Pilot

When I saw the promos for Kojak and that Ving Rhames was playing the character Telly Savalas made famous in the 1970s, I wondered if Rhames would be able to make me forget Savalas.

It did not make me forget the original at all. The storyline is pretty standard police drama that I've seen many times before. What kept me interested were the relationships between Kojak and his ex-partner/boss Capt. Frank McNeil (Chazz Palminteri), the asst. D.A./love interest Carmen Warrick (Roselyn Sanchez) and the two kids he temporarily took care of while their father was in prison.

Just like Savalas, Rhames presents himself and his character as tough and no-nonsense with a sensitive side. (As far as I'm concerned, any actor, like Rhames, who can play gangster Marsellus Wallace in Pulp Fiction and drag queen Holiday Heart deserves a little bit of respect.)

I hope future story lines become more interesting which is the main flaw of all pilots. There's no way anyone can determine how well a show will be in one opening episode. For now the show will run on the strength and charisma of Ving Rhames and that's not bad at all.

Update: Sadly, the USA Network pulled the plug on "Kojak" because of poor ratings.

Although I never met Telly Savalas, he always impressed me as a person of style and compassion, it was quite evident in his acting prowess, and if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Ving Rhames' version of the series is the ultimate compliment, I would bet it all that if Mr. Savalas was alive to have seen this show, he would have been honored, Rhames was brilliant, the supporting cast, fantastic, I could care less about the ratings excuse, studio execs pull that stunt all the time with shows THEY don't like, what viewers of intelligent TV want is inconsequential to them, the same thing was said about the first season of "Hill Street Blues". but we all know how that turned out.

I also see the handwriting on the wall when it came to USA's unwillingness to bring "Kojak" back, but kept garbage like "Monk" and "Psyche", they've nothing to offer me since they canceled "Kojak". At least put the series on DVD, the excuse about it being canceled doesn't fly when I go into a video store and see "Day Break" and "Blade-The Series" on home video shelves, and this marvelous, under-appreciated work is marginalized and discarded.

At least the Sleuth Channel is streaming it online for the time being, but I want to see a reasonable time slot made available for it on their station.

Hint for TVOne or BET...Why didn't they step up and bring this series back? The CW? The MY/WB Network? This show should have enjoyed an extended run on somebody's network, but I smell what the entertainment industry in Hollywood is cooking...& it stinks.

Who loves ya, baby? Damn shame this show is gone.

The first episode of this show doesn't air until March 25th, but I managed to get my hands on the press kit, which contains (along with the press releases and the extremely creative promotional lolly-pops) the DVD of the 2-hour pilot, and if the subsequent shows are as well-written and absorbing as this initial offering, I will most certainly make damn sure I don't miss any of them.

I've always enjoyed Ving Rhames' work; he manages to bring humanity and substance to any role he undertakes, whether he's portraying a good guy, a bad guy, or anything in-between. Here, as the infamous Kojak, he's perfectly on the mark, managing to be tough without making it an ego thing, genuinely sensitive when it's called for, and thoroughly able to do what needs to be done (even if it's in conflict with the 'rules'). The part is tailor-made for him, and I would go so far as to say that if you'd never seen the original show, with Telly S. in the title role, you would swear the part was created FOR Rhames.

The pilot episode starts out good, gets better and better and still better, and by the time it was over, I was ready to sign up (in fact, I did - went to the USA Network's site and submitted my email so I could get the weekly newsletter). The plot has many traditional elements of the genre, of course, but it's the WAY it's done, the WAY it's written and executed that elevate it above the fray. I only hope the rest of the episodes live up to this initial offering. I have a feeling they will.

It's happened before here at IMDb that I've been the first person to post a comment on a movie or a show, but this is the first time that I've actually gotten to be one of the first 5 voters. It's an honor to be able to cast one of these first 5 votes for such a promising and inspired new venture.

Tonights episode of Kojak was the single greatest episode of television I have ever seen. I am honored that people make such great television for me to watch. It has a beautiful, strong message that is greater than I could have hoped for. I look forward to Many, many years of this show and many awards. Well done USA Network you should be so proud of yourselves.It is high time that television does not pander to it's audiences. It is high time that we are told the truth. It is high time that a great actor like Ving is delivering such potent messages. I am so excited for this. Tonight's episode should be shown in schools. It is genius.When can we expect more episodes? This would be great to know.

Did not enjoy the new Kojak one little bit. The opening to the pilot was supposed to shock, but I just laughed. Compared to the current 'gritty' shows out there, this sucked (no pun intended!!!!). The way it was filmed put me off straight away. With dodgy slow motion techniques which should now belong in the dark ages. This has nothing I haven't seen before. Compared to high quality shows like Sopranos, The Shield, Six Feet Under, Lost & CSI, this is just poor. Don't get me wrong, I like Ving Rhames, he's a class act. But I think he's making a big mistake with this. Perhaps it will get better once the series is shown over her in the UK, but I doubt it.