by Matt Roush
October 8, 2003

How obvious is it that NBC never believed in Boomtown in the first place? Winner of an American Film Institute citation and several Television Critics Association awards among other accolades, this superb crime drama has been on the ropes at least since NBC shelved it last February to make room for the ambitious but ultimately unsuccessful Kingpin. The show barely eked out a renewal for a second season, and was rewarded with what was clearly an inhospitable new time period on Fridays at 10 pm/ET. Plus the network insisted the show's creators tone down the elements that made Boomtown distinctive: most notably, the often haunting and complex multiple perspectives that embued the stories with ambiguous human shadings. More challenging and thus never destined to be as popular as your run-of-the-mill Law & Order: Whatever franchise, Boomtown would have been toast if not for the prestige it brought to the network.

The writing was on the wall even before the second season got underway, with predictably puny ratings. NBC shut down production of the show for several weeks when it was clear the show's writers were attempting even a modest multi-episode story arc for sweeps. Boomtown was always too smart for this network's taste.

And now, after just two episodes, Boomtown is gone. Officially on hiatus, perhaps to return to a new time period, a new night, if one can be found. But don't hold your breath. Sweeps are just around the corner, and Boomtown surely isn't in NBC's playbook right now.

As for the show's quality: The first episode was substandard, most critics and many viewers agreed, but the second episode was back to Boomtown's brilliant form: a showcase for the series' breakout star, Neal McDonough as self-destructive District Attorney David McNorris, and Stacy Keach as his alcoholic, emotionally abusive father.

Part of me thinks the best thing that could happen to Boomtown is for it to disappear altogether before NBC alters it so drastically we might forget what made it so special in the first place. But it's hard to let such a gem go easily, especially at a time when the current TV crime glut is full of so many less distinguished shows. (Guess I'll have to content myself with those BBC America imports.)

Originally appeared at: TV Guide.com