Boomtown (TV series)


Boomtown

Boomtown Season 1 DVD cover
Format Police Procedural
Created by Graham Yost
Starring Gary Basaraba
Jason Gedrick
Neal McDonough
Lana Parrilla
Donnie Wahlberg
Mykelti Williamson
Nina Garbiras
(Season 1)
Country of origin Flag of the United States United States
No. of series 2
No. of episodes 24
Production
Camera setup Single
Running time 45 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel NBC
Original run September 29, 2002 – December 28, 2003
External links
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Boomtown is a U.S. television action/drama series produced by NBC. Created by Graham Yost, the show's title is a nickname for its setting, Los Angeles.

Contents

Overview

The show portrayed a criminal investigation each week, seen from various points of view: the police officers and detectives, the lawyers, paramedics, reporters, victims, witnesses and criminals. Despite the show's innovative style – similar to that of Akira Kurosawa's film Rashōmon, except all the perspectives agree – and glowing critical reviews, the show never drew a significant audience.

The series premiered on September 29, 2002. The first season order was for 18 episodes instead of the usual 22. After airing 12 episodes with disappointing ratings, NBC moved Boomtown from Sundays to Fridays, putting the show on a two-month hiatus before it returned in March 2003. Its first season ended before May sweeps, an important period in determining ratings and thus ad revenue values.

Boomtown was renewed for a second season, but to satisfy the network's concerns with low ratings, the producers abandoned the show's unique style and changed the cast. After airing only two episodes, the series was put on hiatus. NBC broadcast reruns of Law & Order in its place before deciding to cancel the series. Three of the remaining unaired episodes were broadcast on December 27, 2003 and the final episode aired on December 28, 2003.

Boomtown received several awards and nominations, including Emmy Awards, Golden Satellite Awards, and Television Critics Association Awards.

Cast

Boomtown Season 2 promotional image
Boomtown Season 2 promotional image

Main cast

Recurring cast

Episode synopses

Season One

  • Pilot

A drive-by shooting is investigated from several angles. We meet Fearless, a Gulf War veteran, a man with a list of things to do before he dies, and a habit of telling stories; Joel, who is still attempting to hide the suicide attempt of his wife Kelly; Teresa, the kind-hearted paramedic who was on duty the night of the attempt; David McNorris, the manipulative deputy D.A.; his mistress, reporter Andrea Little; Ray Hechler, a cop under suspicion of being dirty; and his young partner Tom.

  • Possession

After a telemarketer overhears a murder plot on the phone, Joel, Fearless, Ray and Tom scramble to find him; while David and Andrea find the pressure of their affair building.

  • The Squeeze

A prominent attorney gets murder charges against him dropped, and everyone takes different paths in an attempt to get him to confess.

  • Reelin' In The Years

After Joel and Fearless solve the murder of his father's former partner, Tom and Andrea face their past.

  • All Hallow's Eve

On Halloween, David is stunned when Andrea breaks up with him on the same night that Marian accuses him of adultery; while Ray and Tom go undercover to save Teresa - whose ambulance has been hijacked.

  • The Freak

Ray and Tom investigate a bizarre case while Fearless risks his life to save a little girl, because of a haunting memory of an old war buddy.

  • Insured by Smith & Wesson

When Ray goes undercover into a hostage situation inside a sporting goods store, he discovers that the store manager is a former actor of Ray's favorite 1980s TV show. While attempting to convince the manager to help him save the day, Ray's illusions are shattered.

  • Crash

Fearless's ex-girlfriend joins him and Joel on a case to crack an insurance fraud ring.

  • The David McNorris Show

While Joel and Fearless investigate the death of a teenage girl, McNorris makes some dirty deals which collapse just as his marriage does.

  • Coyote

Joel and Fearless must convince Andrea to face a psychotic homeless man who she went to school with to find a kidnapped teenager.

On a tip from Teresa, Joel, Fearless, Tom and a slowly falling apart David team up to convict a group of filmmakers inspiring homeless people to kill each other.

  • Sinaloa Cowboys

A simple domestic disturbance call becomes a life-changing event for Ray and Tom as they find themselves in the middle of a drug war; while Joel and Teresa grow closer.

