Profit (TV series)
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| Profit | |
|---|---|
| Image:Profitdvd.jpg The front cover of Profit DVD. | |
| Format | Drama |
| Starring | Adrian Pasdar Lisa Zane Keith Szarabajka Jack Gwaltney Allison Hossack Lisa Darr Lisa Blount Sherman Augustus Scott Paulin Jennifer Hetrick |
| Country of origin | Image:Flag of the United States.svg United States |
| No. of episodes | 8 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Jo Swerling, Jr David Greenwalt John McNamara Stephen J. Cannell |
| Camera setup | Single-camera |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | FOX |
| Original run | 8 April, 1996 – 27 May, 1996 |
| External links | |
| IMDb profile | |
| TV.com summary | |
Profit is a short-lived American television series that aired on the Fox Broadcasting Company and grew to have a large cult following. The series was created by David Greenwalt and John McNamara, and starred Adrian Pasdar as the titular character, Jim Profit. A DVD compilation of aired and unaired Fox episodes was released on August 9 2005. The unaired episodes were shown publically for the first time on the Trio cable network in 2002. In February 2008, episodes will air on Chiller.
Considered by many to be ahead of its time, the show was a precursor to a cutting edge television genre that includes Nip/Tuck and Dexter. Dark themes stemming from the villainy of the central character made the show uncomfortable and unfamiliar viewing for mainstream audiences and Fox station affiliates, which ultimately led to the demise of the series.
Contents |
[edit] Summary
Jim Profit is a new employee at Gracen & Gracen (G&G), a multinational corporation that is less than ethical with some of its business practices. That doesn't worry Profit, who has even fewer ethics and isn't above blackmail, bribery, extortion, or even murder to get ahead in the company. Joanne Meltzer, the security chief, Charles "Chaz" Gracen, the president of G&G, his brother Pete, Profit's secretary Gail, and Profit's stepmother (and former lover) Bobbi Stakowski, among others round out the cast of characters. At the end of each episode, Profit would directly address the audience, speaking to camera.
[edit] Characters and actors
[edit] Main characters
- Jim Profit (Adrian Pasdar) - born James Stakowski, he was raised in a G&G moving box with the television on at all hours by an abusive father in Tulsa, Oklahoma, until he set his father on fire and ran away. The experience left him with a complete hatred of TV and a desire to insinuate himself into the G&G family by any means necessary...but he still sleeps in a G&G moving box in a secret room of his apartment
- Joanne Meltzer (Lisa Zane) - the chief of security for G&G, she is constantly trying to figure out Profit's motives and master plan but has her own psychological issues..
- Charles Henry "Chaz" Gracen (Keith Szarabajka) - the no-nonsense president of G&G. Is known to take a different mistress each year.
- Pete Gracen (Jack Gwaltney) - Chaz's brother and a drunk. He's also impotent.
- Nora Gracen (Allison Hossack) - Pete's wife, she is initially attracted to Profit.
- Gail Koner (Lisa Darr) - Profit's secretary. She was originally Jack Walter's secretary but through some blackmail she became Profit's secretary.
- Bobbi Stakowski (Lisa Blount) - Profit's stepmother, they used to be lovers as well. She initially tries to blackmail Profit with information about his attempt to kill his father.
- Jeffrey Sykes (Sherman Augustus) - a corporate lawyer and the newest member of the G&G team. Sykes takes a more antagonistic approach to Profit.
[edit] Recurring characters
- Jack Walters (Scott Paulin) - the former President of Acquisitions at G&G.
- Elizabeth Gracen Walters (Jennifer Hetrick) - Jack's wife.
- Constance Gracen (Teryl Rothery) - Chaz's wife, though she's separated from him.
[edit] Guest characters
- Dr. Jeremy Batewell (John Hawkes)
- Kelly Hunt/Carol McKenna (Jessica Tuck)
[edit] Episodes
| Episode | First airdate | Writer(s) | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Pilot" (parts 1 and 2) | 8 April, 1996 | John McNamara & David Greenwalt | Jim Profit joins the Gracen and Gracen executive team just as a public scandal erupts from an unethical baby food decision - sparked by a press leak that Profit orchestrated. |
| "Hero" | 15 April, 1996 | David Greenwalt | Joanne Meltzer and Jack Walters search into Profit's past, while Profit sets up a key plan that eventually sends Jack to jail. |
| "Sykes" | 22 April, 1996 | David Greenwalt | Jeffrey Sykes is hired by G&G, but his agenda has more to do with G&G and Profit's deal with a local mobster than actually helping the company. |
| "Healing" | 29 April, 1996 | John McNamara | Joanne and Profit's rivalry comes to a head when Chaz announces that they will both take a lie detector test. Profit tries to mess with Joanne's mind by blackmailing her psychiatrist. |
| "Cupid" | Never Aired in the US | John Shirley | G&G wants to acquire a company owned by a split couple, so Profit is charged with getting them back together - even though it appears the husband is a murderer. Bobbi sets her sights on Chaz. |
| "Chinese Box" | Never Aired in the US | W. K. Scott Meyer | In order to avoid an imminent FBI investigation, Profit must sever G&G's relationship with a recently-acquired Chinese company by acquiring a codebreaker chip from Dr. Jeremy Batewell. This proves harder than it seems since Gail got him fired from G&G for sexual harassment some time ago. |
| "Security" | Never Aired in the US | John McNamara | Profit is having an affair with the newest G&G security team addition - Kelly Hunt. However Ms. Hunt isn't who she appears to be and is a muckraking reporter looking for dirt on G&G. |
| "Forgiveness" | Never Aired in the US | David Greenwalt | Profit's manipulations come to a head: Pete and Nora's uncle are coordinating a hostile takeover of G&G when Nora tells him that her uncle molested her. Joanne and Sykes come close to finding who the real Jim Profit was and Bobbi faces a near-death experience that makes her realize what she really wants. |
[edit] DVD Release
Anchor Bay Entertainment released the complete series on DVD in Region 1 for the very first time on August 9, 2005.
[edit] What would have happened
David Greenwalt gave details of plotlines from the second season in the commentaries on the DVD.
- Joanne would've died early in the first episode of the never-produced second season. The phone booth she was calling Sykes from explodes; a bomb planted by the Irish Republican Army. It is later revealed that this was done at the behest of Profit.
- Jim has stolen the identity of a "real" Jim Profit. The "real" Jim Profit is in a coma after he has been drowned by "our Jim Profit". Later "our Jim" will come back to finish killing his alias.
- Charles "Chaz" Gracen would've had a heart attack while running on his treadmill. Profit eventually convinces him that his father was trying to kill him.
- Pete Gracen could have been involved in politics as a senator thanks to Jim.
[edit] Trivia
- According to a documentary on the 2005 DVD, McNamara and Greenwalt came up with the concept for Profit while watching Sir Ian McKellen's modern-dress production of Richard III.
- In the commentary of the 2005 DVD, McNamara and Greenwalt indicated that Fox executives requested that the character of Bobbi Stakowski be revised from Profit's mother to the slightly less provocative role as Profit's stepmother.
- While somewhat alluded to in the first four episodes, it becomes more clear in the final four that Jim Profit is just seeking the family life he never had as a child. He is not evil for evil's sake; if anything he is just amoral.
- Jim's father idolized the Gracen family as "royalty" and the box that Jim sleeps in bears the name "Gracen & Gracen: The Family Company". This may also explain Jim's motivation to become President of Acquisitions; he wants to grow and nurture the G&G family he is a part of while protecting it from potentially disruptive additions (acquisitions).fr:Profit (série télévisée)
oc:Profit
