One of the most innovative, best directed, and conceived dramatic series which lasted only a brief two seasons, Boomtown is now defunct and it is our loss. Each weekly episode featured the seven different perspectives of the principle characters, beat cops Tom and Ray, detectives Fearless Smith and Joel Stevens, self-loathing alcoholic deputy D.A. McNorris, his rich-girl mistress and investigative reporter Andrea, and heart of gold EMT, Teresa. Using the L.A. streets and iconic landscapes to situate the weekly stories of crime and punishment, the cast gives mini-one act plays that feature the storyline from their unique pov. It is a subtle method of storytelling and obviously one that was much too subtle for NBC which dropped the production after it won several awards. However, the series is preserved on DVD which makes this exceptional work available. With Neal McDonaugh, Donny Wahlberg, and Jason Gedrick, directed by Graham Yost, the individual performances marked the epitome of ensemble casts. The only drawback to the series is the tinkering which NBC initiated in the second season that changed the format of the individual perspectives to feature a single actor, however that did not lessen the superior scripts and exceptional cinematography as well as performances that were showcased each week.
