Karen Sisco

Karen Sisco
Carla Gugino as Karen Sisco
Genre	Crime drama
Based on	Out of Sight by Elmore Leonard
Developed by	Jason Smilovic
Starring	Carla Gugino Robert Forster Bill Duke
Composer	Jon Ehrlich
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	10
Production
Executive producers	Danny DeVito Michael Shamberg Stacey Sher John Landgraf Bob Brush Michael Dinner
Camera setup	Single-camera
Running time	60 minutes
Production companies	Jersey Television Eighty D Productions Universal Network Television
Original release
Network	ABC
Release	October 1, 2003 (2003-10-01) – April 14, 2004 (2004-04-14)

Karen Sisco is an American crime drama television series starring Carla Gugino in the title role. The series was created by novelist Elmore Leonard, based on a character who had appeared in several of his written works, as well as one film adaptation, 1998's Out of Sight . The series debuted on October 1, 2003 on ABC, and was canceled in November after 7 episodes aired, with the final 3 episodes burned off in late-night during the spring of 2004.

As a U.S. Deputy Marshal, based on Miami, Florida's Gold Coast, Karen must deal with the underbelly of South Beach nightlife and Palm Beach high life while tracking down fugitives. She also struggles to win the respect of her fellow officers. Karen occasionally gets advice from her father, a retired Miami police officer turned private investigator, who is Karen’s confidant, counselor, and confessor. The show ran in the same time slot as the 14th season of NBC's Law & Order , drawing less than half the audience during its opening weeks, ^[1] losing audience until it drew less than one third the viewership of Law & Order before it was cancelled. ^[2]

In 2012, Gugino reprised her role, now as an Assistant Director with the Marshals Service, in a third season episode of Justified . In 2013, TV Guide included the series in its list of 60 shows that were "Canceled Too Soon". ^[3] In 2012, Gugino reprised her role, now an Assistant Director with the Marshals Service, in a third season episode of Justified .

Character history

Prior to the events of the series, the character appeared in two stories:

• "Karen Makes Out", a 1996 short story, available in two collections: Murder for Love, and When the Women Come Out to Dance, and Other Stories
• Out of Sight, a 1996 novel, and 1998 film wherein she was played by Jennifer Lopez, and Marshall Sisco was played by Dennis Farina.

Cast

• Carla Gugino as Karen Sisco
• Robert Forster as Marshall Sisco, Karen's father
• Bill Duke as Amos Andrews, Karen's boss

Recurring

• Jeffrey De Serrano as Edwards
• Frank Pesce as Sonny
• Robert Deacon as Mordecai Jones
• Obba Babatundé as Daniel Burden
• Jake Mailey as Jethro

Production

Jason Smilovic and Peter Lefcourt were co-executive producers and writers, with Smilovic having developed the series. Scott Frank, nominated for an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for Out of Sight, served as an executive consultant.

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date	Viewers (millions)
1	"Blown Away"	Michael Dinner	Story by : Elmore Leonard Teleplay by : Bob Brush	October 1, 2003 (2003-10-01)	9.13 [4]
2	"Dumb Bunnies"	Jeremy Kagan	John Mankiewicz	October 8, 2003 (2003-10-08)	8.03 [1]
3	"The One That Got Away"	Michael Dinner	Jason Smilovic	October 15, 2003 (2003-10-15)	7.86 [5]
4	"Justice"	John David Coles	Story by : Charles H. Eglee Teleplay by : Robert Palm	October 22, 2003 (2003-10-22)	7.06 [6]
5	"Nostalgia"	Steve Miner	Jason Smilovic	October 29, 2003 (2003-10-29)	7.68 [7]
6	"Dear Derwood"	Charles Haid	Story by : Bob Brush Teleplay by : Peter Lefcourt & Jason Smilovic	November 5, 2003 (2003-11-05)	6.62 [8]
7	"Nobody's Perfect"	Michael Katleman	Peter Lefcourt	November 12, 2003 (2003-11-12)	6.70 [2]
8	"Dog Day Sisco"	Rick Wallace	Sebastian Gutierrez	March 31, 2004 (2004-03-31)	NA [a]
9	"No One's Girl"	David Carson	John Landgraf	April 7, 2004 (2004-04-07)	NA [a]
10	"He Was a Friend of Mine"	Kathryn Bigelow	Peter Lefcourt	April 14, 2004 (2004-04-14)	NA [a]

Connections to other media

Gugino appeared as "Karen Goodall" in the second episode of the third season of Justified , which is also based on a work by Leonard. ^[9] There, the character had been promoted to Assistant Director in the Marshals Service, and had married and divorced, taking and keeping the last name Goodall. This name change was necessary as FX did not own the rights to the Karen Sisco character, or her stories. ^[10]

Notes

1. Not applicable, burned off during the late-night television block, no prime time viewership.

References

1. "National Nielsen Viewership (Oct. 6-12)". The Los Angeles Times . October 15, 2003. Retrieved August 28, 2021– via Newspapers.com. #9 Law & Order NBC 16.47 million… #65 Karen Sisco ABC 8.03 million
2. "National Nielsen Viewership (Nov. 10-16)". The Los Angeles Times . November 19, 2003. Retrieved August 28, 2021– via Newspapers.com. #7 Law & Order NBC 18.92 million… #81 Karen Sisco ABC 6.70 million
3. Roush, Matt (June 3, 2013). "Canceled Too Soon". TV Guide . pp. 20 and 21
4. "National Nielsen Viewership (Sep. 29–Oct. 5)". The Los Angeles Times . October 8, 2003. Retrieved August 28, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
5. "National Nielsen Viewership (Oct. 13-19)". The Los Angeles Times . October 22, 2003. Retrieved August 28, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
6. "National Nielsen Viewership (Oct. 20-26)". The Los Angeles Times . October 29, 2003. Retrieved August 28, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
7. "National Nielsen Viewership (Oct. 27-Nov. 2)". The Los Angeles Times . November 5, 2003. Retrieved August 28, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
8. "National Nielsen Viewership (Nov. 3-9)". The Los Angeles Times . November 12, 2003. Retrieved August 28, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
9. "Justified Recap: The Karen Sisco That Dare Not Speak Its Name". January 25, 2012.
10. "'Justified' recap: Carla Gugino, an Elmore Leonard favorite, brings some sizzle". January 24, 2012. Archived from the original on August 26, 2021. Retrieved August 16, 2019.

External links

• Karen Sisco at IMDb