  • Home Invasion

Joel and Fearless must reluctantly let Andrea in on their case when they discover a group of killers who stake out a family home before killing the family in their sleep.

  • Execution

On the night of his execution, a criminal gives McNorris an ultimatum: save his life or risk the death of a kidnapped cop. While McNorris attempts to save him, Ray and his fellow officers attempt to take a more pragmatic course, unaware of what they are up against.

  • Storm Watch

Ray, Joel, Tom and Fearless are locked down in the station along with their fellow cops when a mole is suspected and Ray has no choice but to ask Andrea - who almost cost him his badge a year earlier - to help; meanwhile McNorris continues on a downward spiral.

  • Fearless

In a rather different episode (featuring only one point-of-view, Fearless's), Fearless investigates the shooting of a drug dealer, and faces his past.

  • Blackout

With his wife having left him, and Andrea refusing to take him back, McNorris finds himself drinking into blackouts, which ultimately leads him to wake up with blood on his car. When he learns about a hit-and-run incident, he begins to act fearfully and his suspicions tip off Joel who is working with Fearless, Ray and Tom to crack the case.

  • Lost Child

Already agonising over his feelings for Teresa, Joel is put on the case of a kidnapped newborn. While Fearless, Andrea, Ray and David (preparing for rehab) investigate, Joel finds himself finally confronting his wife's suicide attempt and the death of their newborn daughter; while Tom finds himself being coerced into snitching on Joel.

Season Two

Despite the lackluster performance of season one, Boomtown was renewed for a second season. The producers decided to focus more on the investigative and procedure aspect of the show, so Andrea was written out of the show, and Teresa joined the police academy.

Joel, Fearless, Ray and Tom work together to investigate a group of cop killers, who threaten Joel's family. Joel has Robbery/Homicide detective Katherine Pierce reassigned to their division to assist. Meanwhile, David recovers in rehab and Teresa considers her future.

Ray and Katherine testify against the cop killers; David comes out of rehab and gets straight onto the case despite his recent alcoholism; and Teresa joins the police academy.

  • Wannabe

Joel and Fearless investigate when Teresa discovers a body at the police academy; Ray, Tom and Katherine work to stop a gang of thieves who pose as police officers.

  • Haystack

A gang of fleeing bank robbers take a group of hostages at a shopping center, including Teresa.

  • The Hole-in-the-Wall Gang

A frat boy killed and buried in the wall of a frat house twenty years ago is found, and David, Katherine, Joel and Fearless investigate.

Not following his instincts on a domestic disturbance call, Tom is horrified when the woman goes missing and the chief suspect is murdered; so he works with Katherine in a desperate effort to find the truth.

Awards

  • 2003 - Casting Society of America - Nominated - Best Casting for TV
  • 2003 - Emmy Awards - Nominated - Outstanding Main Title Theme Music (Philip Giffin)
  • 2003 - Image Awards - Nominated - Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series - Mykelti Williamson
  • 2003 - Image Foundation Awards - Winner - Best Supporting Actress (TV) - Lana Parrilla
  • 2003 - Television Critics Association Awards - Nominated - Outstanding Program
  • 2003 - Television Critics Association Awards - Nominated - Individual Achievement in Drama - Neal McDonough
  • 2003 - Television Critics Association Awards - Winner - Outstanding Achievement in Drama
  • 2003 - Television Critics Association Awards - Winner - Outstanding New Program of the Year
  • 2004 - Golden Satellite Awards - Nominated - Best Television Series, Drama
  • 2004 - Golden Satellite Awards - Winner - Best Supporting Actor in Drama Series - Neal McDonough

DVD

The first season is now available on DVD. Despite strong sales of season one and popular demand on TV-DVD websites, it doesn't appear that the abortive season two will be released to DVD in the United States or in the United Kingdom in the foreseeable future. The season two episodes were made available, however, on the French DVD box set Boomtown Complet, which also includes a short interview with French film critic Alain Carraze, who offers comments about the show. The DVDs released in the United States contain an optional commentary soundtrack by individuals who were involved in making the show but this is absent from the French and British DVD releases.

External links

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