Wiseguy: The Collector's Edition
(Mar. 09, 2010)

His first wrong move will be his last - 67 Episode Set - Including 3 Unaired, Never Released Episodes!

Long before Donnie Brasco brought similar drama to the big screen, Golden Globe winner Ken Wahl brought charisma, credibility and chutzpah to his small-screen role as Vincent Terranova, a handsome 30-year-old agent with the FBI's Organized Crime Bureau. The special Collector's Set presents 67 episodes that span the series' highly successful 4 season run on 13 DVDs! Also included are 3 unaired, never before seen episodes from the show's final season.

How does a deep-cover operative keep his sanity and morality intact when the criminal lifestyle he's sworn to bring down from within is more compelling than his own? Federal Agent Vincent Terranova (Ken Wahl) is plagued by the question in this innovative take on 80s cop dramas. Created by veteran hit producer Stephen J. Cannell, Wiseguy veers from traditional 'bad guy of the week' police procedural by breaking the drama into multi-episode story arcs that followed an Organized Crimes Bureau case - and its charismatic criminal suspects - to its logical conclusion. No matter the cost to criminal, victim, or cop.

Wiseguy: The Complete First Season
(Aug. 25, 2009)

Long before Donnie Brasco brought similar drama to the big screen, Ken Wahl brought charisma, credibility, and chutzpah to his small-screen role as Vincent Terranova, a handsome 30-year-old agent with the FBI s Organized Crime Bureau. As conceived by co-creators Stephen Cannell (of The Rockford Files and The A-Team fame) and Ken Lupo, Wiseguy followed an innovative story-arc structure, allowing Vinnie s deep-cover missions to last only as long as necessary to bring each case to a sensible conclusion. Since copied by countless TV shows, this unique approach to storytelling attracted a devoted following of viewers addicted to the self-contained plots that forced Vinnie, his sourpuss OCB handler Frank McPike (Jonathan Banks), and disabled covert liaison Dan Lifeguard Burroughs (played by double-amputee Jim Byrnes) to achieve their objectives.

Wiseguy - Between the Mob and a Hard Place Arc (Season 3, Part 1)
(Jan. 11, 2005)

Organized Crime Bureau (OCB) undercover operative, Vincent Terranova returns to his mafia roots by exploiting his reputation as Sonny Steelgrave’s right-hand man to finish the job he began: bringing down la familia. But it isn’t long before he is inadvertently drawn into a war between his stepfather, Don Aiuppo and heir apparent, Albert Cerrico. Terranova’s problems go from bad to worse when after upon learning that he is the target of retribution by factions within the U.S. government who are seeking revenge for his involvement in exposing an illegal operation. A conspiracy involving counterfeit Yen and the attempt to cause severe distribution in the Japanese economy is attributed to him. He suddenly finds himself battling power brokers who make people like Steelgrave and Mel Profitt seem insignificant by comparison. Vinnie’s principles are shattered as he is becomes embroiled in the struggle for his very life and career. His world is on the verge of collapse and the only person he can turn to is his OCB field director, Frank McPike, who will go to hell and back to help an innocent man.

Wiseguy - Prey for the City Arc (Season 2 Part 1)
(Jul. 06, 2004)

With the release of Wiseguy on DVD, one of the best TV series of the 1980s gets a new lease on life. Long before Donnie Brasco brought similar drama to the big screen, Ken Wahl brought charisma, credibility, and chutzpah to his small-screen role as Vincent Terranova, a handsome 30-year-old agent with the FBI's Organized Crime Bureau. As conceived by cocreators Stephen Cannell (of The Rockford Files and The A-Team fame) and Ken Lupo, Wiseguy followed an innovative "story-arc" structure, allowing Vinnie's deep-cover missions to last only as long as necessary to bring each case to a sensible conclusion. Since copied by countless TV shows, this unique approach to storytelling attracted a devoted following of viewers addicted to the self-contained plots that forced Vinnie, his sourpuss OCB handler Frank McPike (Jonathan Banks), and disabled covert liaison Dan "Lifeguard" Burroughs (played by double-amputee Jim Byrnes) to achieve their objectives within 6 to 10 hourlong episodes.

Season 1, Part 1--the first of six Wiseguy DVD sets--includes the entire nine-episode arc (plus pilot) in which Vinnie infiltrates the New Jersey mob family of Sonny Steelgrave, a silk-suited kingpin played by Ray Sharkey in his finest TV role. Their brotherly relationship poses a moral dilemma for Vinnie (giving the arc its dramatic core and primary source of suspense), and Wiseguy earned its reputation as a well-written series that favored character-driven tension while providing the requisite pulp fiction (i.e. occasional murder and mayhem) that kept viewers and advertisers happy. While the DVD packaging gives bogus equal billing to Annette Bening (who appears here in one pivotal episode), her pre-stardom appearance is indicative of the show's consistently high standards in writing, casting, and stylish direction. The styles may be dated (including poodle-puff hairdos for women, including Bening), but there's not a weak episode in the bunch, including the stand-alone shows (involving domestic crises for McPike and Burroughs) that allowed character growth beyond the story-arc structure. It's all good, apart from a dispensable gag reel and commentaries by Wahl (on his two favorite episodes), who says little of interest between long gaps of silence. (He promises more on later DVDs, so Wiseguy devotees are advised to keep listening. Next up: the "Mel Profitt" arc, with guest star Kevin Spacey.) --Jeff Shannon

Wiseguy - Mel Profitt Arc (Season 1 Part 2)
(Dec. 30, 2003)

When OCB agent, Vincent Terranova is assigned to investigate assassin, Roger Lococco, neither he nor his superiors are aware that Lococco is working for international arms and drug dealer, Mel Profitt. More importantly, Lococco is carrying out a covert and illegal assignment for an errant branch of the CIA working to overthrow the government of a developing country. As "The Profitt Arc" unfolds, Vinnie finds himself drawn deeper into a complex and bizarre world beyond anything he has ever experienced. At the same time, he is fighting his feeling for Mel’s beautiful sister, Susan. Ultimately, he finds himself in the midst of a deadly triangle between Susan, Mel, and himself. Vinnie now must fight for his own life at the hands of Mel Profitt as well as the American government when he threatens Lococco’s secret mission.

Wiseguy - Sonny Steelgrave and the Mob (Season 1 Part 1)
(Aug. 26, 2003)

Vinnie Terranova (Ken Wahl), a tough, street-wise undercover agent, infiltrates the organized-crime syndicate in Atlantic City where, with one slip of his cover, he could end up a dead man. Partly because of his smarts and "wiseguy" attitude, special Agent Terranova has been trained by the Organized Crime Bureau (OCB). In his precarious position, only a select few know his true identity including Frank Mc Pike, his supervisor in the OCB and "lifeguard" his only communications link to the Bureau while undercover. In Sonny Steelgrave & the Mob, Federal Agent Vinnie Terranova establishes an ex-con rap to infiltrate the organized crime of Atlantic City.