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* PrisonersDilemma: In an episode Tony uses the dilemma to trap a couple of killers. He has them brought in and kept for hours without food or drink. He explains the dilemma to one, who won't talk, so Tony lets him go. Then he has the DA go into the other holding room and offer the second guy whatever food he wants. The first guy sees the second guy through the office window, with the DA frantically scribbling down what he's saying, and thinks that the second guy is ratting him out, so the first guy blames the second one for the actual murder.
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* ShootHimHeHasAWallet: Both subverted and played straight. Commissioner Scali and his Chief of Detectives are going undercover to gather evidence against a pornographer. At one point the pornographer reaches under his coat, the detective draws his gun shouting "Don't move!" only for it to be a cigar case. At the end of the episode they've no evidence against the pornographer, even though he indirectly caused the death of their friend's daughter. The pornographer is smirking at this, and reaches for a cigar to celebrate whereupon the detective shouts "Don't move!" and shoots him. Although the only other witness (a police officer who entered the room at that moment) backs up his statement that the criminal appeared to be reaching for a gun, Scali knows the truth and insists that the detective leave his department.
to:
* ShootHimHeHasAWallet: Both subverted and played straight. Commissioner Scali and his Chief of Detectives Pentangeli are going undercover to gather evidence against a pornographer. At one point the pornographer reaches under his coat, the detective Pentangeli draws his gun shouting "Don't move!" only for it to be a cigar case. At the end of the episode they've no evidence against the pornographer, even though he indirectly caused the death of their friend's daughter. The pornographer is smirking at this, and reaches for a cigar to celebrate whereupon the detective Pentangeli shouts "Don't move!" and shoots him. Although the only other witness (a police officer who entered the room at that moment) backs up his statement that the criminal appeared to be reaching for a gun, Scali knows the truth and insists that the detective Pentangeli leave his department.
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* RapeAsDrama: The local football hero rapes the Scali's behavior. Sure enough, an investigation reveals he's had complaints filed against him before.
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* AnachronisticClue: Tony tries to prove to the press that his name and sexual preferences appeared in a madam's rolodex only after he had arrested her. He takes a polygraph and passes, but people still aren't convinced, so he gets an ink expert from the FBI to test the card and prove that the ink was less than 48 hours old, created after he had arrested the madam.
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* TwoWordsICantCount: One episode opens with Tony on the phone to a friend inviting him out to dinner, when the friend refuses, Tony wants to know why. The friend attempts to be succinct, by using "forget about it" as one word.
-->'''Friend:''' One word: Forget about it.
-->'''Friend:''' One word: Forget about it.
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* PopCulturalOsmosisFailure: Tony overhears his son talking to a friend, hoping that he'll get Crash Test Dummies as a gift. Tony, being the loving father he is, buys his son ''actual'' crash test dummies rather than the Music/CrashTestDummies' latest CD.
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* ShoutOut: In the rapist diplomat episode referenced above, the Ambassador from the country is named [[Film/DuckSoup Trentino]].
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* ForgottenFallenFriend: When Tony's best friend Paulie comes to visit him (and eventually becomes his Chief of Detectives) they reminisce about their youth in Bensonhurst, where the two of them always planned to become cops together. In the fifth season they return to their old neighborhood and visit with their friend Vinny's widow, where we suddenly discover that the ''three'' of them planned to become cops together - and they did, with Vinny being killed in action in his late 20s.
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* HairTodayGoneTomorrow: In flashbacks to their younger days Tony has a full head of hair and Paulie has a natty mustache.
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* CatchPhrase: Tony's smug "Gotcha" when he nabs a perp (usually in the comic relief case of the week, not the serious ones), and "Beautiful!"
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* DiplomaticImpunity: In "Sleep of the Just", the rapist was a diplomat. At one stage the police decide to harass him by ticketting for obscure and long-obsolete violations of the law, like sneezing in public (it frightens the horses).
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* DiplomaticImpunity: DiplomaticImpunity:
** In a first season episode Tony jails a Cuban diplomat on the grounds that Eastbridge isn't in the US, it's in "Tonyland." He gets chewed out by an old friend who is now with the state department and is forced to let him go.
** In "Sleep of the Just", the rapist was a diplomat. At one stage the police decide to harass him by ticketting for obscure and long-obsolete violations of the law, like sneezing in public (it frightens the horses).
** In a first season episode Tony jails a Cuban diplomat on the grounds that Eastbridge isn't in the US, it's in "Tonyland." He gets chewed out by an old friend who is now with the state department and is forced to let him go.
