100 Centre Street

This was a series that ran something less than two full seasons. I'm not sure all the episodes listed actually ran.

It had an unusually large and diversified cast, headed by Academy Award winning actor Alan Arkin and the magnificent LaTanya Richardson as diametrically opposed, both judicially and politically, but sill close, New York City judges.

It seems to me producer Lumet sought to bring back some of the quality that occasionally surfaced in the early days of live TV drama. I think he succeeded brilliantly. While the series slightly lost focus in its' second season, due mainly to cast defections and resulting plot line changes, it was, IMHO, head and shoulders above most of what passes for dramatic TV these days.

It is always a joy to see artists the likes of Arkin, Richardson, et al, applying their craft in an obviously friendly environment.

So far as I know, this two season series is not available on DVD. It should be.

Sidney Lumet is back in top form, doing what he does best. Driven equally by character and plot, an intelligent look at the difficulty of sometimes making choices between loyalty and morality.

Beautifully acted and written. The characters are realistically imperfect human beings in an imperfect world.

Not that many people will be reading my comments as this show is a couple of years old now but we are seeing it for the first time in Australia and I must comment on the grittiness and unglamourous world of the arraignment courts in the USA. We are bombarded with lawyer and police shows with beautiful people who are, oh, so smart and unbelievable! Yet, 100 Centre Street works because it does not glamourise itself and the stories and actors are all believable. The few episodes we have seen so far, only about 4 or 5, have all been outstanding and I, for one, am looking forward to seeing more. Superb, this is a 10/10 for anyone who wants to see the 'other side' of life!

I miss this show. Every episode was like a feature film. Real quality work. It was treated poorly by the network that aired it. Word of mouth can go only so far. It should've been advertised more. Alan Arkin was so perfect in his role . I have added this to my journal of "The Graveyard of Great Shows"

100 Center St was a great show. Another of many (Boomtown is another) killed because it wasn't dumb enough, not of the formulae of the moment, and not immediately "hot", and therefore no immediate financial gratification or foreseeable success to the unimaginative producers or networks. It was gritty and sometimes controversial. It had the misfortune of being on a small unsure network that could not/would not afford longterm investment.

Alan Arkin, who plays a judge, was and is an American acting gem. Lumet's concept and writing was real, smart, painful, revelatory, and ultimately satisfying as great tragedies are. Overall the ensemble was a delight and made us want to know how they and stories would develop or cope with their many very real challenges - challenges that were common to many of us, and not the extremes shown on 'Law & Order' or 'House'...

(100 Center St is the real address of the downtown NYC courthouse. The show followed the working and personal lives of the judges, prosecutors, and defenders and the struggles between law, justice, politics, true care, and personal ambition or desire around this common case inner-city court.)