Fastlane is an American action/crime drama series that was broadcast on FOX from 2002 to 2003. On August 14, 2005 G4 began rebroadcasting the complete series.[1] After finishing its initial run on G4, Fastlane stopped airing altogether. The reruns currently air on TV One in the United States.
Plot summary
Van Ray and Deaqon Hayes are two mismatched cops teamed together by shady vixen police lieutenant, Wilhelmina "Billie" Chambers, in a secretive undercover division of the LAPD. Operating with the motto "Everything we seize, we keep. Everything we keep, we use," their base of operations is the "Candy Store"—a warehouse containing a fortune in confiscated cars, clothes, weapons and everything else needed to blend into the seedy criminal underworld of Los Angeles. Given criminal covers, the officers use all of the resources at their disposal to apprehend dangerous miscreants while walking the line between cop and criminal.
Series run
The series consisted of twenty-two episodes, forty-five minutes each, plus an unaired pilot which ended up being very similar to the first episode broadcasted. Episodes 13 and 14 ("Defense" and "Offense") form a two-part story, while episodes 21 and 22 ("Dosed" and "Iced") form a two-part story ending on a cliffhanger which sees Billie Chambers kidnapped and forced to do drugs. As the series was canceled at that point due to the high costs of each episode, fans were left clamoring for a resolution. It is unknown how many episodes the remaining plot would have covered.
Each episode cost the two studios making it (Warner Bros. and Fox) $2.6 million. The show's hallmarks—unconventional cinematography, pyrotechnics, guest appearances, licensed soundtracks, supercars and other exotic vehicles—were the root cause of the exorbitant production costs. As a result, the show was canceled because of these high production costs and the ratings drop it suffered from being moved from Wednesday nights to Friday nights.
The series paid numerous homages to the original Miami Vice, of which it was a spiritual successor. Watching the first aired episode of each series reveals numerous similarities in plot and music, in addition to the obvious similarities in premise and ambiance.
Home Video Releases
Warner Home Video released Fastlane: The Complete Series on DVD as a six disc set on July 8, 2008 in the United States. The soundtrack was significantly altered for the DVD release due to licensing issues.[2] Episodes are presented in 16:10 rather than 16:9 widescreen as they initially appeared on television.[3]
It is unknown if Fastlane will have a Blu-Ray release or if will be released in other regions.
Cast
Main cast
Recurring cast
Episode list
| # |
Title |
Director(s) |
Writer(s) |
Original Airdate |
| 0 |
"Unaired Pilot" |
? |
? |
N/A |
| 1 |
"Pilot" |
McG |
Story: McG
Teleplay: John McNamara |
September 18, 2002 (2002-09-18) |
| 2 |
"Girls Own Juice" |
Paris Barclay |
Kim Newton |
September 25, 2002 (2002-09-25) |
| 3 |
"Gone Native" |
Josh Pate |
Alexandra Cunningham |
October 30, 2002 (2002-10-30) |
| 4 |
"Things Done Changed" |
Josh Pate |
Salvatore J. Stabile |
November 6, 2002 (2002-11-06) |
| 5 |
"Ryde or Die" |
Winrich Kolbe |
Josh Appelbaum |
November 13, 2002 (2002-11-13) |
| 6 |
"Ray Ray" |
Marcos Siega |
Matthew Carnahan & John McNamara |
November 20, 2002 (2002-11-20) |
| 7 |
"Wet" |
Chris Long |
Kevin G. Boyd |
November 27, 2002 (2002-11-27) |
| 8 |
"Mighty Blue" |
Guy Bee |
Josh Appelbaum |
December 4, 2002 (2002-12-04) |
| 9 |
"Get Your Mack On" |
Leslie Libman |
John McNamara |
December 11, 2002 (2002-12-11) |
| 10 |
"Dogtown" |
David Barrett |
Matthew Carnahan |
January 10, 2003 (2003-01-10) |
| 11 |
"Strap On" |
Greg Yaitanes |
Kim Newton |
January 17, 2003 (2003-01-17) |
| 12 |
"101" |
Sanford Bookstaver |
John McNamara |
January 24, 2003 (2003-01-24) |
| 13 |
"Defense (Part 1)" |
Marcos Siega |
Josh Appelbaum |
January 31, 2003 (2003-01-31) |
| 14 |
"Offense (Part 2)" |
Sanford Bookstaver |
John McNamara |
February 7, 2003 (2003-02-07) |
| 15 |
"Popdukes" |
Josh Pate |
Leonard Dick |
February 14, 2003 (2003-02-14) |
| 16 |
"Slippery Slope" |
Guy Bee |
Kim Newton & Case Krell |
March 7, 2003 (2003-03-07) |
| 17 |
"Simone Says" |
Paris Barclay |
Alexandra Cunningham |
March 14, 2003 (2003-03-14) |
| 18 |
"Monster" |
David Straiton |
Alexandra Cunningham |
March 21, 2003 (2003-03-21) |
| 19 |
"Overkill" |
Bill Duke |
Hunt Baldwin & John Coveny |
March 28, 2003 (2003-03-28) |
| 20 |
"Asslane" |
David Barrett |
Josh Appelbaum |
April 4, 2003 (2003-04-04) |
| 21 |
"Dosed (Part 1)" |
Sanford Bookstaver |
David Goodman |
April 18, 2003 (2003-04-18) |
| 22 |
"Iced (Part 2)" |
Sanford Bookstaver |
John McNamara |
April 25, 2003 (2003-04-25) |
Guest appearances
Over the course of its run, Fastlane featured cameos and guest appearances from a good number of known figures, including Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Mischa Barton, Jenny McCarthy, Krista Allen, Jake Busey, Bokeem Woodbine, Hudson Leick, Jaime Pressly, George Hamilton, Eric Mabius, Michelle Forbes, Navi Rawat, Iggy Pop, Naomi Campbell, Tommy Lee, Terrence Howard, Isaac Hayes, the Red Elvises, Tatyana Ali, Paul Gleason, Antonio Fargas, Biz Markie, Treach, and Ali Landry.
Mischa Barton's role as Simone in "Simone Says" led to producer McG casting her in his next project – The O.C..
References
External links
