Shark Bytes

Lol, I'm learning something today... I thought that whole, Sonny died, knights in white satin episode WAS the end of the show. I'm so glad I never saw anything more than that! Because I stopped there, Wiseguy is still one of my favorite shows of all time.

Whats wrong with you people? Ken Wahl is a great actor. I wish he had never left the show. He was the show.I wish they were selling the TV movie. I would buy it. The best arc was Sonny Steelgrave. Where is Ken Wahl? Everyone goes through a rough time, he needs to get back into the game. I just love him!

Wiseguy was the best show on television when it started. The first three Arcs were great. It was fun watching Jerry Lewis playing a dramatic role and I loved watching Stanley Tucci as well.

I jumped for joy when "White Noise" aired because...SONNY WAS BACK!

I now own the Steelgrave Arc on DVD and watch it all the time. Ray Sharkey was briliant as Sonny Steelgrave.

Wiseguy, as good it was, definitely jumped when Sonny died.

I am still stunned by Kevin Spacey's stunning performance as Mel on the show. To think that he was an unknown before it and look where he is after Wiseguy.

And only the die hard fans of the show even know that he was ever even on it!

Just curious, anyone else out there find any traces of his Mel persona in other movies he's done? I can't watch "Superman Returns" without thinking of Mel in his focused, on top of his game mode.

"I'm a MALTHUSIAN!!!!"

Look no further than the episodes that were not released to the DVD collection to figure out where WISEGUY jumped the shark. No question that all of season 1 was supurb. Season 2 with the White Supremacy and Garment Trade arc was full of the action that defined the series. The two-part arc of "Stairway to Heaven" and "White Noise" were great. At the tail end of the 2nd season with the Dead Dog arc they kind of lost their focus. While I loved seeing Glenn Frey, Mick Fleetwood, and Debbie Harry, I can understand why they wouldn't release this to DVD. It lacked some of the teeth of the previous arcs. But they started to pick it up afterwards as the 3rd season got underway with the Turf Wars arc, then of course the DC arc, both of which were made available for sale because they featured that gritty action. Many of the stand-alone episodes that season were wonderful and thankfully were also included in one of the boxed sets. It was when they got to the Lynchboro arc that the series really went downhill. At that point Ken Wahl was heavy into drugs. His ego was out of control, plus these were the last episodes of that season and the network had to have a contingency plan in case Wahl didn't come back. So I can see where Lynchboro wasn't sold as part of the set. Steve Ryan was horrible in the Volchek role. Totally overacted the part. As far as I'm concerned, the final season shouldn't have existed, and if you're going to explain Vinnie's character away by saying he was killed, then don't come back years later and do a TV movie where Ken Wahl comes back and we're supposed to really believe that the final season never existed. Bad call. Ken Wahl and his attitude brought that show to its decline. The last good episode before Lynchboro was "Romp" which was the one about Vinnie's dream. It was after "Romp" that Wiseguy was never the same, in my opinion.

No question, it jumped when Ken Wahl left. It no longer had the same feel of the old show and the change of location didn't help any either.

Some say Ray Sharkey...some say Kevin Spacey...some say both. While I don't deny that the Profitt arc was a good one too, nothing compares to the Steelgrave arc and to Ray Sharkey, not even Spacey. Kevin Spacey happens to have a wider fan audience due to his elite status after his Oscar winnings...of course there will be more fans to favor his part on Wiseguy. Ray killed his chance to shine through the way he deserved. Had he lived, I am certain that as an actor he would have achieved greater heights and we would have had continued pleasure in seeing more of him. He was a great actor, a good man with wild spirits and yet sensitive...perhaps too weak of a soul to resist temptation. I still miss Sonny...and that's how good Ray was.

