Rating: Summary: Too Unique for Network Television Review: Not a surprise that NBC would cancel this brilliant show. It was far too developed and adventurous for a network to support. NBC was confused by what they had, and tried to make it a formulaic cop show in Season 2, when the first season was one of the most amazing seasons of television in the last 10 years. Everyone who enjoys developed story lines, excellent acting, amazing writing and terrific camera work must check this show out. After watching it, you will clearly understand why it didn't stand a chance on NBC. Just another example of why NBC is a network in free fall. Why show an often brilliant show, when they can just shove the 78th version of "Law and Order" down our throats.
Rating: Summary: If we were judged by our viewing habits Review: Simple TV is good and ample. Intelligent TV is astounding, thought provoking, humbling, and rare.
Boomtown was a wonderfully crafted show that demanded your attention from beginning to end. After reading a few reviews, I think we all agree that the acting was astounding, the writing and plots were thought provoking, and the direction and production was humbling.
If you love TV that makes you despise the interruption of commercials, makes you hang on every word in every scene, and stare dumbly at the screen when credits roll, Boomtown is the show for you.
I hope when the next `Boomtown' TV show surfaces, that we as a viewing audience, are up to the challenge of being entertained by such a brilliantly rare crafted gem.
Rating: Summary: Yeeeehaaaaw! Review: That lady friend of david the lawyer is OFF THE HOOK. But seriously folks, Boomtown is quite possibly the greatest crime drama ever released. It's put together amazingly in probably the most original format i've ever seen, the story lines grab you by the balls and don't let go, and it's all brought together by an amazing cast. Guy with severe underbite from forest gump, lady from minority report, and especially everyones favorite new kid ont he block, donnie wahlberg. They all bring a perfect touch of drama to this nearly perfect television show.It would be a shame if this isn't released to the US on DVD. Season one of Boomtown truely was a masterpeice. A wiseman once said, "The fire you kindle for your enemy often burns yourself more than him." I don't know what this means, but i do know one thing...Boomtown was pure gold. We need to support Boomtown, if we all enter our e-mail addresses at the top of the page and vote, boomtown will rise from the ashes and become imortalized in the form of DVD. Thank you for your time, and don't forget to watch 24 tuesdays at 9pm.
Rating: Summary: Live Hard, Die Young and Leave a Good-Looking Corpse Review: There was never a "Very Special 'Boomtown'." There wasn't an extra-special guest-star or a retrospective show. We didn't have to deal with a season-ending cliff-hanger and a season-opening lame resolution to the cliff-hanger. We didn't see half a dozen "Boomtown" knockoffs on competing networks.
In a way, it's a good thing that this wonderful show never became a hit, because it ended up living its entire life under the radar of people who had the power to ruin it. Instead, it died with dignity, of causes that had nothing to do with any frailty of its own.
The stories are brought to life in a way that's rare to see on television. Heck, this show makes the city of Los Angeles a character--a feat that is attempted by a few but rarely ever acheived. Characters are compelling and conflicted and magnetic.
Of course, the character who most draws you in is DDA McNorris. You can't help but hate the guy. You can't help but love the guy. As Neal McDonough plays him, he has no concept of the fact that he's a character on television and is not supposed to be so cold. I get the impression that Mr. McDonough, who does an excellent job, has never watched television in his life. He plays up to us viewers, not down. I hope he'll maintain that fresh aspect of his persona as, as I expect, he becomes a Big Star.
At the end of the season, we see McNorris facing his alcoholism. In the "Blackout" episode, we see the denial/bargaining/etc that anyone who has faced a shot glass faces at some point in our lives. Throughout the season, it's been working up to this. Then McNorris faces his own version of the monster lurking under the bed.
The series was cancelled before we got to see too much of the new improved sober McNorris. Good thing, in a way. The show could certainly have been great for a few seasons, but this first season was relentless.
I'm not one for buying "Season X of Y," but we're not likely to see "Boomtown" in syndication and I'm not so sure it will be on the menu when video-on-demand supplants DVDs. I recommend this box set. Look at it as a good movie that extends for 18 hours or so.
Rating: Summary: Wow, did NBC kill one GREAT series! Review: This series is proof that there IS intelligent life in Hollywood. Without a doubt, the first season of Boomtown was one of the most intelligent, refreshing bits of television in many, many years. The format was fascinating, as a story unfolded from multiple perspectives and varying time sequences: the cops', the attorneys', crime scene folks', the victim(s), passers-by. The show was like fusing an image onto a mirror and then breaking the mirror and using slices of the mirror to put the image back together again. This was no couch potato nod-off series! It was tight, focused, and demanded that the viewer be an active participant in the process. That, I think is what made some of us love the show. That, also, is what I think was the show's undoing. For season 2 Vanessa Williams was brought in (star power...) and the multiple perspective format was replaced by a boring, formulaic, linear style of story-telling that left me reeling it was so BAD! I mean, it works for Law & Order and other shows, but Boomtown was one-of-a-kind and it just didn't fit in Hollywood's crank-em-out model of television production. I highly recommend buying this box set, just so you have 18 great episodes of excellent television to show someone when they say, "Hollywood has never produced a truly great TV show." Well, they DID, for one year at least. And then they went and ruined it...
Rating: Summary: in one word: complicated Review: This show is complicated. Even complex. Every character, every storyline, every emotion has multiple interpretations and it works more often than not, and kudos to the creators. Excellent writing and casting (some of the best on TV) with not one weak character or actor. I hope you can bring us something more along this lines, or maybe even a really complicated BoomTown movie some day.
Word to some of you, it took me until episode three to actually decide to stck with the show. I almost walked away after the first two, but I guarantee you once you let the characters in, you'll be hooked.
Rating: Summary: stories that change your everyday life Review: Woow, what a show! I live in Germany and never watch local tv because everything is dubbed. I found this just by chance. I own the set for about four months now and I believe to have watched the entire series about three times.
Doesn't say enough? It's terrific! Awesome! What a great idea to show different sides to the story in each episode. My favorite character is Detective Smith, beautifully brought to life by Mykelti Williamson. The favorite episode "The Freak" just had me stunned for days. I still cannot forget the themes this show has touched in me and rarely a day goes by without me thinking in some way or another about the men and women portrayed so marvellously in this series. Shame on those who dared to stop it!
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