EZ Streets

"EZ Streets" is an American television drama created by Paul Haggis. It premiered on CBS on October 27, 1996 with a two hour pilot telefilm. After its first episode in its regular timeslot on Wednesday, October 30, 1996 it was canceled with CBS president Leslie Moonves promising that the show would be "relaunched" at a later date.

The series was relaunched that spring from March 1, 1997 to April 2, 1997. The last episode, "Neither Have I Wings to Fly", never aired on CBS. Critics criticized Moonves for not reairing the pilot and first series episode before the relaunch.

In 2006, repeats of the series began airing on the new U.S. cable channel, Sleuth. All episodes, including the one not shown on CBS, were aired.

The series is set in a decaying American city located near the Canadian border, and deals with the interconnected lives of the city's criminals, politicians, and police officers. The series foreshadowed television crime dramas like HBO's "The Wire". "EZ Streets" is noted for its intricate plotting, "noir" themes, and depiction of the ambiguous nature (at times both brutal and touching) of its primary characters. It influenced many later shows from "Lost" (multi-layered storytelling) to "The Sopranos" (sympathetic mobsters) to "Cold Case" (cinematography).

Characters

* Detective Cameron Quinn (Ken Olin)
* Jimmy Murtha (Joe Pantoliano)
* Danny Rooney (Jason Gedrick)
* Michael "Fivers" Dugan (R.D. Call)
* Captain Geary (John Finn)
* Theresa Conners (Debrah Farentino)
* Detective Frank Collero (Richard Portnow)
* Mayor Christian Davidson (Carl Lumbly)
* Elli Rooney (Sarah Trigger)
* Andre "Frenchie" Desormeaux (Andrew Divoff)
* Mickey Kinnear (Mike Starr)

Episodes

* "Pilot" (October 27, 1996)
* "Every Picture Tells a Story" (October 30, 1996)
* "A Terrible Beauty" (March 3, 1997)
* "St. Jude Took a Bullet" (March 5, 1997)
* "Every Dog Has Its Day" (March 12, 1997)
* "One Acquainted with the Night" (March 19, 1997)
* "On the Left Side of the Angel" (March 26, 1997)
* "A Ceremony of Innocence" (April 2, 1997)
* "Neither Have I Wings to Fly" (scheduled for April 9, 1997, but never aired)

DVD release

On May 23, 2006, Universal Studios released the two part pilot and the episodes "Every Dog Has Its Day" and "One Acquainted with the Night" on a single DVD as part of its Brilliant But Cancelled series. It remains to be seen if future episodes will be forthcoming.

External links

* [http://www.salon.com/march97/ez970303.html "The Wild The Not So Innocence and the EZ Streets: Why Did CBS Cancel the Year's Best Show?"] on Salon.com
* [http://www.brilliantbutcancelled.com/shows/ez_streets.php BrillantButCancelled.com - EZ Streets]
* [http://www.sleuthchannel.com/Schedule/search.bravo?month=2007-8&keyword=EZ_Streets&start=today "Sleuth cable channel"]