Sons of Thunder

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Sons of Thunder
Genre	Drama
Creator(s)	Aaron Norris Chuck Norris
Starring	James Wlcek Marco Sanchez Dawn Maxey Alan Autry
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	6
Broadcast
Original channel	CBS
Original run	March 9, 1999 – April 17, 1999

Sons of Thunder was a television show that ran from March to April of 1999 on CBS. It was a spin-off of Walker, Texas Ranger.

The two-hour pilot, Sons of Thunder, was shown as episode 5.24 of Walker. This episode introduced the characters of childhood friends Carlos Sandoval, a Dallas PD Detective, and Trent Malloy, an Army sergeant and a protégé of Walker.

When Rev. Thunder Malloy, a close friend of Walker, dies from a heart attack, his son Trent returns home and, eventually, quits the Army to stay. Walker and his partner Trivette go after a serial cop killer who has Carlos on his list, which Trent ends up getting involved in by accident when he saved Carlos' life and later helped Walker and Carlos take down the criminal.

During seasons 6 and 7 of Walker, Carlos and Trent appeared on 16 episodes (one of these episodes included a Hayes Cooper story to which both actors appeared in a dual role). During these episodes, Trent opens his own martial arts dojo as well as a protection agency to either help people who are too scared to go to the police or who the police can't help. Sometimes he has Carlos assist him in some of his cases and at other times they help Walker on several of his cases, which often involve personal issues, or Trent turns over his current case to Walker.

Finally, on 1999, they got their own spin-off series, which only lasted 6 episodes. Carlos resigns from the PD after his partner is murdered by a serial killer. He teams up Trent to find the assassin and they later decide to form their own private investigation firm.

One curious note takes place in the pilot episode. Trent refuses to carry firearms in his role as a private investigator, and Walker is concerned. Walker offers Trent a small pouch, containing several shuriken, popularly known as "throwing stars", and asks him to carry them on his person for protection. These items are illegal for carry in virtually all cities in the United States, making it highly unlikely that a law enforcement officer would encourage anyone to carry them.

Why "Sons of Thunder" was not picked up for the fall 1999 CBS line-up was perplexing to many involved with the show. While replacing Walker Texas Ranger (which was on hiatus) in the 8 o'clock Saturday night time slot, the show beat Walker's ratings of the previous two seasons. Producers Chuck and Aaron Norris assumed that the show would be given a season's full of episodes to try and make it on to the CBS Line-up. But CBS passed on the show citing budget concerns.