CBS broadcast the television movie Walker, Texas Ranger: Trial by Fire, produced by Paramount Network Television (now CBS Paramount Network Television), on October 16, 2005. Chuck Norris, Sheree J. Wilson and Judson Mills reprised their roles, and Clarence Gilyard shot a cameo for the movie but was not featured due to the filming’s conflict with a long-planned family vacation. To fill the void, Judson Mills, who was not in the original script, returned to reprise the role of Francis Gage. Nia Peeples, who played the role of Sydney Cook for Seasons 7 and 8, was also not featured in Walker’s return to prime-time television. The explanation given was that producers decided not to follow much of the original Walker Texas Ranger series, as to give the movie a fresh look. (However could have contributed to lower ratings.) Even the opening credits with the theme “Eyes of a Ranger” performed by Chuck Norris, was absent.
Although the return of Walker Texas Ranger did not garner the ratings CBS would have hoped for (due in part to a late running football game pushing back the start time an hour), indications were that CBS was green-lighting future Walker Texas Ranger “movie of the week” projects. But as of spring 2006, both CBS and the Norris camp have been silent as to the future of the franchise, leaving many to wonder if it will return. Trial by Fire ended with Wilson’s character ending up as the victim of a courthouse shooting, leaving many to believe that there would be a follow-up movie.
In announcing their fall 2006 prime-time schedule, CBS said that they would no longer be producing “Sunday night Movie of the week” projects, which severely impaired any hopes of Walker’s return to television in the foreseeable future, although there is hope for a direct-to-DVD movie.
On May 15, 2007, CBS announced its fall line-up, but did not include the return of the “Sunday night Movie of the week.”
