Wiseguy

1987–1990 · Ended · 4 seasons · 75 episodes · Crime, Drama · United States

Creator Frank Lupo, Stephen J. Cannell · Channel CBS · Starring Jonathan Banks, Jim Byrnes, Ken Wahl

With friends like his who needs enemies

Vinnie Terranova does time in a New Jersey penitentiary to set up his undercover role as an agent for the OCB (Organized Crime Bureau) of the United States. His roots in a traditional Italian city neighborhood form the underlying dramatic base throughout the series, bringing him into conflict with his conservative mother and other family members while acting undercover as syndicate enforcer.
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Episodes

22 episodes · September 1987 – March 1988
  1. Episode 1: 1. Wiseguy (1)September 16, 1987 · 60 min
    Vinnie is released from prison where he has been for two years to establish his cover. He meets his boss, Frank McPike and gets to see his coach and mentor, Jerry Greco. Greco is killed and Vinnie demands to be put in to finish the investigation. He uses his ingenuity to get a foothold in the Steelgrave crime family, but it will take a while to finish this job.
  2. Episode 2: 2. Wiseguy (2)September 16, 1987 · 60 min
    Vinnie and Sonny's right hand man, Tony Grecco, has a run-in with the cops causing Vinnie to be arrested. The Steelgraves find that guns are being exported illegally using their pier and decide to take possession of the guns and sell them back to the owner.
  3. Episode 3: 3. New BloodSeptember 24, 1987 · 60 min
    In an attempt to take over Sonny Steelgrave’s business, mob head Paul Patrice frames Sonny for several murder attempts he makes on the life of the special prosecutor investigating Sonny.
  4. Episode 4: 4. The Loose CannonOctober 1, 1987 · 60 min
    A psychopathic murderer posing as Sonny's nephew double-crosses Sonny and holds Vinnie's girlfriend Gina hostage.
  5. Episode 5: 5. The Birthday SurpriseOctober 8, 1987 · 60 min
    Vinnie nearly blows his cover when he becomes obsessed with finding out who killed his cousin, causing Frank to threaten him with dismissal. Frank desperately wants Vinnie to concentrate on nailing the Zaratzos, who are trying to arrange a drug smuggling deal with Sonny, because they killed one of Frank's agents.
  6. Episode 6: 6. One on OneOctober 15, 1987 · 60 min
    After several deals go sour, Sonny starts suspecting Vinnie may be a plant. Frank orders Vinnie to drop the case when he finds out the local police have an informer in Sonny's operations. Sid has Frank picked up and tortured, but Vinnie and undercover cop Karen Malloy rescue him. Karen's disappearance points the finger at Sid as the leak.
Show 16 more episodes
  1. Episode 7: 7. Prodigal SonOctober 22, 1987 · 60 min
    After his mother is mugged in Brooklyn, an enraged Vinnie sets out to find the punk who did it, but when he visits his mother in the hospital, it breaks his heart that she still won't forgive him for his life of “crime.”
  2. Episode 8: 8. A Deal's a DealOctober 29, 1987 · 60 min
    Sonny’s cruel punishment of a lounge singer who wants out of his contract triggers a cascade of events that leads to Vinnie’s being photographed with McPike — a photo that is to be delivered to Sonny.
  3. Episode 9: 9. The Marriage of Heaven and HellNovember 5, 1987 · 60 min
    Sonny’s impending marriage to a syndicate boss’ daughter begins a supposedly businesslike realignment of “families,” but Vinnie learns that the wedding is a pretext for a bloody gang war.
  4. Episode 10: 10. No One Gets Out of Here AliveNovember 12, 1987 · 60 min
    An outraged Sonny Steelgrave accuses Vinnie of betraying him to his arch-rival, then realizes the devastating truth — that his paisan is an undercover Federal agent.
  5. Episode 11: 11. Last Rites for LucciNovember 19, 1987 · 60 min