** In "Sleep of the Just", the rapist was a diplomat. At one stage the police decide to harass him by ticketting for obscure and long-obsolete violations of the law, like sneezing in public (it frightens the horses).
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* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Perhaps inadvertantly, the assassination of a white supremacist leader plays out ''a lot'' like the assassination of UsefulNotes/MartinLutherKingJr
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* NaziGrandpa: The final episode of the series involves a Jewish concentration camp survivor who turns out to actually have been one of the Nazis in charge of the camp, and who is involved in a white supremacist group attacking synagogues. When asked why he did it his only reply is "Because they're Jewish." His daughter, who believed the concentration camp story, is apalled.
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how\'d that get in there?
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* EmbarrassingFirstName: Cyd Madison's first name is Cydavia. Call her that and she ''will'' shoot you.l
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* EmbarrassingFirstName: Cyd Madison's first name is Cydavia. Call her that and she ''will'' shoot you.l
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* EmbarrassingFirstName: Cyd Madison's first name is Cydavia. Call her that and she ''will'' shoot you.l
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* GenderMisdirection: Done InUniverse, where Tony's new NumberTwo is a female but his wife doesn't realize that until she meets her, because Tony always refers to her as "Syd."
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* GenderMisdirection: Done InUniverse, where Tony's new NumberTwo is a female but his wife doesn't realize that until she meets her, because Tony always refers to her as "Syd." "Cyd" which Rachel hears as "Sid," a common enough male name.
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* OneSteveLimit: In the episode where Tony coaches his son's basketball team, three of the team members are named Steve.
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* RatsInABox: In this case the guilty party was the one who fell asleep in the prison cell (apparently {{Truth in Television}} as it was mentioned in the non-fiction book ''Homicide: A Year On The Killing Streets''. Based on the idea that the others don't know why they've been arrested, but the guilty party is resigned to the fact that he's been caught).
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* RatsInABox: In this case the guilty party was the one who fell asleep in the prison cell (apparently {{Truth in Television}} as it was mentioned in the non-fiction book ''Homicide: A Year On The Killing Streets''. Based on the idea that the others don't know why they've been arrested, but the guilty party is resigned to the fact that he's been caught). Tony calls it a "Brooklyn Invertivew."
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* LovingDetails: As Tony is talking about the case of the week with his wife, she mentions that it must be particularly vexing for him because he's absentmindedly playing with his wedding ring while he talks about it, which is something he always does when he's annoyed by a case. This serves as Tony's EurekaMoment for the case: a man whom they have arrested for murder claims that his wife set him up to take the fall, but she claims that they're not married and he was her stalker. Tony asks him to identify something that "only a husband would know," and he mentions that his wife hates to see a cup away from its saucer—if he walks around with a cup, his wife follows along with the saucer to make sure they stay together. Tony visits the woman and asks for a cup of coffee, then wanders around her place and she follows along with the saucer.
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* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: During the first season Rachel's na'er-do-well brother Arnie is staying with the Scalis. He gets written out, but in the final episode of the series when Rachel's father dies he's not at the funeral; nor are any of Rachel's occasionally mentioned sisters.
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* MrSmith: Spoofed. The coroner slides open a fridge labelled "John Doe" and is outraged to discover an illegally-shot doe the police commissioner is holding for evidence.
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* MrSmith: Spoofed. The coroner slides open a fridge labelled "John Doe" and is outraged to discover an illegally-shot doe deer the police commissioner is holding for evidence.
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* InappropriateHunger: The intro shows Tony snacking on pizza while eating a book titled ''Tissue Decomposition: A Homicide Primer".
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* InappropriateHunger: The intro shows Tony snacking on pizza while eating a sandwich while reading a book titled entitled: ''Tissue Decomposition: A Homicide Primer".Primer''.
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* ForcedOutOfTheCloset: An off-duty closeted police officer is a witness to a gay bashing incident. Tony strongly encourages him to write up a report, which the officer says will force him out. He does so, and then is beaten by the same group of gay bashers.
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* NoWarrantNoProblem: ZigZagged in an episode when Tony is faced with an illegal search dilemma during the hunt for a stolen baby. He's reasonably sure he's at the right house, but he can't wait for a search warrant. If he goes in without a warrant the search will be illegal and the perp will walk, but if he waits the baby could die (it has a rare condition and needs its medicine). He tries to play the "did you hear that?" game with his supporting officers but realizes he's too honest for that. He busts in anyway and finds the baby.
