Crime & Cop Shows

TV critic David BIianculli reviews “The Sopranos.” It begins its second season this month.

TV critic David Bianculli reviews “The Beat” the new cop drama by the Tom Fontana/Barry Levinson team that also created the series “Homicide.” The new show premieres on the UPN network tonight.

We remember actress Nancy Marchand who died Sunday at the age of 71. Most recently she was best-known for playing the bitter mother of Tony Soprano in the HBO series “The Sopranos.” During the 1970s she played the newspaper publisher on the “Lou Grant” show. (interview with TV critic David Bianculli rebroadcast from 3/18/99)

TV critic David Bianculli reviews the season finale of The Sopranos which was broadcast last night on HBO.

Actor Dominic Chianese plays Uncle Junior on the hit HBO series The Sopranos. He been nominated for an Emmy. He had roles in TV shows such as Kojak, Law and Order, and films including Dog Day Afternoon, and The Godfather Part II. At the age of 70, he is now launching a singing career. His new album is called Hits (Madacy Entertainment Group). He brings his guitar to the studio.

Actor Tony Shalhoub plays the obsessive-compulsive detective Adrian Monk in the USA Network series Monk. His films include, The Man Who Wasn't There, Spy Kids, Searching for Bobby Fischer, Men in Black and Men in Black II, Big Night, Barton Fink and Honeymoon in Vegas.

Writer/Executive producer Andy Breckman of the new USA Network series, Monk. The program is about a detective with an obsessive-compulsive disorder, and premieres Friday, July 12, 2002. Breckman was one of the original writers of Late Night with David Letterman and has worked with Saturday Night Live.

Actress Edie Falco plays Carmela Soprano, wife of Tony Soprano on the HBO drama The Sopranos. The role turned her from a relative unknown to a TV star. She's had roles on Law & Order and Homicide: Life on the Street. She starred in the independent films Judy Berlin, Trust and Laws of Gravity. This interview first aired October 5, 2001.

He stars as maverick cop Vic Mackey in the FX channel drama series The Shield. Last year, in the first year of the series, Chiklis won an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. Now it's year two. The Shield is a major departure from the sunnier roles Chiklis had in his past TV shows, The Commish and Daddio.

TV critic David Bianculli reviews two new series: ABC's Dragnet, and NBC's Kingpin. Both premiere Sunday.

Walon Green is one of the executive producers of Dragnet, the remake of the 1950s crime drama set in Los Angeles. The new show revives the fictional detectives Joe Friday and Frank Smith. Green is a veteran producer and writer of other police dramas including Hill Street Blues, NYPD Blue, as well as the dramas ER and Law & Order. Green also wrote the screenplay for the classic Warner Bros. western The Wild Bunch, directed by Sam Peckinpah. He also wrote the screenplay for a more recent western, The Hi-Lo Country.

Tom Fontana is executive producer and writer of HBO's Oz, the realistic drama about life in an experimental unit of a maximum-security prison. Fontana also created Homicide: Life on the Street and the 1980s hospital drama, St. Elsewhere. The new DVD box set Homicide: Life on the Street collects the show's first two seasons, and includes special features.

Law & Order is the longest running drama on network television. After more than 300 shows, and 13 years, the "ripped from the headlines" half cop/half law show is still going strong. It's also inspired two other series: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Law & Order: Criminal Intent. There's a new photography book of the show's fictional crime scenes and a new DVD of the show's first season.

He created the HBO hit series The Sopranos. The show begins its fifth season this Sunday and picks up where it left off with the separation of Tony Soprano and his wife Carmela.

Actor Jerry Orbach, best known for his long-running role as Lennie Briscoe on TV's Law and Order, died Tuesday at age 69. Orbach also enjoyed a successful Broadway career, winning a Tony for his role in Promises, Promises, and appeared in films such as Crimes and Misdemeanors and Dirty Dancing. We listen to a Nov. 21, 1989, interview with Orbach.

TV critic David Bianculli reviews the new season of The Shield. The critically acclaimed show is adding actress Glen Close to its cast of burly, often violent alpha males.

Television critic David Bianculli reviews the final episode of NYPD Blue and previews Deadwood the HBO Western which begins a second season this weekend. Both shows were created by David Milch.

The latest project from playwright David Mamet teams him up with Sean Ryan, who created the FX series The Shield. The pair's new show is The Unit, about a covert military unit.

C.C.H. Pounder is best known for her portrayal of Detective Claudette Wyms on the FX TV show The Shield. Recently, her character got a much deserved promotion to captain. Pounder was raised in Guyana, and schooled in Britain. The Shield is one of this year's recipients of the prestigious Peabody Award, being handed out Monday night.

The hit show 'Lost' began its third season Oct. 4 in a year that has, so far, been dominated by the 'CSI' franchise. The success of these crime shows isn't surprising, says critic at-large John Powers, who finds that the difference between the two kinds of shows says a lot about current TV.