Boomtown

Each episode of this series, set in contemporary Los Angeles, examines one crime from many different viewpoints - uniformed cops, detectives, witnesses, the media, the fire department and rescue squad, even the criminals themselves.

Boomtown (2002-2003) is an American NBC crime drama created by Graham Yost, a short-lived series built as a two-season procedural set in contemporary Los Angeles. Donnie Wahlberg plays Detective Joel Stevens, whose investigations run alongside the work of Mykelti Williamson as Detective Bobby Fearless Smith, Gary Basaraba as Officer Ray Hechler, and Lana Parrilla as paramedic Teresa Ortiz, with Neal McDonough as assistant district attorney David McNorris pressing the cases toward court. Each of its 24 forty-five-minute episodes follows a single crime and retells it through many viewpoints at once: uniformed cops, detectives, witnesses, reporters, firefighters, rescue crews, and even the criminals themselves. The engine is the friction between officers who want a clean arrest and a city that rarely offers one, so every episode is assembled from overlapping accounts of the same night. The tone is gritty and urgent, with a hard-edged, documentary-leaning energy. Viewers who enjoy Homicide: Life on the Street, Hill Street Blues, and The Wire will find a similar appetite for institutional texture and procedural detail. Its serialized threads are light, so the show rewards attention but works episode by episode.

• Hill Street Bluesshared multi-perspective procedural structure and gritty Los Angeles crime tone
• Homicide: Life on the Streetshared serialized crime investigation focus with police and prosecutors as central figures
• The Wireshared ensemble procedural examining crime from many institutional viewpoints
• Third Watchshared Los Angeles police procedural tone with emergency responders and rookie officers

Created by

Graham Yost

Release Date

2002-09-29

Episode runtime

45 min

Rating

8.1 / 10 (21)

What is Boomtown about?

Boomtown dissects one Los Angeles crime per episode from every side, from patrol cops and detectives to witnesses, reporters, and the criminals themselves.

What is Boomtown like to watch?

Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Boomtown as brisk, its intensity as moderate and its storytelling as layered.

Is Boomtown violent?

Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in Boomtown as moderate.

Which shows are like Boomtown?

Shows with a similar feel include Hill Street Blues, Homicide: Life on the Street, The Wire, and Third Watch.

How long is Boomtown?

Boomtown: 2 seasons, 24 episodes.

Is Boomtown still running?

No, Boomtown has ended.