Falcone

Falcone, while not perfect, is an engaging series that CBS is running as a miniseries

The show is good but not great. It feels redundant because it is - two times over, if you count the movie. There's no denying that's a huge drawback, no matter how brooding Gedrick and Welliver get. And, from a pure entertainment stand point, it's less satisfying to see Falcone's wife and family implode than it is to see what's happening with Tony Soprano's home life. Sorry, but it's true.

On its own, this series ... might not have seemed so bad. But it can't hold a note compared with "The Sopranos." [4 Apr 2000]

If you've never seen "The Sopranos" -- and haven't seen "Goodfellas," "Donnie Brasco" or some of the other morally ambiguous mob tales -- you may well consider it exciting television. Well acted and occasionally trusting the audience not to need everything spelled out for it, it could fairly be called a pretty good watch. [3 Apr 2000]

Nobody cusses, nobody copulates, nobody sweats, and hardly anybody bleeds. The only dramatic tension surrounds the question of whether Joe's true identity will be discovered. But in that case, he'd be whacked, and the show would be over.

When the programming strategy is more compelling than the drama itself, that's a bad sign. [4 Apr 2000]

Plagued by pedestrian scripts and mostly nondescript characters, it slogs from night to night without nearly enough suspense or consequences. [2 Apr 2000]