Shannon's Deal

Shannon's Deal was the best TV I have ever seen. One episode in particular was shockingly good, it's title was "Words to Music". John Sales played a part in it and when the show ended I noticed that my my jaw had dropped, in amazement, to the point that my mouth was wide open. The plots, the characters and the acting was all unsurpassed then and now.

I remember seeing this show when I was a kid. I was just starting to get into books written by Nelson Algren and the films of Martin Scorsese. This show really reminded of those great storytellers. And since I was living in Chicago at the time, I could really relate to the gritty urban environment and the hard boiled but sympathetic characters. I was disappointed as hell when they cancelled it after something like 10 episodes. It was the first of a long string of series that I fell in love with only to have them yanked by the bloated, greedy, scum-sucking networks ("EZ Streets" and "Under Suspicion" among many others). If you can find the pilot episode on video(written by the great John Sayles) I encourage you to see it. Then you could see what American TV could be like if it wasn't under the tyranny of the networks.

THis show is actually an easy 10. Great writing. Even after years... I simply can't get it out of my head even after more than 15 years....

Elizabeth Pena in a breakout role. Jamey Sheridan was Shannon... a flawed big-time attorney with a gambling jones that brought him down, now starting from scratch with hard luck cases in a low rent district, shadowed by Richard Edson as a literature spouting hood enforcer trying to collect on back debts...

Just awesome.... but the programmers kept interrupting the flow and the schedule and destroyed any chance of continuity...

Sheridan's compulsive gambler has nothing on my own obsessive waiting for the return or at least the DVD...but knowing the number crunching numbskulls, this treasure may stay buried forever.

Too bad, because the beautifully sad-comic story arc of rise-fall-and redemption is moving and gritty and inspiring.

.... and the characters... wow....they were each simply great.

sad... sad.... maybe cable can revive and redo it with a twist.

I don't know why Shannon's Deal is rated so low on the IMDb. It was a wonderful show with excellent writing and acting. Jamie Sheridon was born to play this part, or he made it look that way. He was superb as Jack Shannon, and I remember thinking he would was going to be huge, which has yet to happen, unfortunately (yet David Caruso is? Strange how that works). Shannon's Deal gets an IMDb 5.8? Impossible. Anyone that voted this show below an 8 is a liar. They most likely did not even see the show, or they are the bitter and twisted network stooge that pulled the plug on it and are now in a conspiracy to destroy it to cover for the fact that they don't have a human head. That's my theory. I gave it a 10 to help out it's overall score, which is definitely a stretch, but it is an 8 or 9, especially considering the crap that passes for Emmy nods and boffo ratings now days. What is up with John Sayles (writer) career? He is either the most nonchalant writer in Hollywood or the most desperate. He writes and directs some of the most beautiful works ever made, and then he plays Cop #3 in a B movie. What a strange career. Well he did an excellent job with Shannon's Deal. If this is available on DVD it is highly recommended.

This short lived show is the best TV I have ever seen. The acting and the writing were almost unsurpassed and for the day was shockingly good. I hope to be able to see these episodes again in DVD or VHS. Elisabeth Pena and Jamie Sheridan were at the time unsurpassed and are still some of my favorite actors. The writing was also right on target and excellent. Watching this show might be hard since it is out of distribution but it is definitely worth the trouble if you can find it. I encourage all of you to give this series a watch and I am sure you will be glad you did if you do find it. One of my favorite episodes was "Words To Music" which was written by John Sayles and the he also starred as the heavy of the episode, at the end of this episode I was actually sitting there with my mouth hanging open. If you can find it give it a try.

It's Great!!!