City Confidential

I was concerned that "City Confidential" would suffer after the untimely death of Paul Winfield, its magnificent narrator. Having seen all but one of the new season's episodes, though, I can safely say that Keith David has stepped in and carried on Winfield's standard of excellence. Much credit, of course, must go to the writers, but as a fan I'd come to consider Winfield's voice the "star" of the show. While I may still miss Winfield as an actor, I no longer have any fears that one of my favorite A&E programs will decline in quality with his passing. Keith David's mellow voice, precise diction and expressive delivery set just the right tone. Kudos to whoever recognized him as the right match of talent to task.

Paul Winfield can make any small town or city fascinating. He could sell ice to Eskimos or anything else. The language and description of towns like Skidmore, Missouri, Fairbanks, Alaska, Seattle, Boston, Hunt Country, Virginia, Philadelphia, St. Augustine, Florida, and Salem, Massachusetts can entice people to visit these places and buy the books about the famous crimes that have occurred there. He is a wonderful narrator of this show. He makes everything so trivial and mundane about these towns to be exotic and captivating. Winfield died and they replaced him with a narrator just as wonderful as Paul was in the role. Still it makes you wonder about your own hometown, what makes it special, unique and it's character to the other ones depicted on City Confidential. My favorite episode was Salem known for more than the witches. If you listen to his voice, it's like listening to poetry sometimes. He points out the irony and how a town will recover from it's crimes.

GOOD - You learn interesting facts about different cities in the United States. The first part of this program is always about the place where a particular crime occurred. It's a fascinating little segment, every time, whether they are discussing a small town or a big city. The program is not only interesting but entertaining as the writers use all kinds of dramatic and often humorous ways to describe people, places and motives behind why they do things. You also get a good mix of locals commenting on a situation. The announcer, Paul Winfield, has a fabulous voice and a distinct way of presenting his material. When he died in 2004, the program suffered a huge loss.

BAD - After you've watched a half dozen episodes, cultural and political agendas jump out at you. For instance, they've never been able to resist showing anyone who goes to church and the commits a crime. The writers just can't get enough digs at anyone religious, particularly Christianity. In the dozen episodes I've watched, at least half of them put not-so-subtle propaganda in them directed at anyone who believes in the Bible or attending church. They also love - to the point where it's overt bias - to pick on rich, white people. You rarely (I'm still waiting) see a crime story involving a minority. What Liberal bias?

OVERALL - The program is so politically-correct it's pathetic, but it's so well-written and so well-narrated by Winfield that it's almost always a very entertaining show. At the very least, it's a great travelogue where you learn a lot of interesting facts about places around the United States. The show is never dull but, man, it's biased big-time. You're going to either love or hate some of these episodes.

Who can forget the deeply resonant voice with a slightly cynical twang narrating "City Confidential"? That narration seemed in integral part of this outstanding series of intriguing case histories.

On the 7th of this month (March, 2004) Paul Winfield died. It's hard to imagine "City Confidential" without him. Although he was never seen, his narration became the series on-going "star," tightly wedded to the well written scrips.

On this month's occasion it seems fitting to pay tribute to the memory of this Emmy-award-winning actor, who so enriched our lives with his rich body of work, from the sixties through this year.

In a period in which many black actors digressed into the "blaxsploitation" genre, Winfield remained completely dignified in his career choices, and steadfastly dedicated to his craft. (His work in "Sounder" and "Roots" are indelibly imprinted in our minds.)

While "Confidential" moves on to another narrator, the Winfield years will remain a lasting, rich legacy in the recollections of many series viewers.

Winfield's oily narration is fantastic, and compelling enough on its own to make the show a must-see. Every simple fact he relates seems to be bringing him great pleasure, both sinister and, ahem, lascivious. He can say "Amityville, New York" and it will sound de-li-cious, like he's really a old guy at the bar blessed with a great voice, reminiscing about some tawdry encounter he had as a youth. Good stuff!