High Incident

"High Incident" is one of the best police dramas i have seen and believe me I have seen a lot. The emphasis of this show was not the action, but the drama. This doesn't mean there isn't enough action. There is a lot of action to be enjoyed. But when you see the cops at work, you get involved with the characters and sometimes you will hate them, just as real life. The acting is excellent. I cannot understand that a show this great can be cancelled after two seasons, while a c****y show like "Walker, Texas Ranger" can go on and on and on. "High Incident" must come back.

I have a background in TV production and technical aspects, and I do love a good cop show. I think several factors helped HI become one of the best ever.

First in my mind was the involvement of Steven Spielberg. Look at the man's early work and his great use of pacing for the stories, but often with a well-positioned 'BOO!!!' at some point in the show. HI often had more action before the opening credits than other shows had in their first half hour with many instances coming from the 'total shock' department.

Next, the Technical work was magnificent! From the precision driving to the firearms aspects to the lighting of suspenseful scenes, this series rocked! The series made use of special cutaway Crown Vic Police cars that enabled seamless camera transitions from in-car to exterior camera work, perhaps another Spielberg method...

Casting was magnificent! Louis Mustillo as Russell Topps was and remains one of my favorite characters ever! R Lee Ermey as the female officer's retired Marine father in ep 2 was a masterstroke! The sense of history, the San Fernando Valley quirkiness, the frequent onset of genuinely funny and sweet comments from even minor characters was just about perfect. ('Richard, you were the best of them all!') Officer Topps in particular was put in many situations that showed the humanity of the character.

With the second season Lindsay Frost was added to the cast, and I'd watch Ms. Frost read the phone book!

Much was made of the final episode, 'Shootout' written by Ann Donahue after the infamous North Hollywood bank robbery shootout. Better fare has never been shown on TV! It had everything, and was a fitting sendoff to a great series that ended many seasons too early.

H.I. should rank with 'Boomtown' and 'NYPD Blue' as the best ever. Ms. Donahue's reward for her work on HI was her EP gig for the various CSI series, and many of the cast went on to greatness. Wonderful work!

I have it from an inside source the reason the series was canceled was because Eisner and Katzenberg were having a pissing contest. Katzenberg at the time was suing Eisner (Disney) for money he felt he was owed while working at Disney. The series was being reported as picked up in all the tabloids. On the weekend that the season line-up was to be announced, in NYC, Eisner dropped 'High Incident' from the list at the very last minute, without any warning, so nobody could do anything about it.

I was told that Spielberg had said that if he'd known that this could possibly have happened he would have been in New York that weekend. A couple of years later when 'Schindler's List' was to premiere on network TV Spielberg pulled it from ABC and gave it to a different network.

Spielberg got some measure of revenge. Katzenberg got his money. Eisner got to throw his power around. The people who really paid were the cast, the crew and the fans who loved the show.

My husband and I waited eagerly each week to watch "High Incident." We figured if Steven Spielberg was associated with it, then it had to be good. We were right. This was absolutely the best cop show we had seen up to that time. I can't believe the network canceled it without giving it a chance. We were bitterly disappointed. This show was way better than Hill Street Blues and NYPD Blue and look how long they lasted. The characters were all believable and the story lines were well written. Many of the actors in this show were relatively unknown when it started and they have gone on to bigger and better things. If there were any way to get this show back on the air, we would be thrilled. I hope they will release all the episodes on DVD so we can watch them again. The network executives don't know jack when it comes to what's great and what is just mediocre and boring. They keep all those horrible shows on for years but cancel an excellent show like "High Incident." What a shame.

This show was great! To date, it is the only police/real-life drama show I watched religiously. This show was beautiful in everyway. It was powerful, emotional, touching, and just great writing and filled with great actors. David Keith's role was awesome. I still remember the episode where he busts through a door of this house were a husband is beating his wife, and Kieth pounds the guy into the ground. One of my favorite scenes of all time in any movie or TV show. I hated that they left me hanging with one officer paralyzed, and another in a coma after the shootout. Hopefully, some day this show will be available on DVD or something.