''Pros and Cons'' is an American

crime drama Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

that ran on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

from September 26, 1991, to January 2, 1992, in the United States during the 1991–92 television season. It is a revamped, more lighthearted version of ''

Gabriel's Fire ''Gabriel's Fire'' is an American crime drama television series created by Donald R. Boyle, Coleman Luck and Jacqueline Zambrano that ran on ABC from September 12, 1990, to June 6, 1991, in the United States during the 1990–91 television seaso ...

'', which aired on ABC the previous season.

Overview

Gabriel Bird is a former Chicago police officer, who, over twenty years prior, had been wrongfully sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of a fellow officer. He was exonerated and subsequently became a Chicago private detective (as seen on ''

''). Bird then moves to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, where he teams up with another private eye, Mitch O'Hannon. Bird also marries his love interest, Josephine, She had been the proprietress of a café where Bird had begun frequenting shortly after his release, at first for her good, homestyle cooking, but soon, primarily for her companionship. The episode "Birds Gotta Fly", directed by

Mario Van Peebles Mario Van Peebles (born January 15, 1957) is an American film director and actor best known for directing and starring in ''New Jack City'' in 1991 and '' USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage'' in 2016. He is the son of actor and filmmaker Melvin Va ...

, starred

Irene Cara Irene Cara Escalera (March 18, 1959 – November 25, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter and actress of Black, Puerto Rican and Cuban descent. Cara rose to prominence for her role as Coco Hernandez in the 1980 musical film '' Fame'', and f ...

as Bird's estranged daughter Celine, as well as movie and TV personality

Michael Beach Michael Anthony Beach (born October 30, 1963) is an American actor. He has appeared in films '' Lean on Me'' (1989), ''One False Move'' (1992), ''Short Cuts'' (1993), ''Waiting to Exhale'' (1995), ''A Family Thing'' (1996), ''Soul Food'' (1997), ...

as Josephine's military-bound son, and

Meagan Good Meagan Monique Good is an American actress. She first gained critical attention for her role in the film ''Eve's Bayou'' (1997), prior to landing the role of Nina in the Nickelodeon sitcom ''Cousin Skeeter'' (1998–2001). Good received further ...

in a small role. When the revamped version of ''Gabriel's Fire'' was announced, its original working title was ''Bird & Katt'', as Crenna's character was first named Peter Katt in development. After further revision of the new format, Peter Katt became Mitch O'Hannon and the producers settled on the title ''Pros and Cons'', which had a dual meaning—not only that of the positives and negatives of the two leads working together, but of the fact that they were professional detectives often chasing after convicts.

Characters

*Gabriel Bird, played by

James Earl Jones James Earl Jones (born January 17, 1931) is an American actor. He has been described as "one of America's most distinguished and versatile" actors for his performances in film, television, and theater, and "one of the greatest actors in America ...

*Josephine, played by

Madge Sinclair Madge Dorita Sinclair CD (née Walters; April 28, 1938 – December 20, 1995) was a Jamaican actress best known for her roles in ''Cornbread, Earl and Me'' (1975), ''Convoy'' (1978), ''Coming to America'' (1988), ''Trapper John, M.D.'' (1980– ...

*Mitch O'Hannon, played by

Richard Crenna Richard Donald Crenna (November 30, 1926 – January 17, 2003) was an American film, television and radio actor. Crenna starred in such motion pictures as ''The Sand Pebbles'', ''Wait Until Dark'', ''Un Flic'', ''Body Heat'', the first three ' ...

External links

* 1990s American crime drama television series Television series by Lorimar Television American Broadcasting Company original programming English-language television shows 1991 American television series debuts 1992 American television series endings {{US-drama-tv-prog-stub