EZ Streets

*EZ Streets*
EZ Streets
	DVD cover
Genre	Drama
Created by	Paul Haggis
Starring	Ken Olin; Joe Pantoliano; Jason Gedrick; Sarah Trigger; Richard Portnow;
Composer	Mark Isham
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	9 (1 unaired)
Production
Executive producer	Paul Haggis
Camera setup	Single-camera
Running time	60 minutes
Production companies	Paul Haggis Productions; Universal Television;
Original release
Network	CBS
Release	October 27, 1996 –; April 2, 1997

EZ Streets is an American crime drama television series created by Paul Haggis. It premiered on CBS on October 27, 1996, with a two-hour pilot television film and ended on April 2, 1997. The series stars Ken Olin, Joe Pantoliano, and Jason Gedrick.

Synopsis

The series is set in a decaying American city located near the Canada–US border, and deals with the interconnected lives of the city's criminals, politicians, and police officers. The primary characters were three different men from various backgrounds trying to survive in the nameless bombed-out inner city.

Cameron Quinn was a police detective who had just joined the intelligence division to clear his name after being categorized as a "dirty cop" after his partner was killed in a drug sting gone wrong. Quinn then worked undercover for Captain Geary by infiltrating the local criminal underworld. Quinn's prime target (and the thug who murdered his partner) was Jimmy Murtha, an extremely violent hoodlum who was determined to rise in the ranks of the local Mob. Murtha was often helped by his sexy, but unscrupulous attorney, Theresa Connors. She was adept at using every legal loophole and ploy to keep Murtha out of jail. Murtha's primary competition was the mobster who ran the businesses in the other half of the city, Michael "Fivers" Dugan.

It appeared that everyone in the city counsel, even the proud mayor Christian Davidson, were under the thumb of Fivers Dugan. Mayor Davidson was doing business with Dugan to try to re-build the decaying and crime-ridden community for political contributions. Murtha, despite his ruthless nature and frequent evil dealings, had one positive goal: to save his neighborhood from being overrun with drugs, crime and local teen gangs.

Danny Rooney was a mutual childhood friend of Murtha who had just gotten released from prison after serving three years for taking the rap in an armed robbery that one of Murtha's thugs committed. Despite his desire to go straight, Rooney was forced to go to work for Murtha in performing various illegal jobs. Rooney hoped that the dirty money he earned would help him get back together with his estranged, drug-addicted wife Elli, and their young daughter Janie.

Characters

Ken Olin as Detective Cameron Quinn
Joe Pantoliano as Jimmy Murtha
Jason Gedrick as Danny Rooney
R. D. Call as Michael "Fivers" Dugan
John Finn as Captain Geary
Debrah Farentino as Theresa Conners
Richard Portnow as Detective Frank Collero
Carl Lumbly as Mayor Christian Davidson
Sarah Trigger as Elli Rooney - Danny's estranged wife
Andrew Divoff as Andre "Frenchie" Desormeaux
Mike Starr as Mickey Kinnear
Robert Spillane as Bobby
Rosemary Murphy as Christina Quinn - Cameron's mother
Saverio Guerra as Sammy Feathers
Courtney Jacquin as Janie Rooney - Danny and Elli's daughter
Andrew Rothenberg as Shirt
John St. Ryan as Bo
Gregg Henry as Councilman Eeling (1997)
Jack McGee as Leo (1997)
Louis Lombardi as The Fat Man (1997)

Reception and cancellation

After its first episode in its regular timeslot on Wednesday, October 30, 1996, it was put on hiatus with CBS president Leslie Moonves promising that the show would be "relaunched" at a later date. The series was relaunched that spring from March 1, 1997, to April 2, 1997, but failed to garner a substantial audience. CBS canceled EZ Streets in April 1997 due to low ratings.^[1] The last episode, "Neither Have I Wings to Fly", never aired on CBS, although it was broadcast once in Canada. Critics criticized Moonves for not reairing the pilot and first series episode before the relaunch.

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Viewers (millions)
1	"Pilot"	Paul Haggis	Paul Haggis	October 27, 1996 (1996-10-27)	10.7^[2]
2	"Every Picture Tells a Story"	Ken Olin	Story by : Paul Haggis & David Black Teleplay by : Paul Haggis	October 30, 1996 (1996-10-30)	6.6^[3]
3	"A Terrible Beauty"	George Bloomfield	Paul Haggis & Robert Moresco	March 3, 1997 (1997-03-03)	10.66^[4]
4	"St. Jude Took a Bullet"	James Quinn	Story by : Paul Haggis & David Black Teleplay by : Paul Haggis	March 5, 1997 (1997-03-05)	9.29^[4]
5	"Every Dog Has Its Day"	Donna Deitch	Story by : Paul Haggis & David Black Teleplay by : Paul Haggis	March 12, 1997 (1997-03-12)	7.33^[5]
6	"One Acquainted with the Night"	Antina W. Addison	Paul Haggis & Robert Moresco	March 19, 1997 (1997-03-19)	6.78^[6]
7	"On the Left Side of the Angel"	Peter Markle	Paul Haggis & Patrick Harbinson	March 26, 1997 (1997-03-26)	7.90^[7]
8	"A Ceremony of Innocence"	Michael Fields	Paul Haggis & Mark Saraceni	April 2, 1997 (1997-04-02)	5.88^[8]
9	"Neither Have I Wings to Fly"	Randall Zisk	Story by : Paul Haggis & Kimberly Hill Teleplay by : Kimberly Hill & Jeff King	Unaired (Unaired)	N/A

Production

Each episode of the series reportedly costed $1.6 million to produce.^[9]

Syndication

In 2006, repeats of the series began airing on the new U.S. cable channel, Sleuth. All episodes, including the one not shown on CBS, were aired.

