''Boomtown'' is an American
action
Action may refer to:
* Action (narrative), a literary mode
* Action fiction, a type of genre fiction
* Action game, a genre of video game
Film
* Action film, a genre of film
* ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford
* ''Action'' (1980 fil ...
drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...
television series created by
Graham Yost
Graham John Yost (born September 5, 1959) is a Canadian film and television screenwriter. His best-known works are the films ''Speed'', '' Broken Arrow'', and '' Hard Rain'' and the TV series '' Justified''.
Early life, family and education
Yo ...
, that aired on
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
from September 29, 2002 to December 28, 2003. The show's title is a nickname for its setting:
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
,
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
.
Overview
The show portrayed a criminal investigation each week, seen from various points of view: the police officers and detectives, the lawyers, paramedics, reporters, victims, witnesses and criminals. Despite the show's innovative style – similar to that of
Akira Kurosawa
was a Japanese filmmaker and painter who directed thirty films in a career spanning over five decades. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. Kurosawa displayed a bold, dyna ...
's film ''
Rashomon
is a 1950 Jidaigeki psychological thriller/crime film directed and written by Akira Kurosawa, working in close collaboration with cinematographer Kazuo Miyagawa. Starring Toshiro Mifune, Machiko Kyō, Masayuki Mori, and Takashi Shimura ...
'', except all the perspectives agree – and glowing critical reviews, the show never drew a significant audience.
The series premiered on September 29, 2002. The first season order was for 18 episodes. After airing 12 episodes with disappointing ratings,
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
moved ''Boomtown'' from Sundays to Fridays, putting the show on a two-month hiatus before it returned in March 2003. Its first season ended before May
sweeps, an important period in determining ratings and thus ad revenue values.
''Boomtown'' was renewed for a second season, but to satisfy the network's concerns with low ratings, the producers made some changes. Most significantly they reduced reliance on some of the show's signature elements. In season one each story was told in a non-linear fashion, with each character's view adding a new detail. In season two, they still would put up people's names as it followed them, but there was less new information on the mystery, and aside from a few flashbacks, the episode's events would run in order. There were changes within the cast as well.
Nina Garbiras
Nina Garbiras (born September 9, 1964) is an American actress. She is best known for her TV role as Andrea Little on the first season of NBC's award winning series ''Boomtown''.
Early life
Garbiras was born in New York, and traces her herita ...
was let go, as the producers wished to focus more exclusively on ''
Law & Order'' type characters. There was never any mention of her reporter character again.
Lana Parrilla
Lana Parrilla (born July 15, 1977) is an American actress. She was a regular cast member in the fifth season of the ABC sitcom ''Spin City'' (2000–2001) and in the fourth season of '' 24'' (2005), and starred in ''Boomtown'' (2002–2003), ' ...
's character suddenly joined the police academy. The character had previously been seen as never wanting to be anything but a paramedic after her mother's death.
Vanessa L. Williams joined the cast for every episode, but was billed as a guest star. She played Detective Katherine Pierce, a high-ranking officer who transfers into Bobby and Joel's division.
Jason Gedrick
Jason Michael Gedrick (born February 7, 1965) is an American actor best known for his work on the television series '' Murder One'' and '' Boomtown'', and the motion picture '' Iron Eagle'' as Doug Masters.
Early life
Jason Michael Gedroic was ...
and
Neal McDonough
Neal McDonough (born February 13, 1966) is an American actor. He is known for his portrayal of Lieutenant Lynn "Buck" Compton in the HBO miniseries '' Band of Brothers'' (2001), Deputy District Attorney David McNorris on ''Boomtown'' (2002–20 ...
were absent from one episode each (although Gedrick's Tom Turcotte was heard on the telephone), and McDonough was also absent from all but the last 20 seconds of the season premiere. Lana Parrilla was not in three of the six episodes. After airing only two episodes, the series was put on hiatus. NBC broadcast reruns of ''Law & Order'' in its place before deciding to cancel the series. Three of the remaining unaired episodes were broadcast on December 27, 2003, and the final episode aired on December 28, 2003.
In retrospect, the show's creator, Graham Yost said: "Boomtown was perhaps, in retrospect, better suited for
HBO or
FX. But at that time, HBO had ''
The Wire
''The Wire'' is an American crime drama television series created and primarily written by author and former police reporter David Simon. The series was broadcast by the cable network HBO in the United States. ''The Wire'' premiered on June 2 ...
