Les Incorruptibles de Chicago

Crime Story was a strange, hard and often inspired tv series from the mid-eighties. It was made by the producer of Miami Vice, Michael Mann, and the cast is stocked with Michael Mann regulars - Stephen Lang, Bill Smitrovitch, Ted Levine and Dennis Farina (all except Ted Levine are in Manhunter).

Although Farina and his crew throughout the series chase after their arch nemesis, Ray Luca and his gang (Pauli Taglia, Frank Holman), the story comes in two parts. The first part, allegedly set in Chicago, the second set in Las Vegas.

Throughout the series, the director tries for a fifties, early sixties feel, even though that's tough to maintain. Great music, every episode is introduced by Del Shannon's "Runaway".

However, very often the focus is the psychological dynamic between Mike Torello (real-life Chicago cop Farina) and Ray Luca (played with a psychopathic coldness by Anthony John Denison). Torello may be on the right side of the law, but there is an equally uneasy quality about the doggedness with which he keeps going after Luca. What would his life be without him? Torello is also frequently tempted to cross the line and behave in a more effective, but illegal way himself.

If you haven't seen it, and you like Wise Guy, or the feel and look Michael Mann gives to his productions, don't miss this series. As this is a classic 80s series, there are also lots of cameos from familiar actors and actresses.

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!

Crime Story was very probably the best show of its kind ever. Although it ran only two seasons, it boasted a superbly worked story and, without question, the best cast ever assembled for television. Not a big star in the mix, but the finest selection of character actors around. Probably the best conflict ever between two men on screen, Denis Farina as cop Mike Torello, and Anthony Denison as hot-headed mob figure Ray Luca. Luca's rise to power in Chicago and later in Las Vegas is the central plot, with Torello and his task force on target to bring him down. With Torello's every failure to bring Luca to justice, he becomes more frustrated and empassioned, and turns up the heat a notch each time, while Luca dances just beyond his reach, increasingly arrogant in his new-found invincibility.

Along with the well-laid foundation of drama and conflict, there was quite a lot of dark humor, one of the things I liked best about the series. Much of this was provided by John Santucci as Paulie, and Ted Levine as Holman, as Luca's sleazy low-life helpers. One show in particular stands out, in which Luca dispatches Paulie and Holman to go to work at a competitor's casino, to do everything possible to make it lose money. Another great role was Luca's long-suffering wife, Cori, played with shrewish gusto by Johann Carlo.

The first season was superior to the second, mostly because the first was so close to perfect. The second half of the first season, in which Torello follows Luca to Las Vegas, is no less than outstanding. Having seen "Casino",the Martin Scorcese movie from 1995, I was struck by how many similarities there were between that movie and "Crime Story" in Las Vegas.

This show was in reruns on USA ten years ago, for a short time, it seems they only ran the whole series through twice. I did tape it at the time, but have since been able to order the entire series on tape, a ten-cassette set. Although the picture quality is not great (EP mode), I am grateful to have these episodes to watch at all. If anybody ever properly puts this series on video (two episodes per tape, stereo sound), I would be even more grateful. The best television show of the 1980's deserves better!

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.