Once a Thief 

The misadventures of a gang of Canadian spies, agents, criminals and mobsters, including three spies, an enigmatic director and two grim-faced assassins.

Creators:

Glenn Davis, William Laurin

Stars:

Sandrine Holt, Ivan Sergei, Nicholas Lea

1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Ivan Sergei	...	Mac Ramsey 23 episodes, 1996-1998
Sandrine Holt	...	Li Ann Tsei 23 episodes, 1996-1998
Nicholas Lea	...	Victor Mansfield 23 episodes, 1996-1998
Jennifer Dale	...	The Director 23 episodes, 1996-1998
Howard Dell	...	Agent Dobrinsky 15 episodes, 1997-1998
Greg Kramer	...	Murphy 11 episodes, 1997-1998
Julian Richings	...	Camier 11 episodes, 1997-1998

Storyline

Mac, LiAnn, and Vic are recruited by a top-secret government agency, working out of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. They have many (mis)adventures together, and soon, they are joined by Jackie Janczyk, a teenage mob boss.

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Plot Keywords:

spy | 

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Crime | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some strong violence

Details

Official Sites:

Alliance Communications

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

September 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

John Woo's Once a Thief

Filming Locations:

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Company Credits

Production Co:

Alliance Communications Corporation, Baton, CTV Television Network

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min (22 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The two contract killers from the series, Mr. Murphy and Mr. Camier, were named after two of Samuel Barclay Beckett's novels, one of these novels being titled 'Murphy', and the other being titled 'Mercier et Camier'.

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Connections

Followed by Once a Thief: Brother Against Brother (1997)

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Soundtracks

Soy El Rey
Performed by Sonora Carruseles
Courtesy of Vedisco Records

User Reviews

Marred by odd camera work.

Seemingly based on an earlier American TV show called "It Takes A Thief" that ran in the late 1960's starring Robert Wagner-this shows premise is different and plays more like a weirded out version of the British show "The Avengers." This show also uses a lot of odd camera angles and darkened shots. The plot lines vary a lot from good to just out and out wacky. I think too many mediocre scripts was a thing that worked against the show being renewed for another season. Shot in Vancouver BC-but you never really felt like it was shot in Canada somehow. Many Canadian shows these days don't show a lot of whats really in Canada-like they never ever show rickshaw drivers when filming something in Toronto-and you never hear mention of anything First Nations on most Canadian drama shows these days even though First Nations are a very visible part of the population in much of Canada. I think this show had too many shortcomings-in fact I think many Canadian TV shows are often too much of "lets play pretend" as if Canada had nothing to offer when it does have things to offer-but it also has some fairly morally ambiguous things-like rickshaw's which are basically the very definition of arduous slave labor. In an era that disapproves of slavery. Also Odd: the Canadian CBC will not not put out the once popular Canadian TV show "The Beachcombers" onto DVD. I find that completely weird-like someone today doesn't want anyone First Nations depicted as a normal part of a Canadian community- since when did Canada turn back the clock to 1865? Jennifer Dale's character on this show seems to continued on into the show Nikita that started in 1997 after this show ended.