Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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110 of 119 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
NBC dropped the ball BIG TIME, May 10, 2004
I'd say a lot more about NBC, but I don't want to be sued for slander. Suffice it to say that the day they canceled this show after only two airings in the TV-graveyard of Friday nights, I promised to never watch any new NBC drama again. This was one of the most well written dramas i have ever seen, with characters that really carried the series. It wasn't just a situation drama, the protagonists were flawed and human yet still larger than life. I am happy to see that it's coming out on DVD and I'm more than willing to pay up for it (and I don't usually buy TV shows on DVD). Hopefully DVD can do for "Boomtown" what it has done for "Family Guy"; resurrect it back for a new season in the future.
If you want to see good quality TV, watch this show. No one will ever remember "Lyon's Den" which killed it, or "Kingpin" which NBC tried to replace it with; but this show and NBC's shoddy treatment of it will be remembered as long as television exists.
Amended on Nov 3, 2004
I just wanted to say that I don't think Vanessa Williams ruined the show. I was willing to give it a chance and see where it would go from there, they never got a chance to focus an episode on her and it's only because NBC put her on at the same time that they forced the writers to be more "procedural" that we may think she brought the show down.
Me, i'm just smiling at NBC's predicament now, what with Lost and Desparate Housewives bringing intelligent and gripping TV back to us and them wallowing in last place with not one critical or ratings hit in site. Ah, Karma is a female dog...
As of April 4 2006, the only new NBC show I have watched is My Name Is Earl, and NBC still refuses to do the intelligent thing by teaming it up with Scrubs. I follow the West Wing out of respect in the downtime between the Simpsons and The Sopranos, but never again will I view an NBC drama series.
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38 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best new series seince "Homicide", February 22, 2005
Whatever you think about "Homicide" getting cancelled, you at least have to acknowledge that the brass at NBC did right by it for as long as they could in the face of its poor ratings. The current realities of network television don't seem to allow for such such partisanship. Schematic cop shows (i.e., the "Law & Order" and "CSI" franchises) are easy to sell; something different, deeper -- better -- not so easy. Viewers prefer the realtive comfort of shows which, hoewever disturbing their content, resolve themselves neatly within the 60-minute time frame. And so NBC knocked off not only its best show since "Homicide" (which I argue was the finest drama in the history of the medium) but anyone's best show. The creative team behind "Boomtown" were determined to exploit the medium in refreshing ways. I hate that phrase "It was too good to last" but in this case, it seems to have been true. Too good for viewers, and much too good for the suits to recognize its unique virtues.
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18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Crimes, as seen from every point of view., September 4, 2004
"Boomtown," cancelled early in its second season by NBC, featured an intriguing, complicated premise and had the ambition to stage a different, twisted mystery to its audience every single week. Watching the first season DVDs, the scope of how ambitious and great "Boomtown" was - and perhaps why it didn't catch on quickly with viewers - becomes abundantly clear.
"Boomtown" promised the story of a crime told from EVERY point of view. The uniformed officers on the scene, the detectives investigating the crime, the assistant DA handling it, the reporter covering it and the paramedic working it all were main characters. The episodes themselves were divided into segments, showcasing a different perspective. Because of this, occasionally the audience would find out larger details or hidden, personal motives that the characters wouldn't themselves discover. Also, because of this "Rashomon"-inspired twist, a different member of the cast could end up at the center of every episode.
The cast, led by Donnie Wahlberg, Mykelti Williamson and the great Neal McDonough, was incredibly talented - particularly the supporting actor Gary Basaraba, who really ought to work more.
Though the episodes focused on a crime, the gimmick of "Boomtown" allowed the audience to glance into the twisted, complicated lives of its main characters, as well. So, in addition to showing an episode about a weird hit-and-run accident, the audience would get to see ADA David McNorris' alcoholic descent. While dealing with an episode on a drive-by shooting, the audience gets to experience wrenching moments from the character Fearless' scarred childhood. And while the other characters think Det. Joel Stevens leads a charmed life, the audience gets to see just how bad things are getting for him at home.
The premise worked more often than it didn't, and some episodes of "Boomtown" are better than others. My personal favorites were "Coyote," which featured an odd crime scene; "Reeling through the Years," featuring an investigation into a 1976 shooting; "The David McNorris Show," featuring the ADA's spin-doctor work on a crime; and "Fearless," the drive-by shooting episode that left me in tears by its end.
I'm not usually a fan of cop shows, but "Boomtown" is far from the usual cop show.
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