Nasty Boys (TV series)

Nasty Boys
Created by Dick Wolf
Country of origin USA
No. of seasons 1
No. of episodes 13
Production
Running time 60 minutes
Production company(s) Wolf Films
Universal Television
Release
Original network NBC
Original release February 19 – July 20, 1990

Nasty Boys is a television action drama series based on the real life Narcotics Officers of the North Las Vegas Police Department.[1][2] It follows the 1989 film Nasty Boys and aired on the NBC Network.

Background

The innovative cops were known locally as the NTNB which stood for the North Town Narcotics Bureau but quickly were nicknamed the North Town "Nasty Boys" by the local drug dealers because of the unit's all black hooded raid uniforms and their quick breeching methods for serving search warrants.[3] The unit caught the attention of the producers of "The Reporters" while they were in Las Vegas for an unrelated show. It was the practice of the unit at the time to allow the local press to ride with them and tape their raids and "Reversals", that's where the cops take over a drug sales location and then pretend to be the drug sellers busting the arriving buyers one by one. Then with the help of the local NBC affiliate would air the bust on the 11:00 p.m. news with the opening, "The Nasty Boys shut down another drug sales location at ..." The Reporters aired a segment showcasing the Nasty Boys serving warrants and speaking their "Say No To Drugs" presentation to local adult and children's organizations.[1]

Two of the undercover narcotics officers, Jimmy Jackson and Larry Bradley, began the anti-drug presentations with a rap song, BUSTED, written by Bradley and sung by three of them, this was followed by t-shirts that read, "BUSTED by the Nasty Boys" and another showing a photo of the hooded team with the caption "We Make House Calls!" the NBC affiliate KVBC produced several award winning anti drug Public Service Announcements that featured real life footage of the Nasty Boys making busts and one featured the North Las Vegas Chief of Police looking into the camera, with the heavily armed team behind him, saying, "If you sell drugs in North Las Vegas, we'll be knocking at your door."[4]

Synopsis and broadcast history

Producer Dick Wolf, of Miami Vice fame, noticed the Nasty Boys and proposed to the two North Las Vegas Narcotics Officers who had produced the anti-drug song that a television show to be released by Universal Studios, and broadcast on the NBC network.[5] The two officers agreed and provided stories to the writers, were technical advisors and acted in the pilot and several episodes. A pilot episode was aired as a TV movie September 21, 1989, and 13 episodes aired as a mid-season replacement show. The show was very popular with a small cult following but the Universal Studios-produced Nasty Boys was not renewed because that same year, NBC had begun producing many of their own television shows and only renewed one non-NBC production that year.

The Nasty Boys featured a North Las Vegas Police narcotics unit consisting of six undercover police officers who fought crime in drug-ridden neighborhoods using “unorthodox” methods. The show starred Benjamin Bratt, Don Franklin, Craig Hurley, Jeff Kaake, James Pax, and Dennis Franz, who played Lieutenant Stan Krieger.[6] William Russ played Lieutenant Farlow in the pilot movie and was killed off unexpectedly.

Basil Poledouris composed most of the episode scores.

The theme song was "Nasty" by Janet Jackson, though the song was performed by Lisa Keith and the lyrics were changed to fit the TV series.

Cast

Jimmy Jackson and Larry Bradley were technical advisors/actors

References

  1. 1 2 Letofsky, Irv (2001-10-16). "TV REVIEW : A Watered-Down 'Nasty Boys' - Los Angeles Times". Articles.latimes.com. Retrieved 2014-03-16.
  2. ↑ "'Nasty Boys' Ride The Wild Vegas Roads - Philly.com". Articles.philly.com. 1990-02-23. Retrieved 2014-03-16.
  3. ↑ Rosenberg, Howard (1990-02-23). "TV Reviews : 'Nasty Boys' Live Up to Their Name in New Series - Los Angeles Times". Articles.latimes.com. Retrieved 2014-03-16.
  4. ↑ Hiltbrand, David (2013-01-14). "Picks and Pans Review: Nasty Boys". People.com. Retrieved 2014-03-16.
  5. ↑ "Nasty Boys (NBC, 1989) — The 50 Best Lamborghini References In Pop Culture". Complex. Retrieved 2014-03-16.
  6. ↑ "Nasty-Boys - Trailer - Cast - Showtimes - NYTimes.com". Movies.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2014-03-16.
  7. ↑ "Fresh Start For Jeff Kaake". Morning Call. Retrieved 2014-03-16.
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