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* MistakenForProstitute: A prostitution ring is uncovered when a businessman orders a blonde dressed as a police officer, and runs into a HotCop in the hotel lobby. She's a brunette but he's too excited to care. He asks to be arrested as part of the roleplay. She happily obliges.
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Correction to Mountains of Illinois; the show isn\'t set on Long Island.
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* TheMountainsOfIllinois: ''The Commish'' was supposedly set on Long Island, but one ChaseScene showed the Rocky Mountains prominently in the background.
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* TheMountainsOfIllinois: ''The Commish'' was supposedly set on Long Island, but one ChaseScene Chase Scene showed the Rocky Mountains prominently in the background.background. (the show is in upstate New York in the Hudson Valley, which definitely has mountains; just nothing as impressive as the Rockies)
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[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/commish_5810.jpg]]
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''The Commish'' was a television series that aired on ABC in the United States from 1991 to 1996. The series focused on the work and home life of a suburban police commissioner in upstate New York.
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''The Commish'' was a television series that aired on ABC Creator/{{ABC}} in the United States from 1991 to 1996. The series focused on the work and home life of a suburban police commissioner in upstate New York.
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The series starred {{Michael Chiklis}} as Tony Scali, a police commissioner in the small upstate New York town of Eastbridge, who worked through problems with humor and creativity more often than with violence or force. The show focused as much on Tony's family situation as on police drama. The series often dealt with a wide range of topical social issues such as racism, homophobia, drug addiction, disabilities, child abuse, illegal immigrants, and sexual harassment. The series lasted five years.
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The series starred {{Michael Chiklis}} Creator/MichaelChiklis as Tony Scali, a police commissioner in the small upstate New York town of Eastbridge, who worked through problems with humor and creativity more often than with violence or force. The show focused as much on Tony's family situation as on police drama. The series often dealt with a wide range of topical social issues such as racism, homophobia, drug addiction, disabilities, child abuse, illegal immigrants, and sexual harassment. The series lasted five years.
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* YouWouldMakeAGreatModel: There is an episode with a professional photographer who works for a couple of questionable papers which require shots of underage (though not child: ages 14-18) models. What many find too late: [[spoiler:he also works for a child porn ring]]. The girl who used to babysit the Commissioner's son is among the victims...
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* YouWouldMakeAGreatModel: There is an episode with a professional photographer who works for a couple of questionable papers which require shots of underage (though not child: ages 14-18) models. What many find too late: [[spoiler:he also works for a child porn ring]]. The girl who used to babysit the Commissioner's son is among the victims...victims...
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* InappropriateHunger: The intro shows Tony snacking on pizza while eating a book titled ''Tissue Decomposition: A Homicide Primer".
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* RazorApples: There was an episode where someone was giving out poisoned candy, so the Tony had his son go out trick-or-treating, which they then tested one piece at a time as it was gotten. Turned out it was a neighbor of Tony's.
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* RazorApples: There was an episode where someone was giving out poisoned candy, so the Tony had his son go out trick-or-treating, which they then tested one piece at a time as it was gotten. Turned out it was a neighbor of Tony's.
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* Playing Gertrude: Michael Chiklis was only 28 years old when the show began. It's implied that the character is closer to 40.
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* Playing Gertrude: PlayingGertrude: Michael Chiklis was only 28 years old when the show began. It's implied that the character is closer to 40.
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* Playing Gertrude: Michael Chiklis was only 28 years old when the show began. It's implied that the character is closer to 40.
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''The Commish'' was a television series that aired on ABC in the United States from 1991 to 1996. The series focused on the work and home life of a suburban police commissioner in upstate New York.
The series starred {{Michael Chiklis}} as Tony Scali, a police commissioner in the small upstate New York town of Eastbridge, who worked through problems with humor and creativity more often than with violence or force. The show focused as much on Tony's family situation as on police drama. The series often dealt with a wide range of topical social issues such as racism, homophobia, drug addiction, disabilities, child abuse, illegal immigrants, and sexual harassment. The series lasted five years.
!!''The Commish'' provides examples of:
* AndThereWasMuchRejoicing: One episode had two police officers agonizing endlessly over the best way to break a death notice to a man's family, only to find they're overjoyed about his death.
* BaldOfAwesome: Tony
* CrookedContractor
* DiplomaticImpunity: In "Sleep of the Just", the rapist was a diplomat. At one stage the police decide to harass him by ticketting for obscure and long-obsolete violations of the law, like sneezing in public (it frightens the horses).
