Profit S1 “Still Cutting Edge”
Recently I got the chance to rewatch this series from 1996 and once again am reminded it was truly ahead of its time. I’m still bummed out that it was canceled so quickly. I was a senior in college when it aired and looked forward to the cutting edge Fox series for the limited time it was around, and literally couldn’t believe it when they cut it before they even finished showing the episodes they recorded. I still dont get it. Luckily they released the rest of the episodes on DVD.
Speaking of DVDs, one new thing I noticed is that it was definitely not made with digital replay in mind. Some of the graphics were meant to flash a bunch of data on the TV screen, but when you pause the playback you can see that the text contains gibberish and funny phrases like “Fred Flintstone” etc.
With the cool virtual reality graphics and networked computers, passwords, restricted access, and even viruses, the show had elements of high tech that still stand up to today. Even after The Sopranos and The Shield, Jim Profit is still one of the most smoothest cold blooded characters to grace the screen.
This show was produced by Stephen J. Cannell and remains one the best single season series ever created.
