Stephen J. Cannell was responsible for creating a huge number of programming during the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s most notably Baretta, The Rockford Files, The A-Team and 21 Jump Street.
Arguably his best creation was WISEGUY. A series based around a jailed and disgraced cop who is offered the chance to see out his sentence by going undercover in organised crime circles. It now appears NBC wants to resurrect the show that ran for four seasons from 1987-1990.
Ken Wahl played the lead for three of the four seasons supported by the fantastic Jonathan Banks (recently seen as a regular in the excellent BREAKING BAD). The show also features a number of breakout roles for the likes of Kevin Spacey and Joan Severance.
I eventually caught the show in the 90’s along with Michael Mann’s fellow mobster series CRIME STORY, featuring a stand-out performance from Dennis Farina. They both began screening in the mid-eighties and I enjoyed them both. Here’s hoping they do the project justice with HOMELAND scribe Alex Cary overseeing the series.
Source: Deadline