* EvenEvilHasStandards: One episode involves a mob boss's son being killed in a police shootout. Tony's son David is then kidnapped. He's returned after the mob boss learns that two guys in his organization kidnapped him and the mob boss has them killed because he doesn't harm children.
* GenderMisdirection: Done InUniverse, where Tony's new NumberTwo is a female but his wife doesn't realize that until she meets her, because Tony always refers to her as "Syd."
* HappilyMarried: Tony
* JailBake: Tony gets jailed for Contempt of Court by a judge he suspects is on the take. He moves his office down to the cells and conducts business as usual. His wife comes by to check up on him and gives him a cake. She baked a file into it as a joke.
* TheMountainsOfIllinois: ''The Commish'' was supposedly set on Long Island, but one ChaseScene showed the Rocky Mountains prominently in the background.
* MrSmith: Spoofed. The coroner slides open a fridge labelled "John Doe" and is outraged to discover an illegally-shot doe the police commissioner is holding for evidence.
* OrAreYouJustHappyToSeeMe: In a dream episode set in an old crime-noir setting, the main character pulls a gun out of his pocket. To which, the femme fatale responds, "That was a gun? I thought you were just happy to see me!".
* RatsInABox: In this case the guilty party was the one who fell asleep in the prison cell (apparently {{Truth in Television}} as it was mentioned in the non-fiction book ''Homicide: A Year On The Killing Streets''. Based on the idea that the others don't know why they've been arrested, but the guilty party is resigned to the fact that he's been caught).
* RazorApples: There was an episode where someone was giving out poisoned candy, so the Tony had his son go out trick-or-treating, which they then tested one piece at a time as it was gotten. Turned out it was a neighbor of Tony's.
* SexSlave: One episode has a 15 year old girl (who used to be the babysitter of the Commissioner's son) is forced into doing porno films. ''And'' pleasing the boss.
* ShootHimHeHasAWallet: Both subverted and played straight. Commissioner Scali and his Chief of Detectives are going undercover to gather evidence against a pornographer. At one point the pornographer reaches under his coat, the detective draws his gun shouting "Don't move!" only for it to be a cigar case. At the end of the episode they've no evidence against the pornographer, even though he indirectly caused the death of their friend's daughter. The pornographer is smirking at this, and reaches for a cigar to celebrate whereupon the detective shouts "Don't move!" and shoots him. Although the only other witness (a police officer who entered the room at that moment) backs up his statement that the criminal appeared to be reaching for a gun, Scali knows the truth and insists that the detective leave his department.
* SpotTheImposter: The plot is used with twin brothers confessing to the same crime. The real murderer is uncovered because he's dyslexic, and when telling his brother about the crime he passed on his incorrect reading of a sign.
* StripperCopConfusion: One episode's teaser featured a gentleman who had ordered a prostitute dressed for a cop, waiting to meet her in a hotel lobby. He encounters a real (female) cop instead. We never get to see the payoff - roll opening credits and commercial; when the episode 'proper' starts, we get a glimpse of him handcuffed to a chair in the booking area as the camera pans by.
* VigilanteMan: Desconstructed. One episode features a vigilante who tapes his acts and sends them to the press. At first, his actions are relatively innocuous (running criminals off the road, then humiliating them), and even the cops are cheering him on. Commissioner Tony, however, thinks the guy is bad news. He's proven correct later when the police arrest a man for a brutal rape/murder, then release him after realizing he's innocent. The vigilante, wrongly believing the innocent man got OffOnATechnicality, goes to the guy's home and clubs him to death. The vigilante then becomes the cops' target for the rest of the episode.
* YoureNotMyType: One of the officers is outed as gay and the others start giving him a hard time. At one point he says, "What, are you afraid I'm gonna come on to you? News flash, you're not my type."
* YouWouldMakeAGreatModel: There is an episode with a professional photographer who works for a couple of questionable papers which require shots of underage (though not child: ages 14-18) models. What many find too late: [[spoiler:he also works for a child porn ring]]. The girl who used to babysit the Commissioner's son is among the victims...
The series starred {{Michael Chiklis}} as Tony Scali, a police commissioner in the small upstate New York town of Eastbridge, who worked through problems with humor and creativity more often than with violence or force. The show focused as much on Tony's family situation as on police drama. The series often dealt with a wide range of topical social issues such as racism, homophobia, drug addiction, disabilities, child abuse, illegal immigrants, and sexual harassment. The series lasted five years.