'', and FX had ''
The Shield
''The Shield'' is an American crime drama television series starring Michael Chiklis that premiered on March 12, 2002, on FX in the United States, and concluded on November 25, 2008, after seven seasons. Known for its portrayal of corrupt pol ...
''. So NBC was really the only place for it, and they embraced the ''Rashomon'' structure and were excited by that, but then when the ratings weren't spectacular, what happens is everyone questions everything. 'Maybe that's the problem. Maybe it's the music. Maybe it's this. Maybe it's that. And the doubt becomes corrosive. So when we were lobbying for a second season, we were told straightforwardly that... there was one particular episode toward the end of the first season where Fearless, played by
Mykelti Williamson
Mykelti Williamson (born March 4, 1957) is an American actor best known for his roles in the films ''Forrest Gump'', ''Con Air'' and '' Ali'', and the television shows ''Boomtown'', '' 24'', and '' Justified''. In 2016, he portrayed Gabriel Maxs ...
, has to deal with the past of having been molested as a child, and we were basically told, 'You can't do any more episodes like that.' To this day, I don't know if that was the right decision. I do feel like that was one of the best episodes we ever did. I'm extraordinarily proud of that. But you want to keep going, you want to work with those actors, those writers, that crew. You want to take a shot, and you're hoping you will succeed, but we didn't. So there's a part of me that regrets the abbreviated second season, but there's also a part of me that's like, 'Eh. We gave it a shot.
''Boomtown'' received several awards and nominations, including
Emmy Awards,
Golden Satellite Award
The Satellite Awards are annual awards given by the International Press Academy that are commonly noted in entertainment industry journals and blogs. The awards were originally known as the Golden Satellite Awards. The award ceremonies take place ...
s, and
Television Critics Association Award
The TCA Awards are awards presented by the Television Critics Association in recognition of excellence in television. There are eleven categories, which are presented every summer towards the end of the organization's summer press tour.
Due to ...
s.
Cast and characters
Main
*
Donnie Wahlberg
Donald Edmond Wahlberg Jr. (born August 17, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, actor, record producer, and film producer. He is a founding member of the boy band New Kids on the Block. Outside music, he has had roles in the ''Saw' ...
as Los Angeles Police Department Detective II Joel Stevens
*
Neal McDonough
Neal McDonough (born February 13, 1966) is an American actor. He is known for his portrayal of Lieutenant Lynn "Buck" Compton in the HBO miniseries '' Band of Brothers'' (2001), Deputy District Attorney David McNorris on ''Boomtown'' (2002–20 ...
as Los Angeles County Assistant District Attorney David McNorris
*
Mykelti Williamson
Mykelti Williamson (born March 4, 1957) is an American actor best known for his roles in the films ''Forrest Gump'', ''Con Air'' and '' Ali'', and the television shows ''Boomtown'', '' 24'', and '' Justified''. In 2016, he portrayed Gabriel Maxs ...
as Los Angeles Police Department Detective II Bobby 'Fearless' Smith
*
Gary Basaraba
Gary Basaraba (born March 16, 1959) is a Canadian actor. He appeared as Sergeant Richard Santoro on Steven Bochco's ''Brooklyn South'' and Officer Ray Hechler on the critically acclaimed but short-lived ''Boomtown''. He has worked for Martin ...
as Los Angeles Police Department Police Officer III Ray Hechler
*
Nina Garbiras
Nina Garbiras (born September 9, 1964) is an American actress. She is best known for her TV role as Andrea Little on the first season of NBC's award winning series ''Boomtown''.
Early life
Garbiras was born in New York, and traces her herita ...
as Andrea Little, a reporter (season one)
*
Lana Parrilla
Lana Parrilla (born July 15, 1977) is an American actress. She was a regular cast member in the fifth season of the ABC sitcom ''Spin City'' (2000–2001) and in the fourth season of '' 24'' (2005), and starred in ''Boomtown'' (2002–2003), ' ...
as Teresa Ortiz, a paramedic in season one, and a rookie police officer in season two
*
Jason Gedrick
Jason Michael Gedrick (born February 7, 1965) is an American actor best known for his work on the television series '' Murder One'' and '' Boomtown'', and the motion picture '' Iron Eagle'' as Doug Masters.
