Shannon's Deal
Encyclopedia
Shannon's Deal is an American legal drama
about a successful Philadelphia corporate lawyer named Jack Shannon (Jamey Sheridan
) who lost his family and his job to a compulsive gambling
habit. It aired on NBC
, originating as a high-rated two-hour television pilot
on June 4, 1989, later becoming a regular series for two seasons, from April 13, 1990 until May 21, 1991. The series was highly regarded in the industry for its level of writing, complex character development, and its witty dramedy elements, but is also remembered for the notable people who worked behind the scenes.
Though he worked hard to attain a high-profile partnership at the prestigious Philadelphia law firm of Coleman & Weiss, John F. "Jack" Shannon grew disillusioned from successfully defending corporations in pollution
cases. (He later ruefully referred to a stretch of land that had been used as a toxic dump by one of those companies as "Shannon Park.") As a consequence, his marriage fell apart and Shannon became a compulsive gambler. Racking up massive debts, Shannon lost his house, his car and other assets. He was then fired from his position at the firm, following a disastrous confrontation with fellow partner Todd Spurrier.
Though he maintained a good relationship with his teenage daughter Neala (Jenny Lewis
), Shannon found himself starting over with his own small firm in a low-rent Philadelphia building filled with low-rent professionals, including lawyers like ambulance-chaser Lou Gondolf (Martin Ferrero
). He also found himself going up against his old adversary Todd Spurrier (Miguel Ferrer
), who had moved to the D.A.'s
office to lay the groundwork for a political career. Though he gained a loyal assistant in Lucy Acosta (Elizabeth Peña
) when he freed her boyfriend from a wrongful charge, he quickly discovered that practicing law was now a far different venture, as he worked cases involving crime, corruption and corporate greed from the other side of the tracks without the vast resources of his old law firm.
Shannon gained another unlikely ally in Wilmer Slade (Richard Edson
), a former welterweight boxer turned enforcer for one of the many loan shark
s to whom Jack is in debt. Always striving for self-improvement through vocabulary studies and night school, Wilmer eagerly took on the role of investigator for Shannon when needed. Shannon's skill as an attorney was only matched by his flair as a poker
player with an uncanny ability to deal himself a winning hand more often than not. Now Shannon relies on that same talent to work out deals for his clients without having to go to court.
Shannon's Deal explored various aspects of the law as Jack took on police and government corruption, union disputes, child custody, the murky underside of creative ownership in the music business, and even the viability of the church as sanctuary for an illegal immigrant. Lucy soon broke up with her boyfriend, and there remained an undercurrent of attraction between Jack and Lucy throughout the series that was never fully realized. Shannon continued to battle his gambling addiction, even as he used his poker skills to help work out his cases.
as a lawyer in the '70s. Representing poor people, Rogow never wanted to go to court because he knew he would lose going up against corporate law firms with huge resources. Later getting into the film industry, Rogow met and worked with writer-director John Sayles
on a number of other projects before suggesting they work together to create a new TV series about a lawyer who avoided going to court whenever possible. The pilot movie, written by Sayles, introduced an element of film noir
, that continued throughout the series. This was further enhanced by a haunting jazz score for the pilot by Wynton Marsalis
, who also provided the theme music.
met with NBC
Entertainment president Brandon Tartikoff
in 1987 and pitched a story about a lawyer who avoids going to court. Sayles wrote the two-hour pilot episode that aired on NBC on June 4, 1989. (Sayles received a 1990 Edgar Award
for his teleplay
for the pilot.) Once the show got picked up as a series, Sayles directed one of the episodes and had a cameo
in the "Words to Music" episode as a jealous boyfriend who gets into a confrontation with Shannon.
Sayles worked with former lawyer Stan Rogow
who became the show's executive producer. The show took a cynical view of the legal system as Sayles remarked in an Entertainment Weekly
article, "Shannon's a fixer. There are very few clear-cut victories in his life, and one of the few he gets is that his clients don't go to court. You can like Shannon, but you can't always come away thinking that [he] did the right thing or [he] won this one."
Shannon's Deal was picked up as a regular series after high ratings and a large following that occurred in the wake of the movie. On Friday, April 13, 1990, NBC re-aired the movie pilot at 9/8c, and the following Monday at 10/9c, the series officially premiered. Counting the movie pilot as the first two episodes, the show initially ran a small spring season of eight episodes. NBC changed its timeslot around a few times during this run, but the ratings were not too adversely affected, so a second season was awarded to the show. The series did not return with new episodes until a special season premiere on Sunday March 23, 1991, followed by its permanent move to Tuesdays at 10/9c in the first week of April. Perhaps it was the new timeslot, or the fact that NBC had put off the second season for many months, that caused the program's ratings to tank. After the last completed episode of the second season aired on May 21, 1991, Shannon's Deal was canceled for good. A total of 16 episodes aired altogether.
