Naked City

Few TV shows in history sustained such a high level of acting, production and writing. Naked City was a showcase for up-and-coming stage actors, such as Robert Duvall, Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford, Ed Asner--the list goes on and on. But leads--Burke, McMahon and Bellaver--were superb. Some episodes were nothing short of breathtaking. A good example is "Hold for Gloria Christmas," starring Burgess Meredith as a Greenwich Village poet. It was filmed entirely in the Village, and the cast included Herschel Bernardi, Eileen Heckhart and--a real treat for theater buffs--a rare appearance by the famed acting teacher and Group theater veteran Sanford Meisner. The best episodes were like that--character studies, filmed in the early Sixties, finely wrought time capsules of a New York that no longer exists.

There was no episode of this show that wasn't riveting & first rate. Every NY-based (I'm NY-based & have been off & on since I was a kid) cop show ever made from Kojak through Law & Order & NYPD Blue is totally derivative of Naked City. Interesting that for the first year the characters were based on the movie & they were great, but the replacements were even better. Just a brilliant brilliant show.

The IMDb lists Paul Frees as the narrator of "Naked City" - the series. But it was my understanding that actor Lawrence Dobkin was the voice behind "There are eight million stories in the Naked City...This has been one of them".

The discs of the show are excellent. You get the rare chance, not only to see some of the talent of yesterday like Roddy MacDowall, Carroll O'Connor, and Maureen Stapleton, but actors doing early roles, some only walk-ons, like Dustin Hoffman as a thief in BAREFOOT ON A BED OF COALS or Peter Falk in a tiny role as a gun man in DEATH OF PRINCES or Gene Hackman as a nervous reporter in PRIME OF LIFE.

The series seemed to be approached by it's writers as New York theater, people talking a bit more emotionally than you would see on LAW AND ORDER. Their characters were delved in, rather than simply being shelved as "good" or "evil" as they do on today's series.

There have been several discs on the show from Image Entertainment and I hope they continue to release them.

This one is the kind of series that made early TV the first rate entertainment is was (but seldom is today). Naked City was also the fertile ground wherein the show "Route 66" was also born. One of the early episodes--"Four Sweet Corners"--was about two young guys who teamed up to go against a neighborhood gang. Those two (played by Bobby Morris and George Maharis) would be the catalyst for the Route 66 series, except Bobby Morris died unexpectedly, so Martin Milner starred opposite Maharis in Route 66.

Actress Lois Nettleton, one of the guest stars on Naked City, explained why the show was so well done, saying that it, "..focused on the atmosphere and reality of the people involved in the story. It was more personal." She is right. They just don't put this kind of effort into dramatic shows today. The star of this show was actually the streets New York City. You can't beat that kind of casting.

For a good take on the series, I recommend Jim Rosin's book, "Naked City, The Television Series." Then get some DVDs of the show and see why it was ahead of its time.

I remember this show quite well. I cannot remember any specific story lines but I do know that it was all filmed entirely in NYC the same way that the 1948 movie was. The black and white photography was as good as any theatrical movie of its time. I would venture to say that if this show would be rerun today in prime time, it would be as good any good cop shop being shown today. I would like to see this show put on video.