VENGEANCE UNLIMITED
September 29, 1998 - February 25, 1999
16 episodes
ABC
Starring: Michael Madsen, Kathleen York
Created by: John McNamara & David Simkins
Plot: Mr. Chapel (Madsen) works in the shadows to serve justice to those who deserve it but got away with crimes for one reason or another. He secretly works with a member of the District Attorney's office, K.C. Griffin (York).
I thought the first couple minutes of Vengeance Unlimited was very interesting. It basically took us through an entire case that got us to the point of justice not being served in the case of the week. Despite being fast-paced (or maybe because it was fast-paced), it worked quite well. I felt like I had a really good understanding of the plot for the particular crime that had been committed and I was already irritated at those involved (guest stars Gregory Itzin & Gregg Henry) who were about to get a big old dose of, you guessed it, vengeance unlimited. This was a show that knew it wasn't about the initial crime, it was about what happened after. It's like what might have happened if you tacked another hour onto your average Law & Order episode.
However, the pacing and the interest that was so prevalent in the first couple minutes did not happen for the rest of the episode. So even though the set up was great, the execution was not. It turned into a standard crime show with Michael Madsen doing shady things with a tough guy voice and Kathleen York furrowing her brow at some of the unorthodox choices Madsen was making. Although Itzin and Henry remained capable guest stars, I think they miscast Madsen. They needed to be someone who didn't have that "grizzly veteran cop" approach. I think it needed to be someone a little sneakier and a little more shadowy to really feel like the character was operating off the radar. Try this show again but do it better!
ABC spent the entire decade of the 1990s trying to figure out what to do with Thursday nights. NBC dominated the night with their iconic Must See TV lineup that delivered insanely huge numbers in the highly coveted 18-49 demographic, FOX went for the Black audience and CBS counterprogrammed NBC with older and gentler shows. So ABC was in no man's land with no demographic to really cater to. It wasn't that they didn't have good shows. They tried the acclaimed teen drama My So-Called Life, the high profile legal drama Murder One, the controversial religious drama Nothing Sacred and more. But nothing stuck. In the Fall of 1998, they went with a movie from 9-11pm but tried yet another new drama at 8pm in Vengeance Unlimited.
Vengeance Unlimited seemed to be ABC's attempt at getting a younger, hipper audience that didn't want to watch comedies. But pretty much that whole audience did want to watch comedies on NBC. Reviews were mixed. Variety called it "wholly implausible" but also "darkly involving." Entertainment Weekly called it an "admirably lunatic attempt to counter program against Friends and Promised Land." The series made it all the way until February on Thursday nights, longer than shows like My So-Called Life and Murder One stayed on the night, but then it was cancelled. It has been mostly forgotten but occasionally gets a "gone too soon" mention.
Tomorrow: Very Very Home Stakeout!
Next Wednesday: A One Season Wonder look at Buddy Faro!
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