Entertainment Weekly
gave the show a "B" rating and Ken Tucker wrote, "Right now, Shannon's Deal remains an intriguing show with first-rate acting by Sheridan and Peña, but they could use some behind-the-scenes help". In his review for The New York Times
, John J. O'Connor wrote, "For the 1930's, Dashiell Hammett
created Sam Spade
, the private eye. With Jack. the Philadelphia lawyer, Mr. Sayles, the film maker and writer (Matewan
, Eight Men Out
), gets a crystal-clear bead on the 1990s". In his review for the Los Angeles Times
, Don Shirley wrote, "Sayles scores points for making Shannon less than a shining white knight and for creating a gallery of interesting and sometimes amusing subsidiary characters," but felt that "Some of those characters, however, are developed more predictably than we might expect from Sayles".
Legal drama
A legal drama is a work of dramatic fiction about crime and civil litigation. Subtypes of legal dramas include courtroom dramas and legal thrillers, and come in all forms, including novels, television shows, and films. Legal drama sometimes overlap with crime drama, most notably in the case of Law...
about a successful Philadelphia corporate lawyer named Jack Shannon (Jamey Sheridan
Jamey Sheridan
James Patrick "Jamey" Sheridan is an American actor. He was born in Pasadena, California.He has had a prolific acting career in theater, television, and feature film productions. Born to a family of actors, he made it to Broadway and earned a Tony nomination in 1987 for his performance in the...
) who lost his family and his job to a compulsive gambling
Gambling
Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...
habit. It aired on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
, originating as a high-rated two-hour television pilot
Television pilot
A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...
on June 4, 1989, later becoming a regular series for two seasons, from April 13, 1990 until May 21, 1991. The series was highly regarded in the industry for its level of writing, complex character development, and its witty dramedy elements, but is also remembered for the notable people who worked behind the scenes.
Synopsis
The premise of the show was perhaps summed up best by the following opening narration given by Jack Shannon in the title sequence:I thought I was a big shot. Big money, big house, big car...I thought I held all the cards. I thought I could pick the winner every time, I thought I could smell it...but the whole thing was built on garbage. I treated my wife badly and I knew it and I didn't stop and one day she walked. She took my daughter with her. I started gambling big time, crazy stuff, long shot stuff. I turned into the kind of man that I'd grown up hating. Making the big bucks and being made a partner wasn't enough to buy that off. I'm just kinda starting from scratch, trying to keep things low pressure.
Though he worked hard to attain a high-profile partnership at the prestigious Philadelphia law firm of Coleman & Weiss, John F. "Jack" Shannon grew disillusioned from successfully defending corporations in pollution
Pollution
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into a natural environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or living organisms. Pollution can take the form of chemical substances or energy, such as noise, heat or light...
cases. (He later ruefully referred to a stretch of land that had been used as a toxic dump by one of those companies as "Shannon Park.") As a consequence, his marriage fell apart and Shannon became a compulsive gambler. Racking up massive debts, Shannon lost his house, his car and other assets. He was then fired from his position at the firm, following a disastrous confrontation with fellow partner Todd Spurrier.
Though he maintained a good relationship with his teenage daughter Neala (Jenny Lewis
Jenny Lewis
Jennifer Diane Lewis , is an American singer-songwriter musician and actress. She was the primary vocalist of the indie rock band Rilo Kiley, and has released two solo albums. She currently performs as part of the duo Jenny & Johnny with boyfriend Johnathan Rice...
), Shannon found himself starting over with his own small firm in a low-rent Philadelphia building filled with low-rent professionals, including lawyers like ambulance-chaser Lou Gondolf (Martin Ferrero
Martin Ferrero
Martin Ferrero is an American stage and film actor.Ferrero joined the California Actors Theater in Los Gatos, California. In 1979, he moved to Los Angeles and began to act in Hollywood. He is widely remembered for his role as the ill-fated lawyer Donald Gennaro in Jurassic Park...
). He also found himself going up against his old adversary Todd Spurrier (Miguel Ferrer
Miguel Ferrer
Miguel José Ferrer is an American actor and voice actor who is often cast as a villain. His notable roles include Bob Morton, a supporting character in RoboCop , the short tempered FBI agent Albert Rosenfield in Twin Peaks, and Dr...
