. Coupled with Lee, here playing the grizzled, lecherous and often drunk private investigator Herman “Ski” Jablonski, Jonathan’s best friend, and sidekick. Shot entirely on location in Hawaii, the first show to do so since the classic police drama Hawaii Five-O many years before, the show looked great and had a fantastic backdrop onto which to draw in it’s audience. However, despite Jeff Meek’s martial art prowess and the often humorous exchanges between him and Lee’s character ‘Ski’, the stories left alot of be desired and whilst the pair often followed clues to try and find Raven’s missing son week after week, they were poor affairs and rarely engaging. The show ran for 7 episodes over the summer and Fall of 1992, before coming back for a further short 13-episode second series in early 1993.
Premise
When Jonathon Raven was twelve years old, his parents were killed by the Black Dragon. He trained with them for many years in the deadly martial arts with the hopes of learning and mastering their lethal skill and then using it against them for vengeance. Although he succeeded in infiltrating them, the Black Dragon are many in number, and are now bent on destroying Raven’s bloodline. His one true love, a beautiful Japanese woman named Aki, becomes pregnant with their son at the same time the Black Dragon clan is after Raven’s life. Aki unfortunately dies shortly after giving birth to their son, but before she passes away, she realizes that her son’s life is in danger. Jonathon learns of his wife’s plan of hiding their son from imperilment, but sadly never gets to see him or attain the knowledge of his location. Later on, he joins the U.S. Special Forces and becomes one of their top assassins under a man named Nick Henderson. After many complications and regrets, Raven leaves the Special Forces and continues his search for his long-lost son. His search eventually leads him to Honolulu, Hawaii, where he believes his son may be. Raven is on a life-long journey in search of his son, and is willing to risk his life along the way, with the aid of his old military buddy, a drunken private investigator named Herman “Ski” Jablonski, to find him and ensure the safety of his life.
