1987
Long Gone
April 19, 2010
by David Krell
david@davidkrell.com
Long Gone is a 1987 tv-movie that first appeared on HBO.
Based on a novel by Richard Hemphill, it’s a tale about baseball, corruption, and sex centered on a minor league baseball team in Florida in the late 1950’s.
At the heart of the Tampico Stogies baseball team is Cecil “Stud” Cantrell, a long-time minor-league pitcher, manager, and slugger who almost made the big leagues with the St. Louis Cardinals.
He competed with Stan Musial. Cantrell says that he hit the ball harder but Stan the Man had a prettier swing. It was at the dawn of World War II. Cantrell served his country, but war injuries prevented him from going farther than minor league ball.
William Petersen of CSI fame plays Cantrell.
His protégé is Jamie Don Weeks, played by Dermot Mulroney. At first a naive player who simply wants to play baseball, Jamie transforms into a grown man and emulates Stud’s mannerisms.
He also gets his girlfriend pregnant -- Esther Wrenn, played by Katy Boyer.
Cantrell’s girlfriend is the young but world-wise Dixie Lee Boxx, played by Virginia Madsen.
Henry Gibson plays Hale Buchman, owner of the Stogies. Teller of Penn and Teller plays his son in a rare talking performance.
Larry Riley plays Joe Louis Brown, a catcher with tremendous power. In one scene, the KKK stops the Stogies’ team bus in the middle of the night. The Stogies chase off the Klan with baseball bats and Brown knocks a burning cross to the ground with a powerful swing.
The Stogies’ chief rival is the Dothan Cardinals. J. Harrell Smythe, the Cardinals’ owner, makes Cantrell and Riley an offer. Throw a decisive game against the Cardinals. Brown gets a brand new car. Cantrell gets a contract with the Dothan Cardinals. An enticing offer for Cantrell considering he never gave up his dream of working in the Cardinals’ organization after losing a spot to Musial.
To see how the story ends, check out Long Gone if you can find it.
Long Gone may be long gone, but not forgotten.
david@davidkrell.com
Long Gone is a 1987 tv-movie that first appeared on HBO.
Based on a novel by Richard Hemphill, it’s a tale about baseball, corruption, and sex centered on a minor league baseball team in Florida in the late 1950’s.
At the heart of the Tampico Stogies baseball team is Cecil “Stud” Cantrell, a long-time minor-league pitcher, manager, and slugger who almost made the big leagues with the St. Louis Cardinals.
He competed with Stan Musial. Cantrell says that he hit the ball harder but Stan the Man had a prettier swing. It was at the dawn of World War II. Cantrell served his country, but war injuries prevented him from going farther than minor league ball.
William Petersen of CSI fame plays Cantrell.
His protégé is Jamie Don Weeks, played by Dermot Mulroney. At first a naive player who simply wants to play baseball, Jamie transforms into a grown man and emulates Stud’s mannerisms.
He also gets his girlfriend pregnant -- Esther Wrenn, played by Katy Boyer.
Cantrell’s girlfriend is the young but world-wise Dixie Lee Boxx, played by Virginia Madsen.
Henry Gibson plays Hale Buchman, owner of the Stogies. Teller of Penn and Teller plays his son in a rare talking performance.
Larry Riley plays Joe Louis Brown, a catcher with tremendous power. In one scene, the KKK stops the Stogies’ team bus in the middle of the night. The Stogies chase off the Klan with baseball bats and Brown knocks a burning cross to the ground with a powerful swing.
The Stogies’ chief rival is the Dothan Cardinals. J. Harrell Smythe, the Cardinals’ owner, makes Cantrell and Riley an offer. Throw a decisive game against the Cardinals. Brown gets a brand new car. Cantrell gets a contract with the Dothan Cardinals. An enticing offer for Cantrell considering he never gave up his dream of working in the Cardinals’ organization after losing a spot to Musial.
To see how the story ends, check out Long Gone if you can find it.
