World Famous Comics: Brilliant But Cancelled - EZ Streets EZ Streets
Brilliant But Cancelled - EZ Streets EZ Streets
Starring: Brilliant But Cancelled Average Rating: Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Binding: DVD Format: Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC Label: Universal Studios Number of Items: 1 Region Code: 1 Release Date: May 23, 2006 Running Time: 182 minutes Theatrical Release Date: October 27, 1996
Product Description: See the shows that were cancelled before their time as the Brilliant But Cancelled(r) collection presents EZ Streets. Critics deemed this gritty urban crime drama as "simply too good for TV" and The New York Times hailed it "one of the season's exciting new series." Journey to the criminal underworld with three fiercely independent men: Jimmy Murtha (Joe Pantoliano The Sopranos) a charming but ruthless mob boss who rules the E Street gang by whatever means necessary; Detective Cameron Quinn (Ken Olin thirtysomething) an undercover cop determined to find the truth no matter where it takes him; and ex-con Danny Rooney (Jason Gedrick Boomtown) a recent parolee who finds himself unwillingly drawn back into a life of crime. As the story unfolds from each of their perspectives this innovative series from director Paul Haggis (Crash Million Dollar Baby) proves that on the shadowy streets of compromise there's only one way to survive: trust no one.System Requirements:Running Time 209 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: UNRATED UPC: 025193012821 Manufacturer No: 30128
Amazon.com: The difference between right and wrong isn't easily distinguishable on EZ Streets, a compelling and sophisticated crime drama that lasted just one season on CBS. As a former cop tells his son, "You can only be betrayed by the people you trust." Ken Olin stars as Detective Cameron Quinn. After his partner is gunned down with $10,000 missing, both of them are pegged as dirty cops. To clear his partner's name, Quinn infiltrates a crime gang led by the charismatic Jimmy Murtha (Joe Pantoliano), whose inner circle includes a masochistic lawyer/girlfriend (Debrah Farentino) and a conflicted recent parolee (Jason Gedrick) who had served time for Murtha's crime. Created, written, and produced by Paul Haggis (Crash, Million Dollar Baby), EZ Streets evokes a similar melancholy feel as The Sopranos, which it predates by three years. Thanks to the Brilliant But Cancelled series, fans get to see why this show was so critically acclaimed in its 1996 debut. If there's a fault to this DVD, which includes the pilot and two other episodes, it's that the viewer ends up frustrated with just a three-episode taste rather than the full-season meal. --Jae-Ha Kim
Unbelievably dumb marketing by Bravo A fantastic show? Yes. But as others have noted, what in the world is the point to releasing THREE of NINE episodes (counting the double-length pilot as one episode)? Not only is it one-third of the total that rabid fans want, but it's actually episodes 1, 5, and 6 instead of 1, 2, and 3! Is it any wonder consumers are so angry at the studios over how they release their content? If you buy this consider yourself warned. This disc is nothing but a tease. If you insist on being frustrated just rent it from Netflix. That way every time you see the disc one your shelf you won't feel like an idiot for having bought it knowing that you're getting a small hodgepodge of a great show.
The show may be "Brilliant but Cancelled," but Bravo is "Wrong-headed and Absurd."
EZ pieces I like EZ Streets. It was gritty, It was complex and it had a soul that many crime shows never had. Suddenly, as it come on TV... it was canceled after eight episodes (here is only three episodes outta eight!).
Written and created by Oscar Winner (for Crash) Paul Haggis, someone should tell Universal DVD division-if you say something is BRILLANT , Show me all the episodes! I agree it was, not let me have it!
I will give it FIVE stars when there is a FULL collection of EZ Streets...Otherwise I leave the review at TWO stars
Bennet Pomerantz AUDIOWORLD
Rationed greatness leaves you starving for more EZ Streets foreshadowed the wave of complex dramas on HBO, TBS, Fox and others. For those who saw EZ Streets, HBO's Sopranos was derivative and less satisfying. Unfortunately, CBS didn't know what it had or how to build a show that requires rapt attention or a means to catch-up on what went before. The revenue lost by not having a complete story to sell on DVD (after the example of 24 and others) is staggering.
Creator Paul Haggis went on to movie acclaim (Million Dollar Baby and Crash), but EZ Streets was a pinnacle of imagination and execution that is still unmatched on network or cable television. From the casting and acting, to use of music, through compelling cinematography, to a dark, layered and complex storyline, EZ Streets is as good as I have ever seen. After ten years it is still fresh in my mind and the touchstone; it is my all time favorite television series. I still want to "follow the keys," the one lead left for Ken Olin's Detective Quinn to follow.
The EZ Streets ensemble members are largely dramatic leads and stars now or behind the camera applying lessons learned. It is a measure of the quality of the cast how many have thrived since EZ Streets' short life. I see John Finn on Cold Case and hear Captain Geary's standard parting, "I've got a thing." I still wonder, on which side of the law was Geary? Joe Pantoliano aka Joey Pants moved from character actor to lead as the small time hood Jimmy Murtha. Carl Lumbly was back in a similarly complex story in Alias, but he was first a beautifully corrupt and manipulated mayor in EZ Streets. Ken Olin directed almost a quarter of the Alias episodes. He learned from EZ Streets how to tell a long story arc with cliffhanger episodes (and learned the hard way the need for a weekly recap). This was one of the last roles for Rod Steiger as Quinn's disgraced and broken down father. There are more, like Debrah Farentino's sexy and smart Theresa Conners, Mike Starr's big presence, and Sarah Trigger as a fragile, breaking, drug addled and desperate mother. I regularly see actors that first caught my eye here. Mark Isham's haunting theme music must also be credited.
Quality through and through, EZ Streets is a stunning achievement. The quality made it all the more heartbreaking that the cast and crew were never allowed to finish the story.
EZ Streets became the definition of "brilliant but cancelled." Like CBS with the show, the DVD is overly stingy, offering only three episodes of the nine filmed. The logic of the DVD offering is especially strange since the target audiences (rabid fans of EZ Streets and Haggis) know darn well what they are missing. I'd pay more for a full collection on DVD. I'd pay a fortune to know the never filmed end of the story.
Be prepared to be ripped off EZ Street goes without saying it is by far one of the best cancelled shows out there, but buyer beware. You do NOT get the full series.
EZ Duz it!!! With the only exceptions of Homicide: life on the street and The Wire, EZ Streets is quite simply the greatest program ever produced for television! Paul Haggis and Robert Moresco have crafted a brilliant morality tale set in a defeated Northern Midwest Rust Belt metropolis. The cast which includes Ken Olin, Jason Gedrick, Joe Pantoliano, Debra Farentino, Richard Portnow, John Finn, Mike Starr, R. D. Call and Carl Lumbly is first rate. This exceptional show was cancelled for good after just nine episodes, entirely too soon! Fortunately, the episodes were initially resurrected by Trio's Brilliant But Cancelled and assembled in part on this DVD. Aside from a lack of bonus supplemental features, my only criticism of this DVD is that it does not include all nine hours. Featured among its contents are the groundbreaking pilot and two subsequent episodes. I highly recommend this show and this DVD to those who enjoy challenging, serialized and thoroughly riveting crime drama!
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