Fastlane (TV series)

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. After finishing its initial run on G4, Fastlane stopped airing altogether. The reruns currently air on TV One in the U.S.

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, 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, explosions, 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.

Release to DVD

Fastlane: The Complete Series was released on DVD as a six disc set on July 8th, 2008. The soundtrack was significantly altered for the DVD release due to licensing issues. Episodes are presented in fullscreen rather than widescreen as they initially appeared on television.

Cast

Main cast

• Peter Facinelli — Donovan "Van" Ray
• Bill Bellamy — Deaqon "Deaq" Hayes
• Tiffani Thiessen — Wilhemina "Billie" Chambers

Recurring cast

• Jay Mohr — Roland Hill
• Mark Famiglietti — Jarod
• Big Boy — Aquarius
• Vondie Curtis-Hall — Andre Hayes
• Jennifer Sky — Cassidy Shaw
• Robert Forster — Raymond Ray
• Jamie Brown — Sophia Jones
• Bill Duke — Capt. Parish

Episode listing

Episode Number	Production Number	Episode Name	Original Air Date
-----	100	Unaired Pilot	-----
1	101	Pilot	September 18, 2002
2	102	Girls Own Juice	September 25, 2002
3	103	Gone Native	October 30, 2002
4	104	Things Done Changed	November 6, 2002
5	105	Ryde or Die	November 13, 2002
6	106	Ray Ray	November 20, 2002
7	107	Wet	November 27, 2002
8	108	Mighty Blue	December 4, 2002
9	109	Get Your Mack On	December 11, 2002
10	110	Dogtown	January 10, 2003
11	111	Strap On	January 17, 2003
12	112	101	January 24, 2003
13	113	Defense (1)	January 31, 2003
14	114	Offense (2)	February 7, 2003
15	115	Popdukes	February 14, 2003
16	116	Slippery Slope	March 7, 2003
17	117	Simone Says	March 14, 2003
18	118	Monster	March 21, 2003
19	119	Overkill	March 28, 2003
20	120	Asslane	April 4, 2003
21	121	Dosed (1)	April 18, 2003
22	122	Iced (2)	April 25, 2003

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, 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..

Trivia

• Peter Facinelli is married to Jennie Garth of Beverly Hills 90210 fame, on which Tiffani Thiessen was also a cast member.
• The role of Billie Chambers was initially offered to Heather Locklear.

References

External links

• Fastlane - General Comments in F in in Jump The Shark