The Checklist: 18 Wheels of Justice (S1 Ep17) “Outside Chance”
My knowledge of 18 Wheels of Justice going into this edition of The Checklist was limited to the fact that I knew it was a show that aired on “The New TNN”, Paramount’s first attempt to rebrand The Nashville Network in 2000 in order to attract a larger audience.
Always looking to put shows I have never seen before to The Checklist test, when I found that the first season of 18 Wheels of Justice was streaming on PLEX, I knew it was only a matter of time before I summoned the sorcery of Alexa to randomly select and episode for me to watch. Alexa selected “Outside Chance” the 17th episode from Season 1 that originally aired on August 2, 2000.
#1. Does the show’s premise have legs?
Much like Renegade, the start of every episode provides the backstory of the show’s hero, Michael Cates/Chance Bowman (played by Lucky Vanous) with a narrated video package.
Cates was an agent for the Justice Department, who infiltrated the criminal empire of Jacob Calder (G. Gordon Liddy, Camp Cucamonga) and eventually testified against Calder in the murder trial of Calder’s mistress, a murder that Cates witnessed.
Calder, looking for revenge, takes a contract out on Cates… but its Cates’ wife and daughter who end up dead. Now Cates finds himself posing as trucker Chance Bowman, always on the move so Calder’s hitmen cant’ get to him and in classic hero fashion, helping people along the way. The heroic drifter is a tried and true premise and 18 Wheels of Justice managed to get two seasons out of it, but easily could have gotten more. 1/1
#2. Did the show have a quality open?
Any open with multiple car flips in it is quality in my eyes. My one complaint about the show open is in addition to Lucky Vanous and Lisa Thornhill (who plays Agent Celia Baxter with the Justice Department) being credited, G. Gordon Liddy and Billy Dee Williams (who plays Cates’ boss) are credited despite not appearing in every episode… including “Outside Chance”. I wasn’t too torn up about not seeing Liddy, but don’t tease me with some Billy Dee and then not feature him, that’s just mean. 2/2
#3. Were there any notable guest stars?
In “Outside Chance”, Chance Bowman has to infiltrate a gang of modern day “Robin Hoods”, who are stealing money from banks and redistributing that cash to those in need.
The ring leader of the “Robin Hood” gang, Willem Lindstrom, was played by MMA legend Bas Rutten. This was an early acting role for Rutten, who would go on to star in action movies like Shadow Fury, The Eliminator and Sinners and Saints.
Professional wrestler Rob Van Dam played a member of Willem’s crew, Robbie Laramie. RVD had already appeared in the Seasonal classics Superfights and Bloodmoon and his appearance in 18 Wheels of Justice was no doubt a cross promotional tool since he was under contract to Extreme Championship Wrestling and ECW was airing on TNN at the time.
Country music artists Trace Adkins and Charlie Daniels played two business owners who were helped out by the “Robin Hoods”, which had to be a treat for fans of The Old TNN. 3/3
#4. Was there any vehicular mayhem?
As I mentioned earlier, there were multiple car flips in the show open, along with some truck action… but I also mentioned that G. Gordon Liddy and Billy Dee Williams were also in the open. So just because something is in the open doesn’t mean it is going to be in the actual show where 18 Wheels of Justice is concerned.
I am happy to report that “Outside Chance” does feature a chase scene as Michael and Celia catch Willem Lindstrom as he is getting on his motorcycle looking to vamoose from his latest bank job and Michael and Celia give chase… and they may have caught him too if it wasn’t for an assist from the female member of team, Erin 4/4
#5. Was the bar fight rule observed?
Buck Bishop (Trace Adkins) is the first person we witness Willem and his gang help at the start of the episode. Buck is facing some stiff penalties from the Internal Revenue Service that will result in the government taking his bar away… that is until Willem shows up with a briefcase full of money.
Michael and Celia end up visiting the bar on two occasions but neither of those times does our hero Michael get involved in the obligatory bar fight. In fact, Michael’s second visit is for a bowl of Buck’s famous chili. 4/5
- Final Score = 4/5 (80%) “Outside Chance” may not have been the best introduction to the series with two of the main players not even appearing. The lack of bar fight didn’t help this episode either. The show did benefit from some fun guest stars and a nice twist at the end with one member of Willem’s gang taking things too far and Michael/Chance having to put himself in danger to save innocent lives. I’ll definitely be on the road again with 18 Wheels of Justice in the future and hopefully it will be a Billy Dee episode.
