Line #37 Series/Boomtown2002


1	[[quoteright:230:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/boomtown345.jpg]]
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3	''Boomtown'' is a crime drama that aired on Creator/{{NBC}} for one 18 episode season and a second 6 episode season. Lasted from September, 2002 to December, 2003. Set in UsefulNotes/LosAngeles, it follows a crime from the point of view of the 7 main cast members and anyone else whose POV is important to the episode. This series provides gripping drama, three dimensional leads, some pretty good mystery plots, and all it asks in return is that you pay attention... which is probably why it only persisted in its original form for the first season.
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5	[[AC: The seven original main cast members:]]
6	* Tom: A second-generation LAPD cop who has his retired dad bugging him all the time. [[AdvertisedExtra He arguably has the least screen time]] [[OutOfFocus and development.]]
7	* Ray: A beat cop accused of stealing money from his old assignment in Vista Heights. Emphatically claims to be innocent.
8	* Fearless: Ex-military homicide detective with a list of 100 things to do before he dies. Also the writer's favorite character. He gets more screen time and development than anyone else, possibly due to being a holdout character from a pilot script for what would eventually be turned into Boomtown.
9	* Joel: Dealing with the loss of his newborn daughter and his wife's subsequent suicide attempt.
10	* Theresa: Became a paramedic after her mother died. Mostly defined as a possible love interest for Joel. [[spoiler: Quits being a paramedic to join the police academy at the beginning of the second season.]]
11	* David [=McNorris=]: A cutthroat district attorney who's cheating on his wife with Andrea and has a drinking problem.
12	* Andrea: A reporter and daughter of an orange mogul whose character is mostly defined by her relationship to David [=McNorris=].
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14	!!This show provides examples of:
15	* AcceptableBreaksFromReality: Cops don't tend to always work with the same D.A.s and reporters case after case.
16	* AdBreakDoubleTake: Happens in the pilot.
17	* ButIDigress: Ray has a habit of talking about unrelated things while on the job.
18	* ChekhovsGun: The death of Joel's son to SIDS is mentioned in the pilot only briefly, but is the focus of the first season's finale.
19	* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: [[spoiler: Andrea]] in season two.
20	* ClearMyName: Joel in "Lost Child."
21	* CopShow: The first season, to a point. Definitely this by the second season.
22	* CrimeTimeSoap
23	* {{Crossover}}: Fearless turned up on the pilot of ''Series/{{Raines}}''.
24	* DayInTheLimelight:
25	** "The David [=McNorris=] Show", "Execution", and "Inadmissible" all focus on David, the DA.
26	** "Fearless" focuses on [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Fearless]], also being the only episode told from one person's perspective. "The Freak" also focuses on Fearless.
27	** "Home Invasion" focuses more on Teresa.
28	** "Insured by Smith and Wesson" focuses on Ray.
29	* DefiledForever: The killer's attitude in "The David [=McNorris=] Show". [[spoiler:He [[FauxYay prostituted himself]] in Saigon, which caused him a great deal of shame. Upon discovering that his daughter was sleeping with a movie producer's son, he [[MistakenForProstitute mistook her for a prostitute]] and committed an honor-killing.]]
30	* DirtyCop: It turns out one of the supporting cops is working as an inside man for one of the city's many gangs.
31	* DisgustingPublicToilet: In the pilot.
32	* FiendishFraternity: In the episode "Brotherhood", a fraternity believes that a pledge died due to excessive binge drinking, and they conceal the body in a wall to cover up their actions. Then it turns out that he wasn't dead, but simply unconscious, and instead was suffocated inside the wall.
33	* FriendInThePress: In Season 1, despite being married, district attorney David [=McNorris=] is sleeping with Andrea, a reporter, who often asks for inside scoops and (sometimes) gives him more positive press because of it.
34	* FormulaBreakingEpisode: The episode "Fearless" takes place entirely from Fearless's point of view.
35	* GenerationXerox:
36	** Invoked twice in "The David [=McNorris=] Show" [[spoiler: A {{Jerkass}} producer's son is suspected of killing his Asian-American girlfriend. The producer is visibly ''surprised'' when he learns that his son actually ''isn't'' the kind of gigantic asshole ''he'' is. Meanwhile the real murderer is the girl's father, who saw heading off with the guy and was afraid she was selling her body to men as ''he'd'' done in Saigon, to his eternal shame...]]
37	** David's FreudianExcuse is that he feels he's becoming just like his abusive father by cheating on his wife and falling deeper into alcoholism.
38	* HalloweenEpisode: The Season 1 episode "All Hallow's Eve".
39	* HappyBirthdayToYou: According to the DVD commentary, the reason Fearless sings "I Can See Clearly Now" in "The Freak" instead of "Happy Birthday to you" is that "I Can See Clearly Now" cost less to license.
40	* LastMinuteReprieve: The villain in "Execution" has a cop kidnapped to get one.
41	* LoveTriangle: Two of them.
42	* ModestyBedsheet: A few times, exaggerated when Andrea remains draped in a sheet after David interrupts her at home.
43	* OurGhostsAreDifferent: Fearless' friend who died in the war returns to comfort him on his birthday in "The Freak."
44	* PassedOverPromotion: Tom states this as the reason he doesn't like Joel.
45	* PoliceBrutality: In the second episode Tom says the best-case scenario for a guy in a high-speed chase is that they stop him and beat him with their sticks.
46	* RashomonStyle: The main draw for the show, though it gets dropped in "Fearless" and then Season 2.
47	* ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections: The attitude of a character in "The David [=McNorris=] Show".
48	* SmokingIsCool: Fearless is a smoker.
49	* TerminallyIllCriminal: {{Discussed}} and {{invoked}} in the episode "Home Invasion". A gang are breaking into family homes, torturing, sexually assaulting, and murdering [[FamilyExtermination whole families.]] The patriarch of the next family has terminal cancer, which results in him still being at home during the break-in. He delivers an AgonizingStomachWound to the would-be perpetrator and contemplates killing him. He and Joel discuss that he would still be in prison, which he says doesn't matter as he'll be dead anyway, but is reassured by the pain of the wound and the risk of infection, so he puts the gun down.
50	* TitleDrop: In the pilot. "Living the dream in Boomtown."
51	* WorkingWithTheEx: Fearless works with his ex, an insurance investigator, in "Crash".

Context Series / Boomtown2002