Brilliant But Cancelled: Crime Dramas - Touching Evil / Johnny Staccato / Gideon Oliver / Delvecchio
See the shows that were cancelled before their times as the Brilliant But Cancelled collection presents Crime Dramas!
From the producers who would go on to make television sensations Hill St. Blues, Columbo and Law & Order come four episodes from these intelligent crime drama series that represent over forty years of television.
Includes episodes from Touching Evil, Johnny Staccato, Gideon Oliver and Delvecchio.
Member Reviews
Good stuff gone too soon - eoguy
The creative minds at Bravo! (the U.S. network, of course) masterminded this astounding idea: bring back old TV shows prematurely canned by their respective networks.
On one hand, it's a wonderful to re-screen "flops." On the other, this lets audiences decide if the shows were sent to their graves rightfully, or not.
The set begins with Johnny Staccato, starring John Cassavetes, who later went on to become one of the pivotal directors of the '70s film revolution. This 1959 series lasted 27 episodes. We get episode 10. The show only runs 30 minutes, so the film noir-ish mystery is solved at a steady pace. This'll be a treat for anyone that misses a thickly plotted black and white thriller.
The 1976 production Delvecchio was my favourite out of this set, and probably the most intelligent. Judd Hirsch, later on Taxi, plays an LAPD detective who ends up very close to a case -- the murder of his goddaughter. Hirsch is solid and the scripts are equally as good...probably because NYPD Blue created Steven Bochco is behind the show. This one lasted 19 episodes.
Gideon Oliver, airing in 1989, had stars like Louis Gossett Jr. and Eric LaSalle. The series was part of a rotation of weekly ABC Monday Night Mystery movies in a two-hour timeslot. So, essentially this is a 90 minute TV-movie. It's good, but it almost doesn't quality as a TV show. According to the imdb this show hardly lasted four episodes. Dick Wolf, creator of Law & Order, made this series.
Touching Evil is the most recent cancellation -- it was banished in 2004. The show follows a man who, after being shot in the head, is assigned to the Serial Crime Unit of the FBI. The show was good, but more visually than script wise. It's still a treat for fans of the crime genre, because it plays by inventive rules.
Altogether this disc is worth a look for anyone that likes to delve into the past for juicy shows that didn't make the network's final cut.
Member Reviews
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Good stuff gone too soon - eoguy
The creative minds at Bravo! (the U.S. network, of course) masterminded this astounding idea: bring back old TV shows prematurely canned by their respective networks.
On one hand, it's a wonderful to re-screen "flops." On the other, this lets audiences ...