), who had moved to the D.A.'s
District attorney
In many jurisdictions in the United States, a District Attorney is an elected or appointed government official who represents the government in the prosecution of criminal offenses. The district attorney is the highest officeholder in the jurisdiction's legal department and supervises a staff of...
office to lay the groundwork for a political career. Though he gained a loyal assistant in Lucy Acosta (Elizabeth Peña
Elizabeth Peña
Elizabeth Peña is an American actress and the daughter of a theater-company co-founder, who has also compiled experience as a television director in her own right.-Early life:...
) when he freed her boyfriend from a wrongful charge, he quickly discovered that practicing law was now a far different venture, as he worked cases involving crime, corruption and corporate greed from the other side of the tracks without the vast resources of his old law firm.
Shannon gained another unlikely ally in Wilmer Slade (Richard Edson
Richard Edson
Richard Edson is an American actor and musician.-Biography:Edson was born in New Rochelle, New York. He has one brother, Steven, who resides in the Boston area, and two sisters: Andrea, who resides in Newton, Massachusetts and Jennifer, who resides in New York City. His father Arnold was one of...
), a former welterweight boxer turned enforcer for one of the many loan shark
Loan shark
A loan shark is a person or body that offers unsecured loans at illegally high interest rates to individuals, often enforcing repayment by blackmail or threats of violence....
s to whom Jack is in debt. Always striving for self-improvement through vocabulary studies and night school, Wilmer eagerly took on the role of investigator for Shannon when needed. Shannon's skill as an attorney was only matched by his flair as a poker
Poker
Poker is a family of card games that share betting rules and usually hand rankings. Poker games differ in how the cards are dealt, how hands may be formed, whether the high or low hand wins the pot in a showdown , limits on bet sizes, and how many rounds of betting are allowed.In most modern poker...
player with an uncanny ability to deal himself a winning hand more often than not. Now Shannon relies on that same talent to work out deals for his clients without having to go to court.
Shannon's Deal explored various aspects of the law as Jack took on police and government corruption, union disputes, child custody, the murky underside of creative ownership in the music business, and even the viability of the church as sanctuary for an illegal immigrant. Lucy soon broke up with her boyfriend, and there remained an undercurrent of attraction between Jack and Lucy throughout the series that was never fully realized. Shannon continued to battle his gambling addiction, even as he used his poker skills to help work out his cases.
Cast and characters
- Jamey SheridanJamey SheridanJames Patrick "Jamey" Sheridan is an American actor. He was born in Pasadena, California.He has had a prolific acting career in theater, television, and feature film productions. Born to a family of actors, he made it to Broadway and earned a Tony nomination in 1987 for his performance in the...
as Jack Shannon - Elizabeth PeñaElizabeth PeñaElizabeth Peña is an American actress and the daughter of a theater-company co-founder, who has also compiled experience as a television director in her own right.-Early life:...
as Lucy Acosta - Richard EdsonRichard EdsonRichard Edson is an American actor and musician.-Biography:Edson was born in New Rochelle, New York. He has one brother, Steven, who resides in the Boston area, and two sisters: Andrea, who resides in Newton, Massachusetts and Jennifer, who resides in New York City. His father Arnold was one of...
as Wilmer Slade - Jenny LewisJenny LewisJennifer Diane Lewis , is an American singer-songwriter musician and actress. She was the primary vocalist of the indie rock band Rilo Kiley, and has released two solo albums. She currently performs as part of the duo Jenny & Johnny with boyfriend Johnathan Rice...
as Neala Shannon - Miguel FerrerMiguel FerrerMiguel José Ferrer is an American actor and voice actor who is often cast as a villain. His notable roles include Bob Morton, a supporting character in RoboCop , the short tempered FBI agent Albert Rosenfield in Twin Peaks, and Dr...
as D.A. Todd Spurrier - Martin FerreroMartin FerreroMartin Ferrero is an American stage and film actor.Ferrero joined the California Actors Theater in Los Gatos, California. In 1979, he moved to Los Angeles and began to act in Hollywood. He is widely remembered for his role as the ill-fated lawyer Donald Gennaro in Jurassic Park...
as Lou Gondolf
Creation
Shannon's Deal was based in part on the experiences of executive producer Stan RogowStan Rogow
Stan Rogow is an American music manager, writer and producer of film and television.His television credits include Fame, Lizzie McGuire, Flight 29 Down, Darcy's Wild Life, State of Grace, Nowhere Man, the internet series Gemini Division, Woke Up Dead and Afterworld...
as a lawyer in the '70s. Representing poor people, Rogow never wanted to go to court because he knew he would lose going up against corporate law firms with huge resources. Later getting into the film industry, Rogow met and worked with writer-director John Sayles
John Sayles
John Thomas Sayles is an American independent film director, screenwriter and author.-Early life:Sayles was born in Schenectady, New York, the son of Mary , a teacher, and Donald John Sayles, a school administrator. He was raised Catholic and took to labeling himself "a Catholic atheist"...
on a number of other projects before suggesting they work together to create a new TV series about a lawyer who avoided going to court whenever possible. The pilot movie, written by Sayles, introduced an element of film noir
Film noir
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
, that continued throughout the series. This was further enhanced by a haunting jazz score for the pilot by Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Learson Marsalis is a trumpeter, composer, bandleader, music educator, and Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. Marsalis has promoted the appreciation of classical and jazz music often to young audiences...
