Any fans of the show "Wiseguy?" Didn't see it the 1st time around, been watching it on Amazon
Started watching it primarily because of Jonathan Banks...enjoyed him on Breaking Bad, as well as his other work.
Ray Sharkey's "Sonny Steelgrave" was fun, Jerry Lewis' recurring role was a surprise, wouldn't say Ken Wahl's lead character was 100% believable, 100% of the time.
Overall, so far, a "good" but not "great" show, was probably more vital when it originally aired.
Your thoughts?
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My favorite ever line of all time: Wahl is being held against his will at a VA hospital. Banks figures out what’s going on and comes to rescue him. As he approaches Wahl’s ward, a menacing orderly approaches and tries to stop him from entering.
Banks grabs the guy by the collar, slams him into the wall, leans in and says,
“Give it a break, sportshoes”
I say that often to this day
I'm with you on the "sportshoes" line...definitely a high point.
... and also quite weird, even then. My sister and I both enjoyed "Wise Guys" but I remember that it went downhill after the 2nd season.
The series featured story arcs where they told the complete story over 12 or 13 weeks and then moved onto something else. It was quite innovative at the time and it opened the door for many mini-series and limited series that followed later. I really prefer the mini-series format where the story is finished after 10 or 12 weeks.
...and I think you nailed it, that was probably my initial impression..."The quality bar was much lower at that time."
Since I never saw the original, it's impossible to watch it now and not compare it to everything that followed.
I will say that I still consider Jonathan Banks to be the star of the show. Watching him in Breaking Bad compels one to seek out his other work. I had no idea that he was in it until I clicked on the first episode.
I understand that Ken Wahl didn't care for the direction taken by the show in season 4. the biggest issue I've had with what I've seen so far is that the creators of the show didn't seem to have a firm grip on what they wanted to do with the "Vinnie" character. Once the "Sonny Steelgraves" story arc played out, they kept shifting him into different scenarios or having him absent from multiple episodes. Continuity existed, but it wasn't the creators' strong point.
