Beverly Hills Cop
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.
SNL at the Movies
October 14, 2009
by David Krell
david@davidkrell.com
Saturday Night Live is in its 35th season.
35 years of sketches, recurring characters, and Weekend Update.
35 years of Live from New York, it’s Saturday night!
35 years of laughter.
Shortly after it premiered in 1975, cast members started appearing in movies. They soon became box office gold.
Animal House, Caddyshack, Beverly Hills Cop, Wayne’s World, Wedding Crashers, Stripes, Meatballs, The Blues Brothers, Foul Play, Land of the Lost, Old School, Ghostbusters, Trading Places, Scrooged, Seems Like Old Times, Tootsie, Tommy Boy, 48 Hours, Driving Miss Daisy, Anchorman, Semi-Pro, Dr. Doolittle, Mean Girls, Baby Mama, and Shrek.
These movies all starred or featured at least one SNL cast member in a prominent role.
Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin are not and were never cast members of Saturday Night Live, but their numerous appearances as guest host arguably give them honorary cast member status.
Add their movies to the SNL cast member movie roster.
Altogether, the total box office gross of these movies will likely be in the billions.
Quite a contribution for a show that was christened Saturday Night Dead by the media at several times in its history.
Saturday Night Live cast members leave Studio 8H in Rockefeller Center for the big screen.
It’s part of the show’s history dating back to a little movie directed by John Landis that captures America’s fascination with a time that was simpler -- before the Vietnam War, the JFK assassination, and Watergate.
The setting was 1962.
The film was National Lampoon’s Animal House.
Produced on a budget reportedly less than $3 million in 1978, Animal House became a pop culture icon, conquered the box office dragon, and secured John Belushi’s rightful place as a box office attraction.
He was the first SNL cast member to truly break through the television-film barrier.
Belushi was also a good dramatic actor. The romantic comedy Continental Divide pits Belushi’s hardened, cynical, Chicago newspaper columnist Ernie Souchak against Blair Brown’s environmentally aware eagle researcher Nell Porter.
Belushi died in 1981 from a drug overdose at the age of 33. His premature death prevented us from knowing the true depths of his acting talents.
But Belushi’s breakthrough role as Bluto in Animal House set a trend that continues today.
From Eddie Murphy to Mike Myers.
From Dan Aykroyd to Tina Fey.
From Bill Murray to Will Ferrell.
david@davidkrell.com
Saturday Night Live is in its 35th season.
35 years of sketches, recurring characters, and Weekend Update.
35 years of Live from New York, it’s Saturday night!
35 years of laughter.
Shortly after it premiered in 1975, cast members started appearing in movies. They soon became box office gold.
Animal House, Caddyshack, Beverly Hills Cop, Wayne’s World, Wedding Crashers, Stripes, Meatballs, The Blues Brothers, Foul Play, Land of the Lost, Old School, Ghostbusters, Trading Places, Scrooged, Seems Like Old Times, Tootsie, Tommy Boy, 48 Hours, Driving Miss Daisy, Anchorman, Semi-Pro, Dr. Doolittle, Mean Girls, Baby Mama, and Shrek.
These movies all starred or featured at least one SNL cast member in a prominent role.
Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin are not and were never cast members of Saturday Night Live, but their numerous appearances as guest host arguably give them honorary cast member status.
Add their movies to the SNL cast member movie roster.
Altogether, the total box office gross of these movies will likely be in the billions.
Quite a contribution for a show that was christened Saturday Night Dead by the media at several times in its history.
Saturday Night Live cast members leave Studio 8H in Rockefeller Center for the big screen.
It’s part of the show’s history dating back to a little movie directed by John Landis that captures America’s fascination with a time that was simpler -- before the Vietnam War, the JFK assassination, and Watergate.
The setting was 1962.
The film was National Lampoon’s Animal House.
Produced on a budget reportedly less than $3 million in 1978, Animal House became a pop culture icon, conquered the box office dragon, and secured John Belushi’s rightful place as a box office attraction.
He was the first SNL cast member to truly break through the television-film barrier.
Belushi was also a good dramatic actor. The romantic comedy Continental Divide pits Belushi’s hardened, cynical, Chicago newspaper columnist Ernie Souchak against Blair Brown’s environmentally aware eagle researcher Nell Porter.
Belushi died in 1981 from a drug overdose at the age of 33. His premature death prevented us from knowing the true depths of his acting talents.
But Belushi’s breakthrough role as Bluto in Animal House set a trend that continues today.
From Eddie Murphy to Mike Myers.
From Dan Aykroyd to Tina Fey.
From Bill Murray to Will Ferrell.