100 Centre Street

"100 Center Street" is the single best show on television. This underrated, incredibly written drama far outweighs any courtroom competition. I have been a casting director for over ten years and I have never seen a cast put together that is so wonderful. Watch this damn show!

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.

Wow, I was shocked to read some of the negative comments about this show.

Something I have always hated about "Hollywood" is that any project is much more salable if it closes on an upbeat or has a "lived happily ever after" ending. Being real isn't always part of the criteria, substance much less important than if it looks good and is well polished.

Unfortunately, I have experienced first hand the very popular belief about a shows potential and it's success being not based on it's subject, content and the real often twisted nuances of life. Rather it seems to have more emphasis on whether or not that it is slick, highly promoted and has a good score, if it does then it must be good, it must be okay... (Now don't get me wrong, while I do have a special appreciation for the Mike Post's and Pete Carpenter's of the business, I find their contributions to be an added bonus to the production but not a critical must.)

And I just wanted to say that it's not all good, it's not always okay...

I think the point that Mr. Lumet is trying to make is that life sometimes is tedious, stereotypical and tarnished. Often the bottom line, end of story and/or real deal in life is that it doesn't always have a happy ending.

It accurately illustrates that sometimes more often than not, life is just not fair or even good and the outcome in general really does suck.

Honestly tells us a story about the human condition - the gist being you get sick, you get old and you die, and with this you make the best of it otherwise you don't.

100 Centre Street does just that and it is what I love about the show the most, it's simple approach to complicated issues, people and scenarios that are sometimes raw, sensitive and rude. Just puts it out there, like it or not, without all the extra bullsh... This I understand and appreciate very much... I do because I have lived it and know it all too well...

THE END

in love & light, shell

PS - Mr Lumet, if you read this, boy have I got a story for you... LOL

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"

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.