Home media

On May 23, 2006, Universal Studios released the 2-hour pilot episode and the episodes "Every Dog Has Its Day" and "One Acquainted with the Night" on a single DVD as part of its Brilliant But Cancelled series.

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Recipient	Result
1997	Casting Society of America's Artios Award	Best Casting for TV, Dramatic Pilot	Nan Dutton and Jane Alderman	Won
	Online Film & Television Association Award^[10]	Best New Drama Series		Won
	Online Film & Television Association Award^[10]	Best New Theme Song in a Series	Mark Isham	Nominated
	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Main Title Theme Music	Mark Isham	Won
	Television Critics Association Award	Program of the Year		Won
		Outstanding Achievement in Drama		Nominated
		Individual Achievement in Drama	Joe Pantoliano	Nominated
	Viewers for Quality Television Award	Best Supporting Actor in a Quality Drama Series	Joe Pantoliano	Nominated
		Best Supporting Actor in a Quality Drama Series	Jason Gedrick	Nominated
		Founder's Award	Paul Haggis	Won
1998	Young Artist Award	Best Performance in a TV Drama Series - Guest Starring Young Actress	Courtney Jacquin	Nominated

References

^ Lowry, Brian (1997-04-07). "CBS Cancels 'EZ Streets' Series After Ratings Continue to Slide". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 29 January 2011.
^ Bush, Alan (October 30, 1996). "World Series lineup gives Fox a major win". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.
^ "Nielsen ratings". Life. USA Today. November 6, 1996. p. 3D.
^ ^a ^b "National Nielsen Viewership (March 3–9)". The Los Angeles Times. March 12, 1997. Retrieved November 16, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "National Nielsen Viewership (March 10–16)". The Los Angeles Times. March 19, 1997. Retrieved November 16, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "National Nielsen Viewership (March 17–23)". The Los Angeles Times. March 26, 1997. Retrieved November 16, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "National Nielsen Viewership (March 24–31)". The Los Angeles Times. April 2, 1997. Retrieved November 16, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "National Nielsen Viewership (March 31-April 6)". The Los Angeles Times. April 9, 1997. Retrieved November 16, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Lowry, Brian (November 21, 1996). "Program Suppliers Pulling the Plug on Low-Rated Longshots". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 10, 2024. Retrieved March 10, 2024.
^ "1996-97: The Season of The Shining". Online Film & Television Association. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 2 November 2013.

External links

[1] Lowry, Brian (1997-04-07). "CBS Cancels 'EZ Streets' Series After Ratings Continue to Slide". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 29 January 2011.

[2] Bush, Alan (October 30, 1996). "World Series lineup gives Fox a major win". Life. USA Today. p. 3D.

[3] "Nielsen ratings". Life. USA Today. November 6, 1996. p. 3D.

[1.03-1.04-4] "National Nielsen Viewership (March 3–9)". The Los Angeles Times. March 12, 1997. Retrieved November 16, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.

[5] "National Nielsen Viewership (March 10–16)". The Los Angeles Times. March 19, 1997. Retrieved November 16, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.

[6] "National Nielsen Viewership (March 17–23)". The Los Angeles Times. March 26, 1997. Retrieved November 16, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.

[7] "National Nielsen Viewership (March 24–31)". The Los Angeles Times. April 2, 1997. Retrieved November 16, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.

[8] "National Nielsen Viewership (March 31-April 6)". The Los Angeles Times. April 9, 1997. Retrieved November 16, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.

[9] Lowry, Brian (November 21, 1996). "Program Suppliers Pulling the Plug on Low-Rated Longshots". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 10, 2024. Retrieved March 10, 2024.

[10] "1996-97: The Season of The Shining". Online Film & Television Association. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 2 November 2013.

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v t e Paul Haggis
Films directed	Red Hot (1993) Crash (2004) In the Valley of Elah (2007) The Next Three Days (2010) Third Person (2013) 5B (2018)
Films written only	The Return of the Shaggy Dog (1987) Million Dollar Baby (2004) The Last Kiss (2006) Flags of Our Fathers (2006) Letters from Iwo Jima (2006) Casino Royale (2006) Quantum of Solace (2008)
TV series created	City (1990) You Take the Kids (1990–91) Walker, Texas Ranger (1993–2001) Due South (1994–99) EZ Streets (1996–97) Family Law (1999–2002) The Black Donnellys (2007)
Other works	"We Are the World 25 for Haiti" (2010 music video, directed) Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2011 video game, wrote) Show Me a Hero (2015 miniseries, directed)