Thursday, June 27, 2019

Wandering Through The Shelves: TV Edition-Gangsters


It's TV Time again and we have to pick 3 TV shows that fit the theme for this week. Ughhh...OK I was able to choose 3 but they are the only 3 I thought I have ever seen since most of these are on Netflix or HBO or some other paying, streaming yadda yadda. Gosh, how I miss when it was just the regular channels. OK enough griping. head on over to Wandering Through the Shelves to find out what everyone else has chosen. Here are my 3....

1.WISEGUY-1987-1990


This is an excellent undercover cop show that circles all around the gangsters. Ken Wahl plays the title character of Vincent, an undercover OCB(Organized Crime Bureau), a division of the FBI, who has been in prison to lay the groundwork for his infiltration of the mob. Each week you are dealt with scenarios that kept you on the edge of your seat, not through car chases and slam bang, but through intelligent scripts. He has contact with only 2 other operatives, his senior in the FBI and a fellow Operative known as Lifeguard. There were story arcs with one involving a bad guy, played by Kevin Spacey (yes that idiot who destroyed his brilliant career), and another starring Jerry Lewis. This series would show how their lives were being undone by the occupation(s) they keep. When Ken Wahl left the series, it felt like it changed plus the network changed time-slots and I lost the pace but it is worth a look.

2. THE UNTOUCHABLES-1993-1994


I am not talking about the more famous TV version starring Robert Stack but this version which I might have been the only one who ever saw it but I liked it. It stars Tom Amandes as a young Elliott Ness who is disgusted by the crime and corruption and makes it his duty to bring down crime lord Al Capone, played by William Forsythe. It only lasted 2 seasons but I thought it was quite well acted especially Forsythe as Capone who brought some heart to the killing a-hole. You got to see their families and, in one memorable episode, how the 2 almost work together to bring down a child killer.

3. THE SOPRANOS-1999-2007


This will be popular today, I bet. My hubby wanted this for his birthday so I got him the complete series and we have been binge watching. It is an excellent show with Tony Soprano, a lover of ducks, horses and other animals, who  deals with panic attacks and decides to see a shrink. We meet his horrible mother and his Uncle plus all his goons. This is surprisingly funny in parts even when it is  the wrong time to laugh but you can't help it. Poor James Gandolfini  is in every episode and he drives this series as a hulking, menacing, narcissistic brute who loves his family and feels bad whenever he has to kill someone he cares for..yeah...mixed up. I know the ending even though we are not there yet but that is because it was everywhere on the news when the show ended. I bet you will hear my hubby roar when the ending happens. Freaky is how many times the characters reference Soprano will die by the time he is 50 and Gandolfini did die at 51 from a heart attack...just like the characters said he would. Very, very eerie.

Which 3 would you choose?

47 comments:

  1. We didn't have a cable channel to watch Sopranos, but I've seen the others. My first pick would be Breaking Bad. Twisted good show.

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    1. We don’t have those specialty channels either. I bought the box series for my hubby for his birthday.

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      i am ERIC BRUNT by name. Greetings to every one that is reading this testimony. I have been rejected by my wife after three(3) years of marriage just because another Man had a spell on her and she left me and the kid to suffer. one day when i was reading through the web, i saw a post on how this spell caster on this address AKHERETEMPLE@gmail.com have help a woman to get back her husband and i gave him a reply to his address and he told me that a man had a spell on my wife and he told me that he will help me and after 3 days that i will have my wife back. i believed him and today i am glad to let you all know that this spell caster have the power to bring lovers back. because i am now happy with my wife. Thanks for helping me Dr Akhere contact him on email: AKHERETEMPLE@gmail.com
      or
      call/whatsapp:+2349057261346

      Delete
  2. Hi, Birgit!

    I remember Wiseguy but did not watch the series. The thing that always strikes me is the excessive length of show intros and opening credits in the 70s and 80s, Wiseguy being a good example. Mrs. Shady is currently plowing her way through reruns of St. Elsewhere, and the opening theme, like the Energizer Bunny, just keeps going and going and going...

    In the late 50s and early 60s I was a regular viewer of the TV series The Untouchables and I also went to the theater to see the 1987 film version starring Kevin Costner. I am not familiar with the 1993 TV series. We do not subscribe to HBO and therefore, unfortunately, we have not been able to watch The Sopranos.

    I recommend the TV series Crime Story starring two great actors. First there's Dennis Farina in the role of Chicago Police Detective Lieutenant Mike Torello. Farina was also featured in Law & Order and starred in another TV crime drama, Buddy Faro, which Mrs. S and I loved. The other fine lead actor in Crime Story is Anthony Denison who played crime boss Ray Luca. Denison later joined the main cast of the police procedural The Closer and its spin-off Major Crimes.

    Thank you, dear friend BB, and enjoy the rest of your week and weekend!

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    1. The intros were long and I love St. Elsewhere. I miss opening intros for tv shows. I bought the box set for my hubby and we watched all the seasons. We don’t have HBO, Netflix or anything like that. Crime Story is a good show but I had a tough time always trying to find it. I love Dennis Farina

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  3. Decades, a TV channel that features series from the 1950s thru the 1990s has featured Wise Guy a few times. I loved it until Wahl left. That's when I lost interest. Still, I saw most, if not all the episodes.

    I don't remember who, but I think TNT picked up the Sopranos a few years after HBO ended it. I saw many of the shows and loved it. Bada Bing, Bada Boom!!

