The Equalizer

A crime drama starring Edward Woodward as Robert McCall, a for hire ex-Company agent that has gone independent. Kind of like a one-man A-Team. He only takes cases from people who have exhausted conventional resources, those who "fall through the cracks," whose plights are ignored and are at the end of their rope.¹ He had a newspaper ad that was comprised of the above message.

The show aired on CBS from September 18, 1985 to August 24, 1989. The show was an hour long and also starred Robert Lansing as Control, William Zabka as Scott McCall, and Keith Szarabajka as Mickey Kostmayer.

I remember learning about this show after it had been airing for a while. I thought it was pretty damn cool and wish I would have caught it from the beginning. Any fan of the A-Team, Knight Rider, MacGyver, etc. would probably also like this show. It was along much the same lines, an action/crime drama where a very talented person uses his skills to help the less fortunate.

¹from http://www.conubic.com/eqew/eq-ew/eq.html

From the APA website
The Equalizer® aids the lesser player by dictating mathematically that he needs to win fewer games than his more highly skilled opponent to win a match. In golf and bowling you give or get strokes or pins. In this League, you give or get games. How many games you give or get is determined by comparing your skill level to the skill level of your opponent. Higher skill level players give lower skill level players a number of games, thus evening the match.

In order to use The Equalizer you must first compete to determine your skill level. Men play their first match as an SL4, and women begin at SL3. After the first match the league operator will rescope the new player to their new skill level.

After SL has been established, the following chart is referenced to determine the handicap to be assessed.

        YOUR OPPONENT
 S/L  2   3   4   5   6   7
   2 2/2 2/3 2/4 2/5 2/6 2/7
 Y 3 3/2 2/2 2/3 2/4 2/5 2/6
 O 4 4/2 3/2 3/3 3/4 3/5 2/5
 U 5 5/2 4/2 4/3 4/4 4/5 3/5
   6 6/2 5/2 5/3 5/4 5/5 4/5
   7 7/2 6/2 5/2 5/3 5/4 5/5

For example, say I am a SL4, and my opponent is an SL3. I would have to win 3 games before my opponent won 2 in order to claim the match.

http://www.poolplayers.com/equalizer.html