Raven (American TV series)

Raven is an American martial arts drama series that originally aired on CBS from June 19, 1992 to April 30, 1993. The series was created by executive producer Frank Lupo and produced in association with Columbia Pictures Television for CBS.

Raven
Jeffrey Meek as Jonathon Raven
Genre	Drama Martial arts Secret society
Created by	Frank Lupo
Starring	Jeffrey Meek Lee Majors Andy Bumatai
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	20 (1 unaired)
Production
Running time	46–47 minutes (without commercials)
Production company	Columbia Pictures Television
Original release
Network	CBS
Release	June 19, 1992 (1992-06-19) – April 30, 1993 (1993-04-30)

Overview

Jonathon Raven is a ninja-trained former Special Forces agent, retired in Hawaii to search for his long-lost son. Avoiding assassins sent to kill him by his former associates in the Black Dragon Clan, he uses his skills to help those in need. He is assisted by his former military buddy turned eccentric private investigator, Herman Jablonski.

Plot

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 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 dies shortly after giving birth to their son, but before she dies, she realizes that her son's life is in danger. Jonathon learns of his wife's plan of hiding their son from imperilment, but 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 lifelong journey in search of his son, and is willing to risk his life along the way to find him and ensure the safety of his life, with the aid of his old military buddy – a private investigator named Herman "Ski" Jablonski.

Cast

• Jeffrey Meek as Jonathon Raven
• Lee Majors as Herman "Ski" Jablonski
• Andy Bumatai as The Big Kahuna

Episodes

Original Pilot

1. Raven: Return of the Black Dragons – 90 minutes (without commercials)

Season 1: 1992

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
1	1	"Return of the Black Dragon"	Craig R. Baxley	Frank Lupo	June 24, 1992 (1992-06-24)
2	2	"The Unseen Enemy"	James Contner	Frank Lupo	July 1, 1992 (1992-07-01)
3	3	"Reunion"	Vern Gillum	Bill Nuss	July 8, 1992 (1992-07-08)
4	4	"...And Everything Nice"	Kristoffer Siegel-Tabori	Lawrence Hertzog	July 22, 1992 (1992-07-22)
5	5	"Is Someone Crazy in Here or Is It Just Me?"	James Darren	Lawrence Hertzog	July 29, 1992 (1992-07-29)
6	6	"Prey"	James Darren	Lawrence Hertzog	September 26, 1992 (1992-09-26)
7	7	"The Death of Sheila"	Jim Johnston	Bill Nuss	October 3, 1992 (1992-10-03)

Season 2: 1993

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
8	1	"Bloody Beach"	James Darren	Steven L. Sears	January 2, 1993 (1993-01-02)
9	2	"Playback"	David Hemmings	Lawrence Hertzog	January 9, 1993 (1993-01-09)
10	3	"The Journey"	Guy Magar	David H. Balkan	January 16, 1993 (1993-01-16)
11	4	"Heat"	David Hemmings	Lawrence Hertzog	January 23, 1993 (1993-01-23)
12	5	"Rip-Off"	Ron Garcia	Lawrence Hertzog	January 30, 1993 (1993-01-30)
13	6	"Death Games"	James Darren	Frank Lupo	March 6, 1993 (1993-03-06)
14	7	"Disciples of Dawn"	Lee Katzin	David H. Balkan	March 13, 1993 (1993-03-13)
15	8	"Something in the Closet"	Michael Levine	Lawrence Hertzog	March 20, 1993 (1993-03-20)
16	9	"Checkmate"	Vern Gillum	Steven L. Sears	March 27, 1993 (1993-03-27)
17	10	"Wipe-Out"	Les Sheldon	Steven L. Sears	April 3, 1993 (1993-04-03)
18	11	"The Guardians of the Night"	David Hemmings	Lawrence Hertzog	April 10, 1993 (1993-04-10)
19	12	"Poisoned Harvest"	Guy Magar	David H. Balkan	April 17, 1993 (1993-04-17)
20	13	"Flori and Dori"	David Hemmings	Lawrence Hertzog	unaired

Home media

The complete series as originally broadcast on CBS (including the abbreviated 70 minute pilot) was released as a manufacture-on-demand DVD by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on April 5, 2016.^[1]

Mill Creek Entertainment announced the re-releasing of the series on DVD.^{[citation needed]}