    Never saw the Untouchables, but 2 out of 3 is far, far better than I usually do!!! Great picks.

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    1. Wow! You did great this week:). I saw some episodes of The Sopranos when they were either on Showcase or Bravo and Walnuts is one of my favourite characters. The Untouchables might have been Canadian made...maybe

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  4. My first thought was The Untouchables. Never saw the other two. Some of my staff workers would talk about the Sopranos, but I was never interested.

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    1. Most have seen the original Untouchables but I went with the lesser known remake. The Sopranos is excellent and quite funny especially in parts you think you should not laugh, but you do but all the characters, for the most part, are ..ugly. You don’t ever want to know them

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  5. The only one I'm familiar with is The Sopranos, which I haven't actually watched myself. I also know how it ends and that is what is stopping me from investing.

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    1. I knew the ending too but I watched it all and I would still give it a try because the writing, acting and camera work are superlative

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  6. The Sopranos is the only I’ve heard of and, shame on me, I haven’t seen a single episode of it. I mean to though.

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  7. I think my hubby watched Wiseguy for a little bit. I've heard of them all but haven't watched any myself.

    betty

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    1. This was a tough week. Wiseguy is a good show

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  8. The Sopranos! Yes! I don't normally watch any like it, but I was hooked. It's a great show. The finale was a disappointment thought, right?

    Cheers, Birgit.

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    1. It is an excellent show and I was surprised by some great camera work and the acting was great but most of them were so ugly weren’t they? I knew about the ending so I was prepared but, yeah, I felt like it was a cop out because they were not sure how to end it so they made it like some 1970’s films...ughhh

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  9. The Sopranos... BEST SHOW EVER!!!!

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  10. I have not seen any of your picks. I can't think of any gangster type TV shows that I've watched in recent decades. When I was a kid I used to like The Untouchables and The Roaring Twenties (which I think qualifies in the gangster genre).


    Arlee Bird
    Tossing It Out

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    1. This was a tough one this week. I never seen The Roaring Twenties and would like to see that

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  11. I think I did see that Untouchables series. It sounds vaguely familiar...

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    1. It’s one not many have seen since only on for 2 seasons. Funny, the Guy from JAG was in it.

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  12. I'm probably the only person in the universe who hasn't seen the Sopranos. Sigh.

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    1. There are a few others and I was one until I bought my hubby the box set and we binged Through it every night for a month

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  13. I haven't seen any of these.

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  14. I'm sitting out the week, too much too do, but I LOVE the first two seasons of Wiseguy-the first with Ray Sharkey as Sonny Steelgrave and the Kevin Spacey eps about the Profitts, and like the rest. Ken Wahl (putting aside that he is apparently a loathsome person offscreen) was perfect in the lead and Jonathan Banks just right as his laconic but dedicated boss.

    Never saw this version of Untouchables, not even sure I was aware of its existence and The Sopranos passed me by and I've never been inclined to play catch up.

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    1. This was a tough week for me. The Sopranos is excellent but the characters are just..ugly. I am shocked to find out there is one show you have never seen...I feel special....sorry:). I don’t know much about Ken Wall but will look him up. Maybe that’s why he dropped off the face of the earth

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  15. Sopranos, hands down. I did watch the ending and was horribly disappointed by the way it was handled.
    Then I watched the series finale of "Game of Thrones"...

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    1. Sopranos is excellent but they did cop out in the ending. I almost felt they had no idea how to handle this. I was hoping Tony would get riddled with bullets and Carmela would fly to Naples and find the pony tail guy. Have yet to see one episode of Game of Thrones

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  16. I have seen many episodes of the Sopranos- but haven't seen the whole series in order. I did enjoy all the episodes I've seen- so maybe I should binge watch too. :)
    ~Jess

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  17. Never watched the Sopranos. Just never had that channel at the time. Seen the other two though.

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    1. Glad you saw the other 2..no one saw the remake of The Untouchables until you.

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  18. Hope you are having the best time ever!

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    1. It is very relaxing here for Canada Day! Watching the boats go by

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  19. Oh, not my wheelhouse at all, therefore I have absolutely nuttin', zero, zilch, nada to contribute. With only a few of the rarest exceptions, I don't even like Gangster movies, let alone Gangster TV shows.

    Well, fact is, I just don't like much TV to begin with. The only recent-ish TV shows I dig are 'Frasier' and 'Everybody Loves Raymond'. Everything else I enjoy is much, much older than those two.

    ~ D-FensDogG
    STMcC Presents BATTLE OF THE BANDS

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    1. I know what you mean...these are the only 3 shows I have seen that belong to this theme. I love Frasier and bought hubby the boxed set of this too. I also love Raymond with some great episodes.

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  20. How about Lilyhammer? It's about a gangster in witness protection who goes to Norway and gets into all sorts of trouble there. I'm just about to begin watching it on the recommendation of a friend!

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    1. I want to see that! It is everywhere this week for Thursday Movie Picks. It looks hilarious

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  21. awesome article.
    thanks for sharing :)

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  22. I liked the Untouchables movie with Kevin Costner.
    Hope you're having fun on your vacay.

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    1. Thanks. That movie is good but not a fav of mine. I am having a great time

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  23. I normally don't like gangster stories but I truly feel like I'm the last person left on earth who hasn't watched the Sopranos so I am tempted once again to start it. Your review made me think about it again.

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  24. Sopranos I know is like the IT gangster tv series, but I wasn't really watching crime dramas when it was on air. When I do get HBO Go...this would be one that I'd check out.

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