, who also provided the theme music.
Development and broadcast history
Independent filmmaker John SaylesJohn Sayles
John Thomas Sayles is an American independent film director, screenwriter and author.-Early life:Sayles was born in Schenectady, New York, the son of Mary , a teacher, and Donald John Sayles, a school administrator. He was raised Catholic and took to labeling himself "a Catholic atheist"...
met with NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
Entertainment president Brandon Tartikoff
Brandon Tartikoff
Brandon Tartikoff was a television executive who was credited with turning around NBC's low prime time reputation with such hit series as Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law, ALF, Family Ties, The Cosby Show, Cheers, Seinfeld, Miami Vice, The Golden Girls, Knight Rider, The A-Team, St...
in 1987 and pitched a story about a lawyer who avoids going to court. Sayles wrote the two-hour pilot episode that aired on NBC on June 4, 1989. (Sayles received a 1990 Edgar Award
Edgar Award
The Edgar Allan Poe Awards , named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America...
for his teleplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
for the pilot.) Once the show got picked up as a series, Sayles directed one of the episodes and had a cameo
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
in the "Words to Music" episode as a jealous boyfriend who gets into a confrontation with Shannon.
Sayles worked with former lawyer Stan Rogow
Stan Rogow
Stan Rogow is an American music manager, writer and producer of film and television.His television credits include Fame, Lizzie McGuire, Flight 29 Down, Darcy's Wild Life, State of Grace, Nowhere Man, the internet series Gemini Division, Woke Up Dead and Afterworld...
who became the show's executive producer. The show took a cynical view of the legal system as Sayles remarked in an Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
article, "Shannon's a fixer. There are very few clear-cut victories in his life, and one of the few he gets is that his clients don't go to court. You can like Shannon, but you can't always come away thinking that [he] did the right thing or [he] won this one."
Shannon's Deal was picked up as a regular series after high ratings and a large following that occurred in the wake of the movie. On Friday, April 13, 1990, NBC re-aired the movie pilot at 9/8c, and the following Monday at 10/9c, the series officially premiered. Counting the movie pilot as the first two episodes, the show initially ran a small spring season of eight episodes. NBC changed its timeslot around a few times during this run, but the ratings were not too adversely affected, so a second season was awarded to the show. The series did not return with new episodes until a special season premiere on Sunday March 23, 1991, followed by its permanent move to Tuesdays at 10/9c in the first week of April. Perhaps it was the new timeslot, or the fact that NBC had put off the second season for many months, that caused the program's ratings to tank. After the last completed episode of the second season aired on May 21, 1991, Shannon's Deal was canceled for good. A total of 16 episodes aired altogether.
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
gave the show a "B" rating and Ken Tucker wrote, "Right now, Shannon's Deal remains an intriguing show with first-rate acting by Sheridan and Peña, but they could use some behind-the-scenes help". In his review for The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, John J. O'Connor wrote, "For the 1930's, Dashiell Hammett
Dashiell Hammett
Samuel Dashiell Hammett was an American author of hard-boiled detective novels and short stories, and political activist. Among the enduring characters he created are Sam Spade , Nick and Nora Charles , and the Continental Op .In addition to the significant influence his novels and stories had on...
created Sam Spade
Sam Spade
Sam Spade is a fictional character who is the protagonist of Dashiell Hammett's 1930 novel The Maltese Falcon and the various films and adaptations based on it, as well as in three lesser known short stories by Hammett....
, the private eye. With Jack. the Philadelphia lawyer, Mr. Sayles, the film maker and writer (Matewan
Matewan
Matewan is an American drama film written and directed by John Sayles, illustrating the events of a coal mine-workers' strike and attempt to unionize in 1920 in Matewan, a small town in the hills of West Virginia....
, Eight Men Out
Eight Men Out
Eight Men Out is an American dramatic sports film, released in 1988 and based on Eliot Asinof 1963 book 8 Men Out. It was written and directed by John Sayles....
), gets a crystal-clear bead on the 1990s". In his review for the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, Don Shirley wrote, "Sayles scores points for making Shannon less than a shining white knight and for creating a gallery of interesting and sometimes amusing subsidiary characters," but felt that "Some of those characters, however, are developed more predictably than we might expect from Sayles".