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: Family Business (1998)

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Soundtracks

Tango Del Cuore
Performed by Quartetto Gelato

User Reviews

Don't Bother

A sad case of a series being created to cash in on a name. John Woo had very little to do with "John Woo's Once A Thief"; he certainly didn't direct any of the episodes. Consequently, the action sequences one might expect from a John Woo project were lacking -- which is actually no surprise considering the constraints of a television shooting schedule. However, it was the writing of the show that was the real villain. Viewers got treated to the worst features of lowbrow action flicks (shallow characters, absurd dialogue, implausible situations, leaden pacing), and none of the compensatory strengths (a sense of humour about it all).

Towards the end of the series, the writing got a little better, and a couple of episodes were almost passably entertaining in a campy sort of way. But it was too little, too late, and the series mercifully came to an end after 22 episodes.