Although I never met Telly Savalas, he always impressed me as a person of style and compassion, it was quite evident in his acting prowess, and if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Ving Rhames' version of the series is the ultimate compliment, I would bet it all that if Mr. Savalas was alive to have seen this show, he would have been honored, Rhames was brilliant, the supporting cast, fantastic, I could care less about the ratings excuse, studio execs pull that stunt all the time with shows THEY don't like, what viewers of intelligent TV want is inconsequential to them, the same thing was said about the first season of "Hill Street Blues". but we all know how that turned out.
I also see the handwriting on the wall when it came to USA's unwillingness to bring "Kojak" back, but kept garbage like "Monk" and "Psyche", they've nothing to offer me since they canceled "Kojak". At least put the series on DVD, the excuse about it being canceled doesn't fly when I go into a video store and see "Day Break" and "Blade-The Series" on home video shelves, and this marvelous, under-appreciated work is marginalized and discarded.
At least the Sleuth Channel is streaming it online for the time being, but I want to see a reasonable time slot made available for it on their station.
Hint for TVOne or BET...Why didn't they step up and bring this series back? The CW? The MY/WB Network? This show should have enjoyed an extended run on somebody's network, but I smell what the entertainment industry in Hollywood is cooking...& it stinks.
Who loves ya, baby? Damn shame this show is gone.