!!''The Commish'' provides examples of:
* AndThereWasMuchRejoicing: One episode had two police officers agonizing endlessly over the best way to break a death notice to a man's family, only to find they're overjoyed about his death.
* BaldOfAwesome: Tony
* CrookedContractor
* DiplomaticImpunity: In "Sleep of the Just", the rapist was a diplomat. At one stage the police decide to harass him by ticketting for obscure and long-obsolete violations of the law, like sneezing in public (it frightens the horses).
* EvenEvilHasStandards: One episode involves a mob boss's son being killed in a police shootout. Tony's son David is then kidnapped. He's returned after the mob boss learns that two guys in his organization kidnapped him and the mob boss has them killed because he doesn't harm children.
* GenderMisdirection: Done InUniverse, where Tony's new NumberTwo is a female but his wife doesn't realize that until she meets her, because Tony always refers to her as "Syd."
* HappilyMarried: Tony
* JailBake: Tony gets jailed for Contempt of Court by a judge he suspects is on the take. He moves his office down to the cells and conducts business as usual. His wife comes by to check up on him and gives him a cake. She baked a file into it as a joke.
* TheMountainsOfIllinois: ''The Commish'' was supposedly set on Long Island, but one ChaseScene showed the Rocky Mountains prominently in the background.
* MrSmith: Spoofed. The coroner slides open a fridge labelled "John Doe" and is outraged to discover an illegally-shot doe the police commissioner is holding for evidence.
* OrAreYouJustHappyToSeeMe: In a dream episode set in an old crime-noir setting, the main character pulls a gun out of his pocket. To which, the femme fatale responds, "That was a gun? I thought you were just happy to see me!".
* RatsInABox: In this case the guilty party was the one who fell asleep in the prison cell (apparently {{Truth in Television}} as it was mentioned in the non-fiction book ''Homicide: A Year On The Killing Streets''. Based on the idea that the others don't know why they've been arrested, but the guilty party is resigned to the fact that he's been caught).
* RazorApples: There was an episode where someone was giving out poisoned candy, so the Tony had his son go out trick-or-treating, which they then tested one piece at a time as it was gotten. Turned out it was a neighbor of Tony's.
* SexSlave: One episode has a 15 year old girl (who used to be the babysitter of the Commissioner's son) is forced into doing porno films. ''And'' pleasing the boss.
* ShootHimHeHasAWallet: Both subverted and played straight. Commissioner Scali and his Chief of Detectives are going undercover to gather evidence against a pornographer. At one point the pornographer reaches under his coat, the detective draws his gun shouting "Don't move!" only for it to be a cigar case. At the end of the episode they've no evidence against the pornographer, even though he indirectly caused the death of their friend's daughter. The pornographer is smirking at this, and reaches for a cigar to celebrate whereupon the detective shouts "Don't move!" and shoots him. Although the only other witness (a police officer who entered the room at that moment) backs up his statement that the criminal appeared to be reaching for a gun, Scali knows the truth and insists that the detective leave his department.
* SpotTheImposter: The plot is used with twin brothers confessing to the same crime. The real murderer is uncovered because he's dyslexic, and when telling his brother about the crime he passed on his incorrect reading of a sign.
* StripperCopConfusion: One episode's teaser featured a gentleman who had ordered a prostitute dressed for a cop, waiting to meet her in a hotel lobby. He encounters a real (female) cop instead. We never get to see the payoff - roll opening credits and commercial; when the episode 'proper' starts, we get a glimpse of him handcuffed to a chair in the booking area as the camera pans by.
* VigilanteMan: Desconstructed. One episode features a vigilante who tapes his acts and sends them to the press. At first, his actions are relatively innocuous (running criminals off the road, then humiliating them), and even the cops are cheering him on. Commissioner Tony, however, thinks the guy is bad news. He's proven correct later when the police arrest a man for a brutal rape/murder, then release him after realizing he's innocent. The vigilante, wrongly believing the innocent man got OffOnATechnicality, goes to the guy's home and clubs him to death. The vigilante then becomes the cops' target for the rest of the episode.
* YoureNotMyType: One of the officers is outed as gay and the others start giving him a hard time. At one point he says, "What, are you afraid I'm gonna come on to you? News flash, you're not my type."
* YouWouldMakeAGreatModel: There is an episode with a professional photographer who works for a couple of questionable papers which require shots of underage (though not child: ages 14-18) models. What many find too late: [[spoiler:he also works for a child porn ring]]. The girl who used to babysit the Commissioner's son is among the victims...
