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List Price: $14.98 | | Label: Mill Creek Entertainment
Salesrank: 4586
Released: August 25, 2009 |
| Our Price: $5.95 |
| Used Price: $6.79 |
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MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Long before Donnie Brasco brought similar drama to the big screen, Ken Wahl brought charisma, credibility, and chutzpah to his small-screen role as Vincent Terranova, a handsome 30-year-old agent with the FBI s Organized Crime Bureau. As conceived by co-creators Stephen Cannell (of The Rockford Files and The A-Team fame) and Ken Lupo, Wiseguy followed an innovative story-arc structure, allowing Vinnie s deep-cover missions to last only as long as necessary to bring each case to a sensible conclusion. Since copied by countless TV shows, this unique approach to storytelling attracted a devoted following of viewers addicted to the self-contained plots that forced Vinnie, his sourpuss OCB handler Frank McPike (Jonathan Banks), and disabled covert liaison Dan Lifeguard Burroughs (played by double-amputee Jim Byrnes) to achieve their objectives.
Wiseguy: The Complete First Season Reviews:
Sonny Steegrave story arc 
2009-10-11 - So like a lot of (most?) fans of this show, I saw these episodes once over twenty years ago. But this show, the first season, and these episodes assumed legendary proportions in my memory ('round about episode 7 I had decided I this was the best mob story since "The Godfather".) I have now discovered they are every bit as great as I remembered them. I found Ken Wahl growing into the part very quickly. Of course, Ray Sharkey is electrifying. Dennis Lipscomb as Sid Royce and Joe Dallesdandro as "Pat the Cat" Patrice are incredibly vivid. Jonathan Banks as our hero's boss, Frank McPike, is terrific. Sonny's murder of Patrice at the end of "A Marriage of Heaven and Hell" scared the pants off me (much more so than Robert NeNiro's similar turn in "The Untouchables".) And then there's the concluding episode: "No One Gets Out of Here Alive". Starts a little slow, because the story has to plausibly trap Vince and Sonny together, alone, for 30 minutes. But even the loss of "Knights in White Satin" from the soundtrack can't diminish the power of that final confrontation. And I rediscovered something I had forgotten entirely - this exchange between Vince and McPike after Sonny is dead...
VINCE: I wish it was you.
McPIKE: No you don't. You don't wish it was me.
I'm waiting a little to savor the Mel and Susan Profitt arc next.
Defective discs...BEWARE!!! 
2009-10-01 - First of all, I loved this show when it was on so I was really looking forward to getting it on DVD. First DVD set had problems right from the start. The first disc vibrated my DVD player so much that it shut itself off. The third disc was no better. Got the set replaced by Amazon and encountered the exact same problems. I don't know if it was caused by off-center labels or whatever, but I have to give up on this. Poor quality...
Cheaply done!!! 
2009-09-30 - If you enjoyed the series, the price tells you what you will get. The quality is OK, but the altered sound track ruined it for me. The original sound track was an important part of the work.
"Intense & compelling crime drama"
2009-09-09 - I remember how much I loved the show, "Wiseguy", when it was on in the late 80's, and I was thrilled to finally get the first season on DVD. It is a powerful show that was very well done, in the quality of a big screen movie on the small screen. The writing is excellent. Instead of special effects and stunts, the show was character driven and the story arcs were well developed. "Wiseguy" was created by Stephen J. Cannell and Frank Lupo. Cannell is well known for his amazing work in many successful series including "Hunter", `Rockford Files" and "A-Team".
Ken Wahl became his character, Vinnie Terranova. Vinnie, an undercover agent for the Organized Crime Bureau, struggled with the fine line between the crime he worked to bring down and the people behind it. He goes so far undercover that the work takes an emotional toll on him and with the help of his field supervisor, Frank McPike (played by Jonathan Banks) and "Lifeguard" (played by Jim Brynes)-Vinnie works through his demons.
The first season has two story arcs. The show built its'characters around a specific crime syndicate that Vinnie infiltrates and works to destroy the crime within. The first story arc centers around a crime syndicate led by Sonny Steelgrave (probably the best role of Ray Sharkey's career). Following this story, you experience along with Vinnie-the difficulties of his work, his alienation from his family and all that is dear to him. Even at the final confrontation between Vinnie and Sonny, an amazing scene well acted by Wahl and Sharkey, you see the struggle. In this scene, Vinnie tells Sonny that, "it never occurred to me that we would be friends. There is a lot in you I felt close to". In other scene with his mother, she tells Vinnie (to help him gain perspective on his relationship with Steelgrave), "What good is it when a man loves his own children but kills someone else's".
In the second story, Kevin Spacey portrays Mel Proffit, a psychopath, who heads an international drug and arms business with his sister, Susan. Vinnie gets entangled with these two and their hired gun, Roger LoCocco (played well by William Russ). The best way to describe Mel Proffit-Sonny Steelgrave is a saint compared to him. This character will give you chills and Spacey nails him beautifully.
Re-watching the first season of "Wiseguy" was very enjoyable-very intense and compelling series that I am thrilled to have in my library. If you like a well written and well acted crime drama that will keep your attention, you can't go wrong with "Wiseguy".
One note of caution, the packing of this newly released first season is not very good. All you get is a box with the four enveloped DVDs-there are no bonus materials or extra text with the set. I watched it all and the DVDs play fine. The 22 episodes are complete and I am pleased with the quality. As with the sound, I didn't have any problems. Even without all the "bells and whistles", the show is worth purchasing this set.
Excellent Series For an Excellent Price 
2009-09-05 - It was very nice to see an affordable (extremely affordable) release of WISEGUY season 1. I was a big fan of WISEGUY during its initial run on CBS in the late 80's, although I did not start watching until the second season. I did catch the Proffit arc 2 years later, when it aired on CBS late night. Now I have just seen the Steelgrave arc for the first time. I have heard about the Nights in White Satin issue but never having seen the original I didn't have an attachment to it. I decided to see what the deal was and found video of the sequence on line with the original music. Now, some reviews have stated that the replacement music is generic, I suppose that is correct if you call it generic WISEGUY music as it is taken from the theme of the show. Honestly I thought the original version was a bit overdone but I do prefer that original versions be left intact.
This brings me to my point.
It boggles my mind that music companies or artist or whomever is responsible get in the way of the original music being kept on older TV series (why does this never happen with movie releases). It would seem to me an excellent opportunity for record companies, artists, whomever to get some cheap if not free advertising. Just imagine an extra on the DVD release of WISEGUY that lists all the original music used and where it could be found for purchase. Just think how many people would buy a copy of Nights in White Satin if the song had been kept intact on the show and an extra like this had encouraged them to do so. Would this not make the record companies, artist, whomever money. It would probably increase the sales of the DVD and thus send more people to buy the song and so on and so forth. Sorry for the ranting but I just think this would work.
In closing,it is a great DVD and well worth the price!
