Victor Maitlin
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.