Early life
Jason Michael Gedroic was ...
as Los Angeles Police Department Police Officer II Tom Turcotte
Recurring
*
Megan Ward
Megan Marie Ward (born September 24, 1969) is an American actress. She is best known for her numerous credits in science fiction and horror movies and television series. In 2007, she joined the cast of the American daytime drama '' General Hos ...
as Kelly Stevens
*
David Proval
David Aaron Proval (born May 20, 1942) is an American actor, known for his roles as Tony DeVienazo in the Martin Scorsese film '' Mean Streets'' (1973), Snooze in '' The Shawshank Redemption'' (1994), Siegfried in '' Four Rooms'' (1995) and as ...
as Los Angeles Police Department Detective II Paul Turcotte
*
Dorian Harewood
Dorian Harewood (born August 6, 1950) is an American actor, best known for playing Jesse Owens in '' The Jesse Owens Story'' (1984), Paul Strobber on '' Strike Force'' (1981–1982), and Rev. Morgan Hamilton in '' 7th Heaven'' (1996–2003).
E ...
as Los Angeles Police Department Captain Ron Hicks
*
Kelly Rowan as Marian McNorris (season one)
*
Erich Anderson
Erich Anderson (born Edward Eric Anderson; 1957) is an actor, sometimes credited as E. Erich Anderson, and is married to actress Saxon Trainor. He has starred in film and on television, and is best known for his first film role in the 1984 hor ...
as Ben Fisher (season one)
*Kim Murphy as Susan (season one)
*
Matt Craven
Matt may refer to:
*Matt (name), people with the given name ''Matt'' or Matthew, meaning "gift from God", or the surname Matt
*In British English, of a surface: having a non-glossy finish, see gloss (material appearance)
*Matt, Switzerland, a mu ...
as Dr. Michael Hirsch (season one)
*
Rick Gomez
Richard Harper Gomez (born June 1, 1972) is an American actor. He is known for portraying Radio Technician 4th Grade George Luz in the HBO television miniseries '' Band of Brothers'', and as "Endless Mike" Hellstrom in the Nickelodeon
...
as Detective Daniel Ramos (season one)
*
Kelly Hu
Kelly Ann Hu (born February 13, 1968 ) is an American actress, voice artist, former fashion model and beauty queen who was Miss Teen USA 1985 and Miss Hawaii USA 1993. Hu starred as Dr. Rae Chang on the American television soap opera '' Sunset ...
as Rachel Durrel (season two)
*
Vanessa L. Williams as Los Angeles Police Department Detective III Katherine Pierce (season two)
Episodes
Series overview
Season 1 (2002–03)
Season 2 (2003)
Reception
Critical response
''Boomtown'' received largely positive reviews from critics. On
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the first season has an approval rating of 96% with an average score of 10/10 based on 26 reviews. The website's critical consensus is, "''Boomtown'' gives the police procedural innovative pep with its dense ensemble and warring perspectives, bringing a refreshing moral ambiguity to primetime." On
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, the first season has a score of 89 out of 100 based on 31 reviews, signifying "universal acclaim".
Awards and nominations
DVD release
Lionsgate Home Entertainment
Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, doing business as Lionsgate, is a Canadian-American entertainment company. It was formed by Frank Giustra on July 10, 1997, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is currently headquartered ...
release Season 1 of ''Boomtown'' on DVD in Region 1 on July 20, 2004. Season 1 was subsequently released in Region 2 as well. Despite strong sales of season one and popular demand on TV-DVD websites, season 2 was never released in the USA or UK. The season two episodes were made available, however, on the French DVD box set ''Boomtown Complet'', which also includes a short interview with French film critic Alain Carraze, who offers comments about the show. The DVD's released in the United States contain an optional commentary soundtrack by individuals who were involved in making the show but this is absent from the French and British DVD releases.
The Region 1 release has been discontinued and is now out of print.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boomtown
2000s American crime drama television series
2000s American police procedural television series
2002 American television series debuts
2003 American television series endings
American action television series
English-language television shows
Fictional portrayals of the Los Angeles Police Department
NBC original programming
Peabody Award-winning television programs
Television series by DreamWorks Television
Television series by Universal Television
Television shows set in Los Angeles
Nonlinear narrative television series