Crime Story (1 Viewer)

[Michael Harris]

If you could pick only one, then "Homicide" would be my choice. Better writing and more consistent episodes though the last couple of seasons got a bit melodramatic for my taste but I guess that was needed to keep the "suits" happy and keep the show alive. "Homicide" was one of those rare cases where a show lasted a long time due to its quality and not its ratings performance.

I really liked "Crime Story" but thought it got a bit silly when Farina's Chicago cop became a Federal agent and moved to Las Vegas. I liked the gritty feel of crime fighting in Chicago.

Like Dax said above, two totally different shows but both good.

 

[Joe*R]

Dax P, Michael Harris:

Thank you for the comparisons. I think I'm leaning towards getting Homicide and I'll probably end up getting Crime Story since there were only 2 seasons. For a fairly good show from the reviews I've read, how come only 2 seasons?? Thanks again.

 

[Dax P]

Why only 2 seasons? Low ratings. I think it might have even been something of a 'surprise' second season renewal, maybe to foster good relations with Mann, whose Miami Vice was big at the time (Crime Story 86-88, Miami Vice 84-89). And like Michael said, there was a decline in quality... still 'good', but it's hard to argue that it hadn't run its course, after the two years... (when your main arc is Good Guy Vs. Bad Guy, somewhere, sometime, it's gotta end...).

But a quick look at imdb's guest star listings has me anxious to see these again (haven't re-watched Season 1 yet, and I've had it awhile... kinda waiting for 2 to join it on the shelf...): Eric Bogosian, David Caruso, William Russ, Patti D'Arbanville, Michael Madsen, Ving Rhames, Ray Sharkey, Pam Grier, Gary Sinise, Richard Edson, Michael Rooker, Fred Savage (!- never knew that), Lorraine Braco, Lili Taylor, Paul Guilfoyle, Frances Conroy, Anthony Heald, Stanley Tucci, Julia Roberts, Vincent Gallo... and in Season 2- Kevin Spacey, Mark Margolis, Jack Nance, David Hyde Pierce, Dennis Haysbert, Billy Zane, Elias Koteas, William Hickey, and Michael Jeter. Notable recurring characters were played by Jon Polito, Ted Levine (any time I see Silence of the Lambs, I think of Frank Holman from Crime Story), and Andrew Dice Clay. A lot of 'Hey, it's that guy' while watching. Farina's great, and Stephen Lang is great as the third main character...

Okay. I've sufficiently talked MYSELF into watching these again soon... just tough to find time, of course... would like my girlfriend to see them (and Wiseguy) too, since she never has, but it's even harder to find that much viewing time for both of us together...

 

[Chris_Wa]

Dave -

It is Del Shannon but a newer remix. IIRC (and I'll have to swap tapes in and out to verify) there is even one line in the show's (newer) version that is different. Someday when I'm really really bored, I'll begin sifting through all 3 copies I have and see what exactly has been replaced.

Many thanks to Universal for even having to do this. :rolleyes

What was strange on the store-bought VHS version of the pilot movie, the opening just shows a still frame of Torello and his guys while the music plays (?!). I have no idea what the point of that was, but someone with a desk apparently thought it necessary - and I hope they saved a ton of cash by doing that because it was pretty stupid otherwise.

I also have a huge music collection (3000+ CDs) and have run across similiar "stunts" by those studios as well - buying a group's "collection" only to find, yes its the original group, but recorded 20 years later (and unlike wine, The Grass Roots did not get better with age )

Was it the original group? Yes.

Was it the original songs? Yes.

Was it THE song that I enjoyed on my old LPs? NO.

And therein is the same feeling I have with QL, Crime Story, etc.

 

[Dave Farley]

Thanks, Chris. I'd be interested in hearing just how much of the music was taken out of this show. I remember the syndicated versions missing music but I'm not clear on how much.

 

[RobertW]

my first exposure to both of them, and i've been a huge ted levine fan ever since. he was just terrific as frank holman, and you're right about silence of the lambs.

 

[Eric_Bee]

A reviewer at amazon.com states the September 20, 2005 reissue of the First Season DVD has all of the original music intact. Anyone out there who's bought it, please confirm whether this is correct.

 

[Marko Berg]

I wouldn't put too much trust in Amazon's customer reviews.

 

[Eric_Bee]

Me neither - which is why I'm seeking verification here. Anchor Bay's web site does not state that this reissue has all original music, although Anchor Bay does not seem smart enough to know to promote this fact if it is true.

 

[RoyM]

There was definitely some music replacement on the Season One set. As far as I can tell, it may have been mostly limited to Chess label blues (Jimmy Reed, Elmore James). At least those are the specific examples I have been able to spot - my guess is that the rights to the original Chess recordings may have been outside of AB's budget, so they replaced them.

You can spot some of the music replacement as cheesy 80's style synthesizer music that is more or less identical to what AB put on the 21 Jump Street season sets for music replacement. If you have any of those sets, you will readily recognize what I'm referring to - it sticks out like a sore thumb.

A lot of th original music does seem to be retained on the Season One set however, so it's not quite as painful as with the 21JS sets, which seemed to retain virtually none of the orginal series music. It will be interesting to see how the Season Two set has been handled.

 

[Eric_Bee]

Are you referring to the original (2003) Crime Story Season One DVD, or the reissue of Season One released Sept. 20, 2005? As I read the amazon review I referenced in my earlier post, the reviewer seems to state it is the reissue that has all original music. I know the original does not, although, as you said, it's supposed to be tolerable.

 

[RoyM]

I was referring to the 2003 release, as that's the one I own. I can't state authoritatively what the situation with the new re-release is, although I would be very surprised if Anchor Bay changed anything besides the packaging (and of course, lowered the SRP).

As someone mentioned in an earlier post, Amazon customer reviews are not very reliable, but I can't definitively say one way or the other.

 

[WaveCrest]

TVShowsOnDVD news article posted yesterday about Image's complete series DVD release of Crime Story:



Crime Story: The Complete Series (25th Anniversary Edition) - TVShowsOnDVD.com news article

 

[kingfish]

i believe i did start a thread mentioning the re release of the series. i am wondering about the picture quality of this new re release?

 

[WaveCrest]

I believe you did start another thread for Crime Story. However, there were already existing threads for Crime Story. Why start another thread (you could have searched for existing threads)? Plus, the TVShowsOnDVD article link wasn't in your post.

 

[WaveCrest]

Boulevard Entertainment re-released Crime Story: Seasons 1 and 2 on Region 2 (UK) DVD back in April. No review for the Season 1 set on Amazon UK, but there's a review for the Season 2 set. The reviewer says the 22 episodes are spread over three double-sided discs. It sounds like they say that the picture quality problem is the same as with the Anchor Bay sets.