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Saturday
Night 1997/1998
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ABC:
Saturday at 8pm (Hour Drama)
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Premise
C-16
is a Major Case Squad of the FBI charged with
tackling complicated high-stakes assignments.
Helping John Olansky (Eric Roberts), the agent
in charge, is a team of both veteran agents and
rookies
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Where
Have We Seen This Before - FBI (1965-74),
Today's FBI (81/82)
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Familiar
Faces
Eric
Roberts, D.B. Sweeney (Strange Luck), Angie
Harmon (Baywatch Nights)
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Our
Take
CBS
has established a strong base on Saturday night
with Dr. Quinn. Furthermore, although it
is far from a ratings hit, NBC's 8pm offering
(The Pretender) has already had a year
to build an audience
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Expect
to Hear
Agent
(after being asked to take a rookie FBI agent
on an interview): "You said you were heading
up a major case unit. You didn't say it included
'tutor my rookies'"
John Olansky: "No, it included 'work on the
squad the way I want it to work'"
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ABC:
Saturday at 9pm (Hour Drama)
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Premise
Steven
Bochco moves from depicting police officers to
telling the story of private detectives in Total
Security. Frank Cisco (James Remar), head of Total
Security is a highly principled ex-cop. Working
for Cisco is Steve Wegman (Jim Belushi), a detective
with a somewhat questionable sense of morality
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The
private eye genre has been part of Television
as far back as Martin Kane, Private Eye
back in 1949
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Familiar
Faces
James
Belushi, Debrah Farentino (Earth 2), Tracey
Needham (JAG)
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Our
Take
Despite
Bochco's pedigree, Total Security will
have a great deal of difficulty in taking any
viewing away from CBS's successful offering (Early
Edition). Additionally, Belushi's comic relief
scenes some time seem out of place next to the
extreme drama of some of Remar's scenes
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Expect
to Hear
“In a looney world, a staff headcase is an
asset”
- Steve Wegman
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NBC:
Saturday at 9pm (Hour Drama)
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Premise
Neurophysiologist
Nathan Bradford (Bruce Greenwood) leads an elite
staff of people that enter people's dreams in
order to uncover psychological problems. Their
main challenge: If they are hurt in the dream
world, they are also hurt in real life
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Where
Have We Seen This Before - The 1984 movie
Dreamscape, VR5 (1995)
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Familiar
Faces
Bruce
Greenwood (Nowhere Man)
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Our
Take
Although
NBC is committed to making their Saturday Night
Thrilogy work, Sleepwalkers is extremely
high concept. Furthermore, Early Edition
has already built an audience with genre viewers
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Expect
to Hear
“Dreams can manifest themselves in the waking
world as tangible, psychological signs and symptoms”
- Dr. Nathan Bradford
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