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.

I was 13 years old when "Hard Time" first appeared on the air. It's understandable that it didn't do so well with the viewing audience in the late '80s. I, however, wasn't a member of that demographic and loved the show.The special effects used to create Control, main character Jesse's floating, orange, orb-like companion, seemed so cutting edge back in "the day." Looking at the Incredibles or Shrek today, the little guy seems to pale in comparison.The show tends to consist of Jesse running around in his leather jacket, blue jeans and white sneakers, jumping long distances, tearing up things and throwing people when he brushes with authorities. He often uses violence. I guess he was just learning how to adapt to life on planet earth, huh?I'm strangely drawn to the show today, 16 years after it was cancelled. What's the appeal? I have no clue what it could be besides pure reminiscence.I have all 13 episodes on DVD, which I bought on goldmonkey.com. They were copied from a less-than-spectacular videocassette. Some even include commercials that weren't cut during the original taping.

This was such a great show that I watched when I was little. I didn't miss an episode! I wish that there were shows like that still on today instead of all these "reality shows." I have a few of the episodes recorded off of TV when the show was still playing so I still watch them. I wish that I could find all of the episodes.

When I first seen this show, I was a kid. It was back in 1991 or 1992 when it was aired in a weekly "Walt Disney Hour" with an animated series and some short Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, etc. cartoon. I liked it, it was a series I watched every week. Two years ago one of the TV channels took it back to screen: I watched it again and liked it more than in childhood. The show is not a special effect-full Star Trek or a serious science fiction, but a great comedy. My favorite episode is in which a female from Jesse's race arrives to Earth and tries to kill him. The scenes at the end of this episode are fantastic!