High Incident

High Incident is a police drama television series produced by DreamWorks Television for the ABC network. The show was created by Steven Spielberg, Michael Pavone, Eric Bogosian, and Dave Alan Johnson. It aired from March 4, 1996, to May 8, 1997, running a total of 32 episodes.

Premise

The show focused on the everyday stories of a group of El Camino Police Department officers investigating and solving crimes.

Cast

Matthew Beck as Officer Terry Hagar
Dylan Bruno as Officer Andy Lightner
Matt Craven as Officer Lenny Gayer
Wendy Davis as Lynette White
Aunjanue Ellis as Officer Leslie Joyner
Cole Hauser as Officer Randy Willitz
David Keith as Senior Lead Officer Jim Marsh
Catherine Kellner as Officer Gayle Van Camp
Julio Oscar Mechoso as Officer Richie Fernandez
Louis Mustillo as Officer Russell Topps
Lindsay Frost as Sergeant Helen Sullivan
Blair Underwood as Senior Lead Officer Michael Rhoades
Lisa Vidal as Officer Jessica Helgado

Production

High Incident was filmed in the San Fernando Valley neighborhood of Chatsworth, Los Angeles, which doubles for the fictional El Camino. The executive producers of the series are Michael Pavone, Dave Alan Johnson, and Eric Bogosian, with Charles Haid as the co-executive producer-director. DreamWorks co-founder Steven Spielberg receives story credit, with Haid noting that "Steven Spielberg is on the set almost every day." High Incident was one of six shows predating the launch of DreamWorks' more successful film division DreamWorks Pictures, which started releasing movies in September 1997 with The Peacemaker. The theme for High Incident was composed by Hans Zimmer, who also did the background score for The Peacemaker.
The series was renewed for a second season, but was moved to the Thursday at 8:00 p.m. timeslot opposite Friends on NBC, with Blair Underwood, Lisa Vidal, and Lindsay Frost joining the cast. Although it received good reviews and fair ratings, it was canceled after the end of its second season in May 1997, due to its lower ratings against NBC's Friends and The Single Guy, and CBS's Diagnosis: Murder on Thursday evenings.

Broadcasts and rights

Internationally, the show aired in Australia on both the free-to-air Nine Network and the pay channel Fox8, while in the United Kingdom it aired on pay channel Sky One. In February 2006, Viacom purchased the rights to High Incident and all other television shows and live-action movies DreamWorks produced since their inception. The show has since been distributed by Paramount Television.

Reception

Todd Everett of Variety describes some of the series' characters as being a "tired stereotype", but praises director/co-exec producer Charles Haid for getting "a lot out of his fine cast, and several of the action scenes show above-average energy."

Episodes

Series overview

Broadcast history

Mondays 9:00 p.m.
Thursdays 8:00 p.m.
Tuesday 10:00 p.m.