Series synopsis
Wiseguy is an American crime drama action & adventure television series that premiered on CBS on September 16, 1987. It ended on December 22, 1990. It was created by Frank Lupo, Stephen J. Cannell. It stars Ken Wahl, Steven Bauer, Jonathan Banks and Jim Byrnes.
Vinnie Terranova does time in a New Jersey penitentiary to set up his undercover role as an agent for the OCB (Organized Crime Bureau) of the United States. His roots in a traditional Italian city neighborhood form the underlying dramatic base throughout the series, bringing him into conflict with his conservative mother and other family members while acting undercover as syndicate enforcer.
Premise
Vinnie Terranova does time in a New Jersey penitentiary to set up his undercover role as an agent for the OCB (Organized Crime Bureau) of the United States. His roots in a traditional Italian city neighborhood form the underlying dramatic base throughout the series, bringing him into conflict with his conservative mother and other family members while acting undercover as syndicate enforcer.
Premise: With friends like his who needs enemies
Cast and characters
Leading cast
- Ken Wahl as Vincent Terranova
- Steven Bauer as Michael Santana
- Jonathan Banks as Frank McPike
- Jim Byrnes as Daniel Benjamin 'Lifeguard' Burroughs
- Cecil Hoffman as Hillary Stein
- Maximilian Schell as Amado Guzman
- Marshall Bell
- Ric Reid
Supporting cast
- Janet Wright
- John M. Jackson
- Mark Acheson
- Jessica Harper
- John Novak
- Garwin Sanford
- Paul McCrane
- Ernie Prentice
- Deidre Hall
- Steven Williams
- Barry Greene
- John Tierney
Guest cast
Episodes
This series spans 5 seasons with 86 episodes.
| Season | Episodes | First aired | Last aired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Season 0 | 11 | ||
| Season 1 | 22 | September 16, 1987 | March 28, 1988 |
| Season 2 | 22 | October 26, 1988 | May 24, 1989 |
| Season 3 | 22 | September 20, 1989 | April 18, 1990 |
| Season 4 | 9 | November 10, 1990 | May 12, 1996 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chazz Palminteri Interview | |
| 2 | Conflict in Writing the Profit Arc | |
| 3 | Gag Reel |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Wiseguy (1) Vinnie is released from prison where he has been for two years to establish his cover. He meets his boss, Frank McPike and gets to see his coach and mentor, Jerry Greco. Greco is killed and Vinnie demands to be put in to finish the investigation. He uses his ingenuity to get a foothold in the Steelgrave crime family, but it will take a while to finish this job. |
September 16, 1987 |
| 2 |
Wiseguy (2) Vinnie and Sonny's right hand man, Tony Grecco, has a run-in with the cops causing Vinnie to be arrested. The Steelgraves find that guns are being exported illegally using their pier and decide to take possession of the guns and sell them back to the owner. |
September 16, 1987 |
| 3 |
New Blood In an attempt to take over Sonny Steelgrave’s business, mob head Paul Patrice frames Sonny for several murder attempts he makes on the life of the special prosecutor investigating Sonny. |
September 24, 1987 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Going Home After resigning, Vinnie returns to his old neighborhood to try and get some peace after his life undercover, but is distressed to find white supremists are stirring up trouble. Daryl Elias is promoted to OCB director and orders Frank to either bring Vinnie back to work, or in for debriefing. After a synagogue is trashed, Pete speaks out against the white supremists and is then murdered in a hit and run accident, making Vinnie rejoin the OCB to find his killer. |
October 26, 1988 |
| 2 |
School of Hard Knox Vinnie hesitantly goes back to work for the OCB under the promise they will help find Pete's killer, but Daryl is more interested in getting his star agent to work on a ""real"" assignment. Ritchie digs himself in deeper with the Pilgrims of Promise when he uses Vinnie's car to help rob an armored car. Depressed over Pete's death, Vinnie turns to Angie for consolation, but they both agree they don't want to risk their special friendship by becoming lovers. Vinnie talks Daryl into giving him weapons to sell to the Pilgrims, then he throws the bust when he sees they have Ritchie with them. |
November 2, 1988 |
| 3 |
Revenge of the Mud People Unbeknownst to Vinnie, his car was used in the robbery where an off-duty cop was killed, leading to his arrest and brutalization at the hands of the NYPD. Frank bails him out, then reluctantly lets Vinnie continue his pursuit of Knox Pooley. Vinnie tells Ritchie he's a cop and asks him to help him gather evidence against the Pilgrims. Vinnie goes to a Pilgrim rally and stumbles across the truck that was used to kill Pete, then agrees to a meet with Stan in the hopes of tying Pooley to it, leading to Stan and Ritchie's arrests. |
November 9, 1988 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
A Rightful Place While keeping vigil over Rudy, Vinnie learns that Grosset's father-in-law was also hit, setting up a power struggle within the mob. Albert courts Vinnie's alliance by letting him in on his plan to smuggle millions of dollars worth of heroin into the country. Vinnie goes to the Commission and demands Rudy's seat at the table. (source: http://www.plasticcow.com/wiseguy) |
September 20, 1989 |
| 2 |
Battle of the Barge The tension mounts between Cerrico and Grosset over control of the garbage collection business. Grosset forms an uneasy alliance with Chinatown mobster Chin. Carlotta urges Rudy to get better and get Vinnie out of the middle of the impending mob war. The OCB closes down the explosives factory in Chinatown. Gina Grosset kills Chin. After an assassination attempt at the opera, Amber tells Vinnie to move out. (source: http://www.plasticcow.com/wiseguy) |
September 27, 1989 |
| 3 |
Sins of the Father Frank wants to pull Vinnie off the case when he finds out that D.A. Peter Alatorre plans to expose Vinnie as the head of the Commission in a news conference. Albert is distraught when his son is expelled from school because of his recent press coverage. Rudy calls Alatorre to his hospital room to show that he is back in the country, taking the heat off Vinnie. (source: http://www.plasticcow.com/wiseguy) |
October 4, 1989 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Fruit of the Poisonous Tree (1) While Frank is in Washington to talk to Paul about returning to work, Dan calls to say Vinnie missed his last check-in. Frank goes to Vinnie's house and finds evidence that he was kidnapped. Despite Paul's objections, Frank begins his own investigation, finding out from Carlotta that Vinnie was looking into the death of a priest in El Salvador. Frank follows the trail to Miami and Michael Santana, a disbarred Federal prosecutor, and the last person Vinnie contacted. Santana refuses to help Frank, saying he doesn't know anything about Vinnie's disappearance. Digging deeper, Frank stumbles upon a CIA investigation and is ordered to back off. (source: http://www.plasticcow.com/wiseguy) |
November 10, 1990 |
| 2 | Fruit of the Poisonous Tree (2) | November 10, 1990 |
| 3 | Black Gold | November 17, 1990 |
Production
Release
| Original network/platform | CBS |
|---|---|
| First aired | September 16, 1987 |
| Last aired | December 22, 1990 |
| Runtime | 60 minutes |
| Status | ended |
| Schedule | Wednesday at 20:00:00 |