Kojak

This cool remake of 1973-78 Classic has all style and substance and image with better teleplay, better dialog, better writing skills, better music and a sleeker car (Chysler 300c) Ving Rhames is the great person to play kojak and the rest of the cast is universally excellent, the TV show has some of the smoothest, darkest episodes I've seen, even the opening credits are cool, I Wish they were better remakes and this is the best remake of a TV show since the movie version of the fugitive.

I Hope Ving Rhames revives his character soon and make it even more sleeker than it already has, this is a very good and cool remake.

The first episode of this show doesn't air until March 25th, but I managed to get my hands on the press kit, which contains (along with the press releases and the extremely creative promotional lolly-pops) the DVD of the 2-hour pilot, and if the subsequent shows are as well-written and absorbing as this initial offering, I will most certainly make damn sure I don't miss any of them.

I've always enjoyed Ving Rhames' work; he manages to bring humanity and substance to any role he undertakes, whether he's portraying a good guy, a bad guy, or anything in-between. Here, as the infamous Kojak, he's perfectly on the mark, managing to be tough without making it an ego thing, genuinely sensitive when it's called for, and thoroughly able to do what needs to be done (even if it's in conflict with the 'rules'). The part is tailor-made for him, and I would go so far as to say that if you'd never seen the original show, with Telly S. in the title role, you would swear the part was created FOR Rhames.

The pilot episode starts out good, gets better and better and still better, and by the time it was over, I was ready to sign up (in fact, I did - went to the USA Network's site and submitted my email so I could get the weekly newsletter). The plot has many traditional elements of the genre, of course, but it's the WAY it's done, the WAY it's written and executed that elevate it above the fray. I only hope the rest of the episodes live up to this initial offering. I have a feeling they will.

It's happened before here at IMDb that I've been the first person to post a comment on a movie or a show, but this is the first time that I've actually gotten to be one of the first 5 voters. It's an honor to be able to cast one of these first 5 votes for such a promising and inspired new venture.

I'm a huge fan of Telly Savalas' Kojak. Kojak was a sharp dressing cop who acted as a prince of the city. He didn't always go by the book, but he protected the innocent. He was slick, smart, and had a great heart. Now it's 2005 and there's a new version of Kojak starring Ving Rhames. It is superb. The character is still a sharp dressing prince of the city. He still doesn't do everything by the book and he still protects the innocent. Bobby Crocker is back. Frank MacNeil is back. The lollipops are back. The bald is back too. Most importantly, Kojak still has his heart of gold. I'm as happy watching Ving as I am watching Telly in the role on DVD. Both men bring their own individuality to the role, but the heart and soul of Kojak is there in both versions. The 2005 series truly maintains the integrity of the original character. Kojak is still one hell of a guy. This is how all remakes should be. It's excellent.

Ving Rhames as Kojak? Seriously?

What kind of PC nonsense was that? Might as well cast Charlie Sheen as MLK. Or Samuel Jackson as Gandhi. Or some Swede as Geronimo.

Look, Kojak was an ethnic Greek in a way that was integral to his character. It's just not believable. And the acting was sub par.

This was yet another example of franchise poaching, whereby junk scripts are piled up until a time when the title and character names on one of them can be altered and it be pushed out there.

I watched the new Kojak premiere and the second episode, hoping that I would get a good feel for how the series was. Its a great show that follows most of the cop rules. Tough lead role, Check. Cohorts of fellow cops who admire the lead, check. Interesting but guessable plot, check. Iconic captain figure who provides little help, Check. Nevertheless, Its a really great show. Ving Rhames is one of the great actors of our time. The show also features Michael Kelly, who stared with Ving in Dawn of the Dead. It's Good to see them together again, as they had a great dynamic in the movie.

Sadly I think this series has a limited future. It just doesn't add enough new to the cop genre to keep it interesting and different. However, I hope most people are just like me. You watch it, Enjoy it for what it is, and hope to see more.