The Commish
A police commissioner solves crimes with humor and creativity.
Set in the fictional suburb of Eastbridge, New York, the ABC series The Commish blended comedy and drama as it followed a police commissioner balancing his job and family life. The show ran from September 28, 1991, to January 11, 1996, and was filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Quick Facts
- Genre
- Comedy drama
- Creator
- Stephen J. Cannell; Stephen Kronish
- Composer
- Walter Murphy
- Theme music
- Mike Post
- Country
- United States
- Language
- English
- Seasons
- 5
- Episodes
- 94
Facts from the source article.
Premise
The series stars Michael Chiklis as Anthony Joseph "Tony" Scali, a former NYPD detective who serves as police commissioner in the small fictional suburban New York town of Eastbridge. He tends to work through problems with humor and creativity rather than violence or force. Theresa Saldana plays his wife Rachel Scali (née Metzger), and Kaj-Erik Eriksen plays their young son David. In the first season, Rachel's freeloading brother Arnie Metzger (David Paymer) also lives with the family. A daughter, Sarah Lou, is born to Tony and Rachel in the eighth episode of the second season. The show blends family situations with police drama and addresses topical social issues including police corruption, racism, homophobia, drug addiction, disabilities, child abuse, illegal immigration, and sexual harassment.
Cast
In addition to the Scali family, the cast includes police officers under Scali's command. Scali has three different lieutenants during the series: Lt. Irving "Irv" Wallerstein (Alex Bruhanski), his longtime buddy and second-in-command, is killed in the line of duty in the eleventh episode of Season 1 and is replaced by Lt. Paul "Paulie" Pentangeli (John Cygan), his childhood best friend. At the start of the second season, Pentangeli shoots an unarmed suspect reaching for a cigarette case; though acquitted, Scali fires him. Pentangeli is replaced by former FBI agent Cydavia "Cyd" Madison (Melinda McGraw), who leaves at the start of season four, when Pentangeli returns. Other cops include Stanley Oliver "Stan" Kelly (Geoffrey Nauffts), Carmela Theresa Antonia Pagan (Gina Belafonte), and hot-headed Richard "Ricky" Caruso (Nicholas Lea). Kelly is killed off at the end of season three.
Production
Michael Chiklis played Tony Scali, a character written to be at least a decade older than the actor was at the time. Fearing that Chiklis’s weight loss might hurt viewership, the network reportedly told him to pad his clothes and avoid shaving his head to seem older. Though the show takes place in the fictional town of Eastbridge, New York, it was actually filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia. Tony Scali was inspired by Anthony Schembri, the real 30th Commissioner of New York City’s Department of Correction, who grew up in Brooklyn. In the series premiere, Scali uses a tactic Schembri once employed: asking a suicidal man if he had a permit to jump off a roof. Schembri was discovered while serving as a technical consultant for the show, having been Police Commissioner of Rye, New York. The series was originally planned for CBS, but Stephen J. Cannell halted pre-production over casting disagreements and moved it to ABC, where it beat CBS in the Saturday 10pm time slot. Jason Alexander declined a part because his existing show, Seinfeld, was renewed for another season.
Home media
Anchor Bay Entertainment put out the first two seasons on Region 1 DVD in 2004 and 2005, but weak sales stopped further releases. Mill Creek Entertainment took over the rights in 2009 and brought those same two seasons back. Then, on October 12, 2010, Mill Creek issued a 17-disc complete series set for Region 1, containing all 94 episodes for the first time. Visual Entertainment followed with its own complete series DVD in Region 1 during August 2022. In Australia, Region 4, Beyond Home Entertainment has put out the first four seasons on DVD.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who created The Commish?
The Commish was created by Stephen J. Cannell and Stephen Kronish.
How many episodes of The Commish are there?
The Commish has 94 episodes across 5 seasons.
More in Television Series by Stephen J. Cannell Productions
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