EZ Streets

Like I said before, "I don't know where this show went wrong!". In my opinion (and to the opinion of many others by the voting statistics) this show was phenomenal! A 10/10! Quality t.v. for me next to the first season of Murder One and NYPD Blue. I thought Jason Gedrick had all the right moves first doing Murder One and then signing on to do EZ Streets, intelligent, realistic intriguing and compelling writing well executed by the the actors! From show one I was hooked! Not a single show in my opinion of this short lived series was boring or predictable. I don't know for the life of me why this show didn't catch on. A few hypotheses, one: the show was more a less one big story (for who knows to be the life of the series or for one season) which I guess audiences didn't have the patience for (like Murder One it took a chance, one big quality story for the long hall, at least for one season. But I believe unlike Murder One it didn't have brief preview summaries in which potential audiences who haven't seen the previous episodes could see to catch up on) two: it was in a competitive time slot with another popular t.v. series (although I don't recall any) and three: it didn't advertise itself correctly or frequently enough to get any significant attention, at least enough where a significant enough popluation could give it a chance. I thought this story rocked so hard my interest and curiousity that I am begging anyone to give me information where I can see the unaired episodes (which network) buy them (on video) and although I'm not a huge fan on reading if it is out in book format or script is for sale. Please help me if you can, I'm dying to know if that cop gets his revenge, wether Jason Gedrick gets back with his wife and makes a decent living, what happens to the beautiful seductress who's playing on both sides of the law, or the junkie mayor and the gambling contract, bring it on! Charlie.

CBS was the death of this show. Paul Haggis demonstrated true genius in writing and directing this intense, thoughtful drama that came off like a motion picture in every episode. Whatever folks loved about "Wiseguy," Haggis took and raised to the next level, and always presented a thought-provoking portrait of crime, family, broken homes, betrayal, passion, despair, and hope. We were all blessed with the episodes that were made, but gypped forever by the bottom-line networks.

There isn't much to say here, except that I agree with just about every user comment on here. This was an exceptional series that hooked me from the very beginning. It is a shame that we were given a taste of the brilliance of "EZ Streets," and then it was taken away from us in the blink of an eye. "What might have been" another comment says. Well quite possibly one of the greatest television series' ever. I am sure there would have been many Emmys, Golden Globes, etc....but we'll never know...we'll never know what might have been.

Updated on 9/15/08: There are a few more things I'd like to say about this series. First, I believe that this was still one of the finest television series' that never got to come to fruition. I also believe that it was ahead of it's time. I honestly believe that if this series had been brought to television today, it would have succeeded. I just don't think that, for whatever reason, people were ready for such gritty, dark, and violent material to occupy a spot in prime time television. Especially on the three main networks. Today Haggis would have had the opportunity to take this show to another network that isn't afraid to push the limits (i.e. FX, Spike T.V., or even HBO). I thought about purchasing the DVDs, but now that I know that there are episodes missing, I think, for the time being, I'll just continue to remember this show the way it was when it first aired. And I'll continue to think about what might have been.

I loved this show when it was on TV 1996-97. Great photography, scripts, acting, music. The series had a movie quality & feel to it, that was rare for TV series of that time period. In summary, it had all that was needed for it to be canceled after a pilot and 9 regular shows. IMDb has listed some info on this program that is incorrect. For example, the pilot ran for two hours. All the other episodes were sixty minutes, except, for some reason, Episode #4 (called "St. Jude Took a Bullet"), which ran for ninety minutes (all including commercials). Please see my comment on the forum for this show, for more info about viewing the episodes, & hearing some of the songs.

Dark, brooding show with well defined characters. The acting was above average, especially the three leads. Unfortunately, they were never given the network support that is required for television programs of this sort.