Wise Ways

I've been watching Wiseguy on the Filmrise service. (It offers free movies and TV shows, though every eight minutes you have to sit through five commercials.) Do you remember Wiseguy?  It's a police drama from the late 80s created by Stephen J. Cannell and Frank Lupo. Well regarded in its day, it was nominated for several Emmys.

It's the story of Vinnie Terranova (Ken Wahl), who does deep cover work for the FBI. So deep the series starts with his coming out of an 18-month stretch in prison not for a crime but for a cover story.  His job is to embed himself in criminal enterprises and get the information he garners out to handler Frank McPike (Jonathan Banks).

The twist, something fairly new at the time, was each season consists of arcs where a guest star portrays a major criminal.  The first year, for instance, has Vinnie become the right-hand man to gangster Sonny Steelgrave (Ray Sharkey) for half the season, followed by his work with super-rich criminal mastermind Mel Profitt (Kevin Spacey) and Mel's beautiful sister Susan (Joan Severance).

I often watched the show when it first aired, picking up on it around the time Kevin Spacey appeared (this was Spacey's introduction to many).  So it was fun to see how things started with Ray Sharkey.  Now that I'm done with that arc, I've got to decide if I'll continue.

The show is a bit clunky--it's a network show (back when that was the only choice) and requires regular, melodramatic payoffs with overheated action.  Still, Wiseguy isn't bad, and was a precursor for stuff like The Sopranos and The Wire.

Star Ken Wahl had an odd career (his career is in the past tense, not his life). With no acting experience he was hired to star in the 1979 film The Wanderers.  After that he did Fort Apache The Bronx.  Then followed a series of indifferent movies and, starting in 1987, Wiseguy.  He was nominated for an Emmy, but his career abruptly ended in 1992 after a severe injury (he literally broke his neck).

Wahl's guest stars didn't fare too well, either.  Ray Sharkey died of AIDS at the age of 40 in 1993. And we all know the Kevin Spacey story.

Meanwhile, Jonathan Banks has gone on to greater fame as Mike Ehrmantraut on Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul.  Even back on Wiseguy I thought he was the main reason to watch the show.  Others were impressed as well, since he was nominated for an Emmy as McPike. (He also has five nomination for Ehrmantraut--time to win one already.)

McPike's specialty was barely contained, self-righteous anger, and no one was better at it than Jonathan Banks.  He's fun to watch, though he sure looks different from how he looks today.  Don't we all.