Shark Bytes

Great ensemble cast. Torello is a hardass, but all the scenes with the whole team breaking down doors, getting drunk, and breaking each other's balls gives the feeling of a tight-knit group of friends who always have each other's backs.

I love this show, but wish the criminals were less cartoonish. Luca with his gigantic pompadour that he could use as a visor, and Paulie the grinning moron. The low point is the embarrassing episode with Paulie breaking Luca out of the hospital and letting go of the gurney -- Luca rolls down the hill screaming, and Paulie runs after him with his limbs flailing, Lucille Ball-style.

I too, would like to watch Crime Story from show #1 on, is it available on DVD or tape?

Torello, Luca, Pauly, Holman, what a great show, it wasn't Crime Story that JTS, it was NBC that "jumped the shark" leave it to the idiots to "F" up a great show such as this, I can't wait to get out of prison so I can see where NBC went!!! and then I'll watch this show on DVD, from show #1 on.

I watched all the episodes on DVD while serving in Iraq. I decided to get it for Dennis Farina, whom I didn't know much about, but when I did see him, he had a commanding aire about him. Being that Crime Story was his beginning as a real life cop-turned actor, I wanted to see how well he did. And was not disappointed at all! Many familiar faces appeared throughout the series run. I saw a still redhead, pre-CSI Miami David Caruso, a teenage Julia Roberts, a younger Ving Rhames, a wonderful performance by Gary Sinise, Kevin Spacey....not to mention the MCU team, all wonderful actors. I barely remember when this was on TV, since I was 7-9, but do I think it Jumped the Shark? No...except in the last episode right at the end. It ended in a bloody cliffhanger! Presumably to pick up in season three, but that never happened. It would be so cool to see the old cast come back for one more show. And yes, Mrs. Fluegel was a hottie!

I don't think it ever really jumped, although some episodes and some story arcs were better than others. I think the whole Mexico thing was a bit of a mistake, but I always figured that if the show had been picked back up, they would have been back in Vegas before too long.

This show definitely jumped in the second season. The whole first season was great. Some say the move to Vegas killed it. No way. The Vegas episodes at the end of the first season were perfect. The whole season has a continuos story arc. Each episode picks up where the last left off, like the Sopranos, or the way 'mini-series' work. Not like other cop shows where each episode is independent and you could flip around the order and not make any difference. Crime Story was a true series that developed from one episode to the next.

I'm not sure of the whole story on this, but I think the producers thought the show was going to be cancelled after the first season, so they sped up the move to Vegas, which actually wasn't supposed to happen until season 2. Then killed off the main villains to close season 1, apparently ending the whole show for good.

Then season 2 starts and there's no Luca. The first batch of episodes in S2 focus on the cops and other inconsequential villains. I always rooted for the villains in this show, so these episodes were just a big bore: random cop show episodes except with the cops wearing those little 60s hats.

Then a few episodes into season 2 we discover that Luca and Paulie actually didn't die, but have been recovering at a Mexican mobster's ranch. These episodes got my hopes up again and a few of these were good, but then it goes down hill again. The closing episodes of season 2 are pretty good, but the show is lost by that point.

If I had to pick the JTS moment it would be the 'flashback' episode in the middle of season 2 where Luca and Paulie are at this classified government base and they're giving them LSD. When a show is already doing a 'flashback' episode by season 2, it's on the ropes. When it's also a really weird 'comic relief' episode in a show that had been so gritty and hard-hitting in the beginning, the shark has been jumped. Paulie singing 'I Fought the Law' with the oversized Pompadoo? Ridiculous.

This show was so great at first and could have done so much more than it did. I think the show just completely shot its wad in season 1 and then just didn't know what to do with it after that. Too much of season 2 feels like a show going through the motions. Such a shame.

I loved this show until Ray was nuked in the desert. I am lucky how ever I was able to buy every episode on video tape . The show started to jump when they moved from Chicago to Las Vegas. The A Bomb and move to Mexico killed the show. This show never had chance with NBC promoting Miami Vice while constantly moving crime story to different nights and different time slots. I still find myself watching the video tapes I bought which where distribute under R.S.G productions . I do not know if they are still avable. May 9 , 2007

Definitely one of the all-time classic renegade cop/maniacal mobster shows to ever grace the once hallowed airwaves of American TV. NBC had a good thing and then threw it completely under the bus in the 2nd season instead keeping the show in it's original roots of Chicago, which gave the show it's unique catchiness from the start. Torello & Luca couldn't have teamed up any better as this generation Elliot Ness & Ray Nitti. Miss this classic.

This is perhaps the best cops and robbers show ever on network tv. Dennis Farina was amazing as Torello, a slightly sociopathic lawman obsessed with bringing down the equally great Anthony Hedison as Ray Luca. Farina was a far more convincing badass than Don Johnson (on Michael Mann's far more knwon but far worse cop show Miami Vice). Farina looks like he's been in some bad streetfights and has the scars to prove it. THe writing was excellent, the cast was brilliant, and the locations were spot on. Cop shows should use this show as a template for greatness. NBC killed the goose that laid the gold egg twice, first trying to cancel it after the first season, then basically abandoning the show during the second and final season. HAd the show had strong network backing, it would have beeon one fot he true greats. It's intersting to note how many actors would wind up in movies based on Thomas Harris' novels, Manhunter and Silence of the Lambs. Frank HOlman tucked his way into the pantheon on great villains as Buffalo BIll, while Farina,Smitrovich,Lang, and several others starred in Manhunter. One thing I noticed-the FBI agent named Jack Crawford is a recurring character in Harris; stories, though it may be coincidental.

CRIME STORY definitely jumped when it left Chicago and went to Vegas. The whole premise (that the villain could be followed by the entire original cast of cops and lawyers) was ridiculous. I'm prejudiced, having been born in Chicago, but the city was an important part of the atmosphere. Another cause of jumpage was the loss of Darlanne Fluegel, a gorgeous and talented actress, who was written out when her marriage to Torello fell apart. Her replacements were never as scrumptuous!

Ray Luca was a villain who really scared me! But there were very strong powerful cops in this show too. My favorite scene was the shootout to end all shootouts on the streets of Vegas! Tough guys all around.

I jumped when they moved to Mexico but there were still some good ones after that. Favorite lines - Luca: He's a numismatist, you know what a numismatist is? Pauly: A guy who puts his underwear on backwards.

For it's time, Crime Story was every bit as gritty and realistic as The Shield -- during the first season. But it was cancelled and decided to go out with a bang. The ratings were so strong, and the outcry so loud, that NBC gave it a second chance. But by then, many of the writers and technical people had left, and the second season became almost a spoof. Like many shows, it was never better than it was in the first season. Terrific acting and story lines. This was a classic. Too bad it was so short-lived.

The first season of Crime Story i arguably the best cops & robbers show ever presented on broadcast TV. Great villains, great cops (esp. Dennis Farina), taut scripting, great music and a noir-ish style set on the gritty streets of Chicago. This all came to an end in season 2 wherein the villains became buffoonish and the plots inane. It appears nobody thought there would be a second season, since all the plot threads were resolved at the end of season 1.