TonyCamonte84 The 1986 NBC drama 'Crime Story' is often credited as a predecessor to today's greatly serialized TV show such as 'The Sopranos' or 'The Wire', and as the prototype for this kind of series whose story-arcs span multiple episodes. Set in the 1960s it's about policeman Lt. Mike Torello and mobster Ray Luca who rises through the ranks. The first season takes 22 episodes to tell their story, however – being among the first shows to not be completely episodic – it is not as brave in its approach as the shows that would follow it are, and there are a lot of episodic stories weaved into the overarching plot. The show still feels quite episodic because of it, and you can tell that the writers at the time didn't feel the viewers would be able to appreciate a single narrative over the course of about 18 hours. This is especially obvious with the inclusion of season 1 'episode' 12 "Crime Pays", which is nothing but a 45 minute recap of what had happened in the previous 11 episodes. There are other moments later in the show, as it generally declines quite a bit, when there are long flashbacks, too.As far as I'm concerned that's a blemish for the show, as it insults the viewers' intelligence, even though the times and their viewing practices might have warranted that. The show does have a bit going for it, though, other than retrospectively exploring the beginnings of today's great shows' narrative structures. It features some very good acting, especially from Dennis Farina (playing Lt. Mike Torello), and Jon Polito, whose character Phil Bartoli doesn't get enough screen-time, though. A young Julia Roberts has a guest role in one of the episodes, too, as well as Kevin Spacey and other great actors. Also, there's some fantastic work being done behind the camera. Abel Ferrara (Bad Lieutenant, King Of New York, The Addiction, …) directs the two episodes spanning pilot and Michael Mann (Heat, The Last of the Mohicans, …) produces the entire series.It's quite evident that this show was made in the 80s, and it feels like the 1980s 90 percent of the time (not only because of the constant anachronistic 1980s score), even though its story takes place in the 1960s, but that doesn't really deter from the production quality of it all. Where the show – at least for me – ultimately falls short of being a great one, though, is in the writing. There's just not enough substance to it. The story definitely has the potential for it, as Michael Scorsese later showed in 'Casino', which was inspired by 'Crime Story', as he himself admitted, but the show doesn't quite live up to it. The episodic elements don't help, but in the end it comes down to the characters not being refined enough. Torello and Luca are interesting enough in the beginning, but character-wise they stay where they are for the rest of the series. They are mainly identified by their hatred for each other, their ambition and their hotheadedness. Unfortunately, there's little beyond that. We get to see them with their significant others and similar things like that, but little is done to further the characters anyway, and in the end there's just too little to care about, especially when the main storyline regularly gets interrupted by often uninspired cases-of-the-week. The dialogue-writing is sharp enough for it to be a decent show, yet sadly the characters aren't fleshed out well-enough. The plot- writing is also not up to par. It often takes the cheap way out and generally lacks credibility and quality. There wasn't nearly enough for it ever to be a great show, but it could have been a good one with a few tweaks. All of this, by the way, is only talking about the first season. The second one is generally another notch below the first one.

Bill Crouch I agree with this assessment of Crime Story as I also taped every episode that I could when they were on. My greatest Fathers Day gift from my son was the complete 2 seasons on DVD. Now I have a digital version of this "Best of the best" police shows. We need more great programs along these lines.What was really interesting is that IMDb has complete bios on all the actors involved in the production and I found that the pilot had many current stars cast. As the show progressed, other actors early in their careers showed up from time to time. One in particular is the "deranged gunman" in season one that is currently Captain Brass in Crime Scene Investigation (CSI).

blamar This is a wonderful, entertaining crime drama. It moved its location from Chicago to Las Vegas. It is neat to see Vegas as it once was. Turello and his squad of hard working honest cops try to stop the mob. The man they are trying to stop is a hood on the rise, Ray Luca. This is a terrific show, with a dark style. It doesn't always wrap up in an hour, nor is the ending a happy one. Turello has sacrificed a lot to be a cop.

ve4evr19 "Crime Story" was one of the last TV shows that I watched with any kind of regularity. I enjoyed the series the most when it focused on Chicago. It always impressed me because of the obvious attention to details. I enjoyed the historical accuracy of the settings and backdrops - from furniture to hair styles and color scemes to cars! Oh those cars! The only flaw I ever spotted was a hospital bed in one scene - it could have been in the movie. The music was superb! I mean, how many take the time to revive the "Flamingos", except for us die hards! Dennis Farina was both loveable and believable. He delivered serious and funny lines with a flare that was and is, uniquely his own. The support of the others in the cast rarely missed a beat either. Friday nights have never been the same!