Once a Thief (television)

Premise

The pilot movie detailed how Mac and Li Ann, former criminals with the Chinese Tang family of criminals, faked their deaths to flee the country. Two years later, the two former lovers were reunited in Canada when they were put to work at the crime-fighting institution, led by a manipulative woman known as The Director. Also working with them is Li Ann's former cop boyfriend Victor.

The series premiered in September 1997, created by Glenn Davis and William Laurin with John Woo as executive producer. But despite initial solid ratings, the show was put on hiatus in November after 9 episodes. When it returned, in January 1998, ratings had significantly decreased. All 22 episodes of the show aired during the season, but the show was not renewed.

Main Cast

• Sandrine Holt as Li Ann Tsei
• Nicholas Lea as Victor Mansfield
• Ivan Sergei as Mac Ramsey
• and Jennifer Dale as The Director
  

  Recurring Cast

• Robert Ito as the Tang Godfather
• Michael Wong as Michael Tang
• Howard Dell as Agent Dobrinsky
• James Allodi as Nathan Muckle
• Greg Kramer as Mr. Murphy
• Julian Richings as Mr. Camier
• Victoria Pratt as Jackie Janczyk
  

  Trivia

• Nathaniel Deveaux played the Director's hard-nosed lapdog Dobrinsky in the movie, but was replaced by Howard Dell for the series.

• Episode 1 The Big Bang Theory was number 7 in the Canadian Neilsen ratings, and episode 2 Rave On was number 14. By the end of its run, the show was at the bottom of the list.

• Episode 9, Jaded Love, spoofed black and white mystery movies of the '40s and '50s.

• Episode 11, That Old Gang of Mine, and episode 12 Last Temptation of Vic were released together as a video movie - Once a Thief: Family Business.

• Victoria Pratt joined the recurring cast in episode 11, with the idea of bringing her on full time to the show.

• In episode 11, we see another group - similar to Vic, Li Ann and Mac - indicating that there are more groups working there, despite the Director's denials.

• James Allodi, who plays the librarian Nathan, was initially just a one-off character in episode 2 but the producers liked the idea of his paranoia so much they brought him back.

• Episode 13, Mama's Boys, uses pop-up windows at times to convey information to the viewers.

• Episode 18, The Director Files, features several scenes which are parodies of The X-Files, the show on which Nicholas Lea played Alex Krycek:
  -The characters of Agent Clancy (Alexa Gilmour) and Agent Diller (Graham Abbey) are spoofs of Agents Agent Mulder and Scully
  -The investigation is often done by torchlight, and timestamps appear at the bottom of the screen.
  -The Mulder lookalike has a scene in which he calls Vic "Ratboy" (the nickname of Krycek) and Vic calls him "Spooky" (the nickname of Mulder)
  -Nathan serves as a kind of Lone Gunmen-esque figure.

• Episode 18 is also the only episode where the Director is humbled.

• Episode 19, Shaken Not Stirred, spoofs James Bond-esque spy dramas.

• Episode 19's subplot, featuring the organisation's assassins Camier and Murphy, is a parody of the Samuel Beckett play Waiting for Godot.

• Episode 20, Politics of Love, introduced an element of the show's mythology, about the Government Advisory Council and the fact that the Director is a part of it. This element would have been explored further in the show's second season.

• In episode 20, there is a reference to the audience's unfavourable reaction to the show when the Director is told that the trio is coming along well and she replies "that depends on who you talk to."

• Michael Wong was not initially going to return for the series, but - after being cancelled - his character, Li Ann's betrothed, presumed dead boyfriend, was resurrected for the series finale

• Episode 21 Family Reunion, and episode 22 Endgame were released on video as Once a Thief: Brother Against Brother.

• The final episode ended with Vic, Li Ann and Mac dying in an explosion, and the Director walking away from the crime scene as music played over a montage of clips. When aired in the US, the networks changed the ending so that the trio survived.

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