Counterstrike (1990 TV series)

Counterstrike
Counterstrike title screen
Also known as	Force de frappe
Genre	Action / Adventure
Starring	Simon MacCorkindale Christopher Plummer Tom Kneebone
Country of origin	Canada France
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	66
Production
Executive producer(s)	Denis Heroux Robert Lantos Larry Jacobson Sonny Grosso Steven DeNure
Producer(s)	Julian Marks
Location(s)	Toronto, Ontario Paris, France
Running time	60 minutes
Production company(s)	Alliance Communications Corporation Grosso-Jacobson Productions
Release
Original network	USA Network
Original release	July 1, 1990 – May 9, 1993

Counterstrike is a Canadian/French crime-fighting/espionage television series. The series premiered on American cable channel USA Network on July 1, 1990. It ran for three seasons, airing 66 hour-long episodes in total.

After his wife is kidnapped by terrorists, international industrialist Alexander Addington assembles a clandestine team of troubleshooters to help combat terrorism around the world. He recruits Peter Sinclair from Scotland Yard to lead the team. They set up a French con artist and art/jewelry thief named Nicole Beaumont and blackmail her into joining because of her valuable criminal connections. The third teammember is Luke Brenner, an American mercenary whom they rescue from a Mexican jail. The series' other recurring characters are Bennett and J.J., Alexander's valet and pilot, respectively.

In the second season's second episode Peter and Alexander encounter a French reporter named Gabrielle Germont whom they recruit into the team to prevent her from publishing a story about them. In the season's third episode Peter and Gabrielle rescue Hector Stone, an American CIA-operative and former Navy SEAL whose cover has been blown, and invite him to join the team.

The character of Alexander's daughter Suzanne Addington, who designed the team's computer systems, was also written out of the series at the beginning of the second season. Suzanne appears in one third season episode, although played by a different actress. In her stead Alexander gets a secretary/confidante named Hélène Previn.

Counterstrike aired in the United States on cable channel USA Network, premiering on July 1, 1990. It premiered on November 2, 1991 on CTV in Canada, and on TF1 in France on November 20, 1991. Counterstrike has since aired in reruns in Canada on Showcase and TVtropolis.