Long Gone may be long gone, but not forgotten.
Wiseguy
February 27, 2010
by David Krell
david@davidkrell.com
Wiseguy aired on CBS for four seasons, from 1987 to 1990.
Ken Wahl stars as Vinnie Terranova, a federal government agent in the Organized Crime Bureau who went deep undercover to capture criminals.
In the beginning of the show, he has just completed a year-and-a-half prison stint. It’s a set-up to give Vinnie a viable criminal background cover. To the outside world, he’s a wiseguy, a term applied to organized crime figures.
Jonathan Banks plays Frank McPike, Vinnie’s government handler who coordinates strategy with Vinnie. Banks appears in Beverly Hills Cop as one of the henchman of Victor Maitlin, the nemesis of Eddie Murphy’s Axel Foley character.
Daniel Burroughs plays Jim Burroughs. Nickname: Lifeguard. Essentially, he is Vinnie’s communications link to McPike. His nickname is appropriate -- if Vinnie gets in danger, he calls Lifeguard with appropriate codes to send backup.
Wiseguy rarely contained self-contained episodes. Rather, it used story arcs comprised of multiple episodes.
The first story arc sees Vinnie become a trusted member of the crime family of mob boss Sonny Steelgrave, played by Ray Sharkey. Steelgrave electrocutes himself in front of Vinnie when he discovers Vinnie’s true identity.
The second story arc showcases Kevin Spacey as Mel Profitt, an international criminal with roots in arms dealing.
Other story arcs focus on white supremacy, the garment district in New York City, the record industry, a Japanese Yen counterfeiting conspiracy, mafia wars, a small town in the Pacific Northwest rooted in corruption, a Cuban-American crime lord, and the drug trade in the New York City school system.
ABC aired a reunion tv-movie in 1996. The canon is questionable.
In the fourth season of Wiseguy, Vinnie is killed.
The 1996 tv-movie stars Wahl as Vinnie. So either the fourth season story line did not occur in official Wiseguy canon or the events in the tv-movie occurred before his death.
david@davidkrell.com
Wiseguy aired on CBS for four seasons, from 1987 to 1990.
Ken Wahl stars as Vinnie Terranova, a federal government agent in the Organized Crime Bureau who went deep undercover to capture criminals.
In the beginning of the show, he has just completed a year-and-a-half prison stint. It’s a set-up to give Vinnie a viable criminal background cover. To the outside world, he’s a wiseguy, a term applied to organized crime figures.
Jonathan Banks plays Frank McPike, Vinnie’s government handler who coordinates strategy with Vinnie. Banks appears in Beverly Hills Cop as one of the henchman of Victor Maitlin, the nemesis of Eddie Murphy’s Axel Foley character.
Daniel Burroughs plays Jim Burroughs. Nickname: Lifeguard. Essentially, he is Vinnie’s communications link to McPike. His nickname is appropriate -- if Vinnie gets in danger, he calls Lifeguard with appropriate codes to send backup.
Wiseguy rarely contained self-contained episodes. Rather, it used story arcs comprised of multiple episodes.
The first story arc sees Vinnie become a trusted member of the crime family of mob boss Sonny Steelgrave, played by Ray Sharkey. Steelgrave electrocutes himself in front of Vinnie when he discovers Vinnie’s true identity.
The second story arc showcases Kevin Spacey as Mel Profitt, an international criminal with roots in arms dealing.
Other story arcs focus on white supremacy, the garment district in New York City, the record industry, a Japanese Yen counterfeiting conspiracy, mafia wars, a small town in the Pacific Northwest rooted in corruption, a Cuban-American crime lord, and the drug trade in the New York City school system.
ABC aired a reunion tv-movie in 1996. The canon is questionable.
In the fourth season of Wiseguy, Vinnie is killed.
The 1996 tv-movie stars Wahl as Vinnie. So either the fourth season story line did not occur in official Wiseguy canon or the events in the tv-movie occurred before his death.