Crime Story

I watched this show faithfully practically from the first show and throughout its run. When this show premiered in 1986,I was a freshman in high school and hadn't yet gotten access to my own car,so my social life was kinda limited. Knowing that,many of my Friday nights(when they,NBC,first plugged this show into their line-up)were "freed up" to watch television and I was usually between this show and the even shorter-lived ABC series "Starman". Ordinarily,I wouldn't ever suggest that one should eschew a social life in order to watch television,but I have to say that,where this show is concerned,I'm kinda glad I didn't have much of a social calendar.

Producer Michael Mann,flush with success in the mid-eighties from his white hot popular,MTV-fueled crime show "Miami Vice",created this show,a change of pace from the slick,'80s "Vice": cold,rough Chicago of 1963,where pre-Miranda warning cops battled tough,old school mobsters and rising,ambitious hoods. In this setting we watch as a war is brewing between two particulars:tough,no-nonsense Major Case squad Lt.Michael Torello(Dennis Farina,actual Chicago cop turned actor,excellent) and rising young-ish hood Ray Luca(Anthony Denison,so good here he's become somewhat prone to typecasting). As Luca's climb in the outfit continues to rise,the body count of people he uses(including some friends of Torello's)rises,and this fuels the drama further still.

Famously,the show's producers,by the end of 1986-87 had reasoned that the relatively low ratings had doomed the show to cancellation,this prompting the last episode to feature two of the main characters(I won't say which ones,since I'm certain that not EVERYONE knows about this show)were offed by a nuclear bomb detonation. So when the show's loyal fan base demanded the show to be brought back by a semi-reluctant NBC,the show,already changed of scenery to glitzy Las Vegas and the Chicago cops now Marshalls of the Department of Justice,had to undergo a fair amount of writer change and the storyline began to become stranger and more stilted,yet I still found the show very compelling. Many of the actors on the show have gone on to many other--and much more famous and successful--projects,but I still remember them from their stint on this show. This show was also a launching pad for then-unknown actors such as Lorraine Bracco,Gary Sinise,Stanley Tucci,David Caruso and Julia Roberts.I think it's a testimony to a show's potency when it can be off the air almost twenty years and STILL inspire plenty of interest on its IMDb site and on various TV and video websites.Heck,even the THEME SONG(Del Shannon re-doing his hit "Runaway")I thought set the mood and tone for the show,further adding to the enjoyment. Having seen all of the episodes at least twice,I feel like I may be inclined to buy the eps on DVD yet.

While it may seem a little dated,restrained and hokey by today's TV crime drama standards,I'd still recommend one--if one can run across this show--to give "Crime Story" a look.

why this show only has 89 votes. It's one of my favorite shows of all time along with Twin Peaks, Arrested Development and Miami Vice. And anyone who loved Vice should love this. It's also by Michael Mann who as great as he is with movies is so much better with TV. This is actually where I fell in love with Andrew Dice Clay. That's right, you heard me. He played Max Goldman on the show and was great. Along with the wonderful Anthony John Denison, Dennis Farina and Stephen Lang. And in the pilot there is a super young David Caruso and the 4400's Billy Campbell plays one of the detectives. And let's not forget the super-cool don Manny Weisbord played by the legendary Joseph Weisman. And speaking of stars this was much like Miami Vice with a long list of guest stars. I remember Kevin Spacey playing a Kennedy type in one episode. They don't make shows like this anymore. It's a shame. We're fascinated when something like LOST is almost as good as TV used to be. If you like watching TV on DVD definitely give it a watch. It's better than everything on television right now.

I miss it, and it's been nearly 20 years! I'm just surprised there is not a bona-fide cult following for this show! If anyone reading this disagrees, well speak up!! The show premiered when I was a teenager, and I thought it was cool as sh%#! Of course, I was also watching Pee-Wee's playhouse, Joes Bob Briggs Drive-In Theatre, going to see Roy Orbison in concert one last time. And while the addition of cast member Andrew Goldman (Dice-Clay) may not have done much in retrospect for the show, I'll be damned if it didn't prove that he could actually act! I'm not kidding, he did a fine job! Dennis Ferrina, the Maimi Beach widows dream, so my (much older) ex used to tell me... I've been rooting for him ever since this show. (And Midnight Run paid off!)Not sure yet on Law & Order.....

This tv show had it all, great characters played by a fantastic cast, some of the coolest cops and villians you could ever ask for, great music, the cars, the atmosphere and dialogue, and a plot that went way beyond any single episode! It's the story of one cop named Michael Torello (Dennis Farina) who makes it his life's mission to bring down a "ruthless hood" named Ray Luca (Anthony Denison) who is quickly working his way to the top of the Chicago organized crime syndicate. Along the way, you're introduced to other key figures, like Andrew Dice Clay's character Max Goldman and a performance by Joseph Wiseman as Manny Weisbord that stands just as strong as anything The Godfather produced (in my absolutely biased opinion, of course). Don't forget Pauli Taglia, Ray's henchman, and rockin' Frank Holman (the same guy who plays Buffalo Bill in Silence of the Lambs), who bears an intriguing resemblance to the Rev. Horton Heat! The series started in Chicago, migrated to Las Vegas about a third of the way through, and ends in Latin America of all places. I won't give anything away here, but I will warn you that if you see the pilot, you'll want to get your hands on the rest of the series. Unfortunately, that's not as easy. The tapes show up on ebay regularly but aren't cheap. Good news is that Anchor Bay is releasing all the episodes on dvd really soon, so it's probably just better to wait for that. Alot of the tapes were copied in SLP mode anyway, and don't have the best quality. This series has a severe cult following now, even though it only aired for two seasons in the '80s. I introduced my girlfriend at the time to this show, and while she was skeptical at first, by the end she insisted we had to get the rest of the series. You'll watch it over and over again and pick up on stuff you miss everytime, not to mention the stories are just classic and filled to overflowing with one-liners and scenes! Michael Mann is a genius for making this show happen. I hated Miami Vice, but this was just "the greatest thing, since bullets"---Yikes!!!!, I could write on and on about the merits of this series!! It's hard to believe how few people know about Crime Story! Don't be one of those people, check it out!

Michael Mann is a first class director. He is laser focused and always delivers in spades. He is the genius who directed the tv film The Jericho Mile and the film noir classic with Jimmy Caan Thief. I think he needs to be given credit for this HE DIRECTED THE FILM THAT IS BETTER THEN SILENCE OF THE LAMBS!!!!He directed Manhunter which was so unjustly overlooked when it was released, but has now on DVD been given the credit it deserves. Mann also directed Heat, The Insider and Ali. Before he did that however, he created the classic tv shows Miami Vice and Crime Story. These are the series that made tv crime shows "grow up" in a sense. It made them more gritty and realistic the way that The Untouchables and Dragnet did. Mike Torello on this show was just as tough and bad ass as Elliot Ness or Joe Friday! I loved the look of this series, it made you feel like you were back in that time where cars had finns, where rock and roll was king and where the good guys wore black! I loved the theme music for the show, it was Del Shannon's "Runaway" I always remember that song. Mike Torello against Ray Luca was almost like a morality play of good versus evil. The scripts were first class, and the actors never gave a performance that didn't rule. Dennis Farina had actually been a cop with Chicago Police Department and it amazes me that a man who never had an acting lesson could give such a fine performance in every show that he has been in! Crime Story wasn't a show for sissies, but it always delivered and kicked ass!