    In the aftermath of the Steelgrave case, Vinnie tries to vindicate himself of his lingering feelings of betrayal and disloyalty by risking his life to save an old friend from the Brooklyn neighborhood who has a contract out on him.
  6. Episode 12: 12. Independent OperatorJanuary 4, 1988 · 60 min
    Vinnie’s assignment to check out a contract killer leads him into a huge global contraband syndicate — an operation that far exceeds the scope of the Steelgrave family — overlorded by brother and sister Mel and Susan Profitt.
  7. Episode 13: 13. Fascination for the FlameJanuary 11, 1988 · 60 min
    Vinnie, now a bodyguard for the Profitts, gets his first trial by fire when Mel Profitt, the brilliant but paranoid overlord of an international crime empire, disrupts the wedding of an associate, who retaliates by kidnapping Susan.
  8. Episode 14: 14. Smokey Mountain RequiemJanuary 18, 1988 · 60 min
    Vinnie tells Mel Profitt he is leaving to go home to New Jersey, but Mel offers him the biggest cocaine distribution network in the country — a plum that Vinnie feels is too juicy for any undercover cop to turn down.
  9. Episode 15: 15. Player to be Named NowJanuary 25, 1988 · 60 min
    Mel’s desire to buy a baseball franchise is two-fold: he wants to play on it, and he wants to take it away from an old business associate who cheated him in a Mexican drug deal. When Mel’s former girlfriend shows up, begging for readmission to the Inner circle, he humiliates her, using her as a sexual pawn in a power game with a rival, but for Vinnie, forced to watch it happen, the worst is yet to come.
  10. Episode 16: 16. The Merchant of DeathFebruary 1, 1988 · 60 min
    When some of his munitions contacts begin drying up, Mel decides to blackmail a French Deputy Minister of Defense into supplying him with the weapons he needs.
  11. Episode 17: 17. Not For NothingFebruary 8, 1988 · 60 min
    Hiding out in Vancouver after the fall of the Steelgrave empire, Aldo Baglia sees a photo of Vinnie in the paper and decides to even the score, sending Vinnie into a coma from two serious gunshot wounds. Roger, using his CIA contact, tracks down Aldo.
  12. Episode 18: 18. SqueezeFebruary 15, 1988 · 60 min
    After his munitions operation starts falling apart, Mel orders Vinnie to set up a meet with the mob to use his immense cocaine trade to regain financial power.
  13. Episode 19: 19. Blood DriveFebruary 22, 1988 · 60 min
    After rejecting an offer to finance a coup d'etat in the Caribbean, Mel Profitt becomes obsessed with a supposed voodoo death curse, and Vinnie, horrified, can only watch as Mel’s personality begins to disintegrate.
  14. Episode 20: 20. Phantom PainMarch 14, 1988 · 60 min
    After Susan is arrested for Mel’s murder, Vinnie refuses McPike’s order to pull out of the Profitt case, because Susan, who has seemingly lost her grip on reality, has told him she is pregnant with his child.
  15. Episode 21: 21. Dirty Little WarsMarch 21, 1988 · 60 min
    With Mel and Susan Profitt undone, McPike begins dismantling their empire, but Vinnie demands to stay on the case to get to the bottom of Roger Lococco’s ties to a rogue CIA operation to stage a Caribbean coup d’etat.
  16. Episode 22: 22. Date With an AngelMarch 28, 1988 · 60 min
    Roger Lococco in effect signs his own death warrant by testifying to a Senate committee about a cabal within the U.S. intelligence community, but to back him up he needs Vinnie to testify as an O.C.B. operative — testimony that would end Vinnie’s career as an undercover agent.

Images

Credits

Film and series details

EPISODE LENGTH
60 minutes
FIRST AIRED
September 16, 1987
LAST AIRED
December 22, 1990
PRODUCTION COMPANY
Stephen J. Cannell Productions

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