Rating: Country: USA Release Date: May 23, 2006 Distributor: Universal Studios Director: · Various Cast: · John Cassavetes · Judd Hirsch · Louis Gossett, Jr. · Jeffrey Donovan Related Sites: · Brilliant But Cancelled Grade: B-

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In its Brilliant But Cancelled - Crime Dramas DVD, Bravo provides four episodes of tv crime shows, taken from four different series. The twist (because when it comes to crime dramas, there has to be a twist) is that each of these four series is from a different decade. An intriguing premise, but can they live up to their billing of being brilliant? Let's find out.

Johnny Staccato - "Tempted": Combine Greenwich Village location, black and white photography, and a main character who is a jazz pianist. Add in John Cassavetes, landmark filmmaker, as the pianist who also does some private eye work. Stir and toss it back in a neat 30 minutes, and you have Johnny Staccato, a 1959-60 crime drama. This episode doesn't waste a minute, providing romance via a young (and very sultry) Elizabeth Montgomery and several plot twists.

Cool Factor: 9/10
Brilliance: 8/10

Delvecchio - "Licensed to Kill": In the 1970s, crime dramas were all the rage. To find one that was "brilliant but cancelled," Bravo turned to this 1976-77 Steven Bochco production starring Judd Hirsch as Detective Dominick Delvecchio. I'm guessing that the '70s mania for crime meant that the truly brilliant ones weren't cancelled, because this drama is very bland. Perhaps it's because Judd Hirsch is such an immediately identifiable actor that it's difficult to view him without thinking "Hey, there's Judd Hirsch!" Or maybe "Licensed to Kill" wasn't the best episode to choose as a standalone. It focuses on the death of Delvecchio's god-daughter, and the personal anguish distracts from the professional investigation. Despite the melodrama, the action itself is dry and plodding. When you consider that one dramatic highlight is Delvecchio ripping into a sealed box of medical records, the "cancelled" part of this series starts to make sense.

Thrill Factor: 3/10
Brilliance: 4/10

Gideon Oliver - "Sleep Well, Professor Oliver": It's perhaps cheating a little bit to include Gideon Oliver in this collection. I wouldn't exactly term it a series. It was part of ABC's Monday Mystery Movie series, which seem more collection than series to me. But perhaps I'm quibbling. Considering that Gideon Oliver starred the always appealing Louis Gossett Jr. (Stargate SG-1, "An Officer and a Gentleman") and was penned by Dick Wolf (the man behind the Law and Order franchise), this 1989 drama is not a bad representative of the '80s. As with Law and Order, the approach is one of "ripped from the headlines" -- which at that time included cults and satan worship. While those themes seem sensationalistic now, the plot did allow Oliver, a professor of anthropology, to apply his expertise to the sleuthing arena. The story moves well, but the most fun is seeing Cynthia Nixon (Sex and the City) and Anthony LaPaglia (Without a Trace) from 15 years ago.

Star Factor: 7/10
Brilliance Factor: 6/10

Touching Evil - "K": With Touching Evil, the collection enters the 21st Century. Airing in 2004, this series focused on the FBI's Organized and Serial Crime division, and specifically agent David Creegan (Jeffrey Donovan). The main plot of "K" is fairly straightforward, involving the search for a gang of mini-Mansons as they progress from animal torture to worse. The side stories of Touching Evil, however, are Byzantine. The most notable characteristic of Creegan is his somewhat loopy demeanor, caused by having been shot in the head. The resulting brain damage also leaves him disconnected from his wife and kids. Additionally, there's also a schizophrenic buddy of Creegan's wandering around and hanging out with him. And what about those seizures that Creegan alluded to? As an example of a recent trend of season-long story arcs (versus the episodic approach of earlier crime dramas), Touching Evil succeeds. But it's difficult to follow if you're not already familiar with the show, and that distracts from the overall effect.

Opacity Factor: 7/10
Brilliance Factor: 4/10

Final Thoughts: I loved the concept of Brilliant But Cancelled - Crime Dramas, and it did turn out to be interesting to see different approaches to crime drama over time. However, for true brilliance, none of these shows -- even the best of them, Johnny Staccato -- approached Bravo's other Brilliant But Cancelled release, EZ Streets.