efffigie I have never forgotten this show and its devastatingly real treatment of the lead character's gambling addiction that ruined his entire life. The pilot movie was good, John Sayles always is, but the show was honestly not only grimly funny but grim. I will never forget one especially tough episode in which Shannon scrapes enough money together to buy his teenage daughter an expensive bicycle, only to discover his gift can't compete with her new stepfather's gift of a new car; she refuses the bike. That was bad enough, but he rides the bike around for the rest of the show, and and at the end, exits a building... and finds the bike gone: it's been stolen. I can't forget Jamey Sheridan's demeanor of near-desperation and hopelessness, staring at a broken bike lock on a courthouse steps and regarding his equally broken life. This was a GREAT show, if often truly brutal; not really violent, but just brutal in it's depiction of someone laid completely low. The second season 'lightened it up' a bit and the show suffered for that; the first season was brilliant TV. Elizabeth Pena was so beautiful in this; the only time she's been more beautiful is in the equally forgotten JACOB'S LADDER. But Sheridan created a character any actor would murder to have inhabited; and it's been almost totally lost. Re-issue this. It's not a 'please' kind of thing: just re-issue it already.

Tom Trocco What a perfect melding of actors, directors, writing, and music! In an era (the turn from the 1980s to th 1990s), Shannon's Deal was ahead of the pack then and now in its quality.Jamey Sheridan gave us a complex antihero. Elizabeth Pena brought us smarts and sass in a latina character that was not a caricature. Jenny Lewis... Well, jenny Lewis later became a singer.The closest I can think of are some of the great Howard Hawks films with great characters and overlapping dialog.I have the pilot and episodes 1-11 on DVDs I burned from my O-L-D video tapes. I cherish these, but the quality is poor. WHEN OH WHEN will this come out on DVD???

Cheyenne-Bodie My favorite shows of the late 80's and early 90's were "The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd" and "Shannon's Deal". Independent film director John Sayles ("Lone Star", "Sunshine State") created this superb series, which kind of crosses "Perry Mason" with "The Verdict".Shannon is a former big time litigator who lost his job and his family due to a gambling addiction. But his teenage daughter still loves him, and is often around. Shannon now has his own low rent law firm where he handles small time clients. Shannon has trouble paying his secretary, who works part time as a waitress. (Shannon is also half in love with his amazing secretary.) Shannon gets around Philadelphia on a bicycle.Shannon's goal as a lawyer is to keep his clients out of court. I don't think we ever see Shannon in a trial. (The New York Times TV critic, who loved this show, thought Shannon was a private detective.)Beautiful Elizabeth Pena ("Lone Star") played Shannon's Della Streeet, who may be even smarter than Shannon. A loan shark's debt collector, who is into self-improvement via watching PBS, is Shannon's Paul Drake. Shannon helps the son of his friend on the force prepare for the law school entrance exams (until he learns the boy wants to be a cop like his father.) Miguel Ferrer plays a DA in some episodes. As far as I remember, we never see Shannon's ex-wife, who could have been an interesting character (Blythe Danner?).David Strathairn, who went to Williams with Sayles and is a member of his film repertory company, could have been a great Jack Shannon. But they came up with Jamey Sheridan, who was perfect. Sheridan really grew on you episode by episode. A great series lead. I still seek out Sheridan's work.I really think this show could have been a success if NBC had been more creative and persistent. Characters this appealing don't come along often. Maybe Jack and Lucy (Pena) should have moved out west and become regulars on "LA Law". They could have livened that show up. Arnie would have loved Lucy. As it is, "Shannon's Deal" is a candidate for "TV Too Good For TV".

dadery It had a great story line. But did not air long. This series probably upsets lawyer: the hero worked to gain his son's esteem more than for money!Each week Shannon would face impossible odds, but being a good gambler would win by gambling or bluffing his way through.I liked the story and the character was sympathetic. But if I remember correctly, it did not have a good time slot...I guess there were too many lawyer stories, not like today! ;-)