I loved Wiseguy twenty years ago and still love it today. Was a teenager in 1987 and I can tell you that nothing was more shocking and powerful than the cliff-hanger of Sonny asking Vinnie (after killing Pat "the Cat" at a table full of mobsters) why he betrayed him. The greatest cliff-hanger in television history! As to why this show jumped the shark, I can attest to the fact that I was faithful to this show, through all of the arcs, through the rock n roll story line which I felt was mildly entertaining, even with CBS messing with this show's schedule on the network. It started to go downhill for me after Vinnie's romance with Patti D' Arbanville in the rock n roll arc. And I even stuck around for the somewhat lame D.C. arc, if only to see some glimpses of Roger Lococco. (Side note: William Russ is one of the greatest character actor/bad guys on television and so highly under-rated and mentioned.) But what really did it in for me was the replacement of Ken Wahl in the last season. I stopped watching entirely. Ken Wahl is and was Wiseguy and CBS put the nail in the coffin on that series when they let him leave.
[url http://www.audiorumble.blogspot.com]DJ Caterina[/url]

When did Wiseguy seriously south? Very good question and one fraught with not a little controversy. Most Arcs were very good, even Dead Dog Records. It had a decent energy, although making Tim Curry go a bit loony was a tired trick by this time (Why are ALL the bad guys nuts). Back to the question....I would have to say the Lynchboro Arc really, really, really, really, sucked the big one in a major way. I mean, COME ON!! Talk about a Twin Peaks prequel! Any more bizarre and I think David Lynch might have appeared in a cameo.
I didn't mind Stephen Bauer. He was fairly solid, not great, but they heaped a very convoluted storyline on his shoulders, one that very few actors could have held.

In Wiseguy's last season, it changed location (Miami), changed leading man, and had very convoluted storyline. The show could have survived these changes one at a time, but they were too much all at the same time. The new leading man could have carried it off, if they had had a more conventional story (El Salvador references were a mistake). If they wanted to do the El Salvador storyline, then they should have done it with William Russ' character. Russ' character's backstory was already well known to the audience, so it would have been possible to introduce the complex storyline without losing the audience.

The only definitive answer is when Ken Wahl left. He WAS the show. He WAS the Wiseguy. While some demean his acting abilities, they overlook the Ken Wahl that went into the Vinnie Tarranova character. Recently I switched to satellite TV and was overjoyed to find re-runs of Wiseguy there. In fact, at this minute I have on PVR "hold" the episode where Vinnie was given a locked case by a priest, a case that was his late brother Peter's and which contained a lot of info about the Terranova background. I'm sorry to read of Wahl's personal problems and wish him well. I also wish the Wiseguy had lasted longer.

I really enjoyed this show. I thought it was clever and well-written. Some arcs were definitely superior to others. The Sonny Steelgrave arc was television at its best. I enjoyed the Profitt arc very much too. The Glenn Frey music arc was okay and the white supremacists arc was alright, but the quality was slipping by this time. I liked the garment industry arc too. What was the head white supremacists name? Was it Knox Pooley? Its a shame that Ken Wahl's life went into the sh*tter! Did anyone ever see Purple Hearts with him and Cheryl Ladd? Anyway, overall good show that could have been great.

I loved Ken Wahl! I watched this show when it was in primetime and I am now watching it on DVD. The different story arcs were interesting with all kinds of character actors from Ray Sharkey to Tim Curry and Paul Winfield. When Ken Wahl left for good, I lost interest in the show. I tried to get interested in Stephen Bauer, but those were his lost drug years...I'd seen him completely space out on Arsenio Hall show and you could see Arsenio felt sorry for him.

Funny someone mentioned The vic character in the Shield.....that is Micheal Chiklis and he WAS in the arc regarding the recording industry, although a peripheral role. As I recall some girly brass cupcake of a chick either smacked or shot someone and the Chiklis character remarked something like " Hey....I LIKE her !" Also the Volcheck story ...something about a "One Horse Town" was bizarre and "Twin Peakish" All in all it was good viewing at the time. Did not Ray Sharkey did of aids or some such thing ? Not sure but mayhaps he was a needle user ? Not sure about any facts...just speculation. He is dead though. Anyone know for sure?

WISEGUY was probably the best dramatic series CBS ever produced. Powerful and unique, this show never failed to mesmerize on a consistent basis. Ken Wahl was amazing as Vinnie, but the show jumped the shark when he left and was replaced by Stephen Bauer. Period.