Wiseguy
Vinnie Terranova (Ken Wahl) does time in a New Jersey penitentiary to set up his undercover role as an Agent for the O.C.B. (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 Carlotta (Elsa Raven) and other family members while acting undercover as a syndicate enforcer. The segments, which ran several shows each, included in-depth and empathetic characterizations of the players on both sides of the law. Scenarios include the underbelly of the recording industry, protection rackets, international arms dealing, foiling white supremacist plotters, uncovering a government conspiracy to set up a compliant new head of state in a third-world country, and Vinnie's final reconciliation with his Italian mother and her new husband, the purely legendary Mafia figure Don Rudy Aiuppo (George Petrie).
- Metascore56
- 1987-1990
- 4 seasons
- CBS
- Suspense, Drama
- TV-14
Vinnie Terranova (Ken Wahl) does time in a New Jersey penitentiary to set up his undercover role as an Agent for the O.C.B. (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 Carlotta (Elsa Raven) and other family members while acting undercover as a syndicate enforcer. The segments, which ran several shows each, included in-depth and empathetic characterizations of the players on both sides of the law. Scenarios include the underbelly of the recording industry, protection rackets, international arms dealing, foiling white supremacist plotters, uncovering a government conspiracy to set up a compliant new head of state in a third-world country, and Vinnie's final reconciliation with his Italian mother and her new husband, the purely legendary Mafia figure Don Rudy Aiuppo (George Petrie).
Season 4 Episode Guide
9 Episodes 1990
Episode 1
Fruit of the Poisonous Tree: Part 1
Sat, Nov 10, 1990 45 mins
When Vinnie Terranova disappears, McPike fears he has been kidnapped by a right wing Salvadoran death squad, and his investigation locks him into a reluctant alliance with Michael Santana, a disbarred Cuban-American Federal prosecutor contracted by Terranova shortly before he disappeared. Part 1 of 2.
Episode 2
Fruit of the Poisonous Tree: Part 2
Sat, Nov 10, 1990 45 mins
When Vinnie Terranova disappears, McPike fears he has been kidnapped by a right wing Salvadoran death squad, and his investigation locks him into a reluctant alliance with Michael Santana, a disbarred Cuban-American Federal prosecutor contracted by Terranova shortly before he disappeared. Part 2 of 2.
Episode 3
Black Gold
Sat, Nov 17, 1990 47 mins
The arrival of a shipload of Haitian "boat people" in Miami inadvertently interferes in Santana and McPike's plans to catch Guzman in an illegal act, and opens up a new case.
Episode 4
The Gift
Sat, Nov 24, 1990 48 mins
Santana impresses Guzman with his trustworthiness and finds himself getting deeper into Guzman's operations, a move that endangers his father and Dahlia.
Episode 5
La Mina
Sat, Dec 1, 1990 48 mins
Santana learns the details of Guzman's money laundering operation and comes face to face with the drug lord who cost him his job as a Federal prosecutor.
Episode 6
Witness Protection for the Archangel Lucifer
Sat, Dec 8, 1990 48 mins
Arnado Guzman, hiding out in El Salvador, contacts his trusted "son," Michael Santana, to bring him funds, and Santana concocts a plan to bring him back to justice.
Episode 7
Point of No Return
Tue, Sep 11, 1990 49 mins
When his brother-in-law disappears, Santana is drawn into a web of police corruption.
Episode 8
Dead Right
Tue, Sep 11, 1990 48 mins
Hillary asks Frank and Santana for help in a lawsuit involving defective aircraft parts.
Episode 9
Changing Houses
Tue, Sep 11, 1990 49 mins
Santana goes after a group of high school drug dealers who shot his niece after she witnessed the murder of her high school principal.