"The Commish" In the Shadows of the Gallows (1995)

Director:

Scott Brazil

Writer:

David Levinson (writer)

TV Series:

"The Commish" (1991)

Original Air Date:

30 November 1995 (Season 5, Episode 1)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Drama | Mystery

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Police

Cast

Michael Chiklis	...	Tony Scali
Theresa Saldana	...	Rachel Scali
Kaj-Erik Eriksen	...	David Scali
John Cygan	...	Detective Paulie Pentangeli
William A. McManus	...	Officer McGinley (as William McManus)
Dean Stockwell	...	Robert Allardyce
Steve Eastin	...	Chief Aaron Darrow
Byron Chief-Moon	...	Smoke
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Gillian Barber	...	Dr. Helen Malloy
Maria Bello	...	Betsy
Jon Cuthbert	...	Baer
Jan D'Arcy	...	Amelia MacKenzie
Alex Ferguson	...	Webster MacKenzie
Jano Frandsen	...	Fuller
Alf Humphreys	...	Calvin Spencer (as Alfred E. Humphreys)
Sheila Larken	...	Patricia Allardyce
Carmen Moore	...	Shirley
Michael Puttonen	...	Benzinger
Jason Schombing	...	Ronnie Lopez
Angela Strader	...	Brenda Yates

Runtime:

Germany:92 min

Country:

Canada | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Dissapointing

I always enjoyed the original Commish television series. I liked the characters, and the stories. And I enjoyed the latter because they did not follow the standard pattern of other crime/mystery series on television around the same time. Matlock, Murder She Wrote, Diagnosis Murder- they all use the same plot device ad nausium. If you watch any of these shows, and they have a sexy female guest character in the cast of an episode you can rest assured that *she* did it (though she will be written and portrayed as the *only* likeable character in the guest cast until she is unmasked).

The Commish never followed this pattern; instead, the "bad guys" were known to the audience from the get-go, and the meat of the story, if you will, came in watching Tony catch them, not in trying to guess who did it. Sadly, this Commish TV movie, aired after the series ended, did away with the style of the original show, and opted for the wornout plot device used on those other shows, including making the murderer the only likeable guest character in the production.

The result is a plodding and predictable story that makes the Tony Scali character seem out-of-place, as the surrounding events play out like a poorly written soap-opera. It ruined the Commish experience for me. Thankfully, the *very* talented Mr. Chiklis has moved on to bigger and better things, with The Sheild.