Once a Thief (TV series)
Encyclopedia
Once a Thief was a 1997 Canadian television show inspired by the 1996 film of the same name.
who grew up amongst the Chinese
Tang family - a ruthless criminal operation - falls in love with Mac Ramsey, a thief who works for the family. However, when she is betrothed to Tang heir Michael, the two fake their deaths in an attempt to flee the country. Li Ann escapes, but Mac is arrested and left to rot in a Chinese prison.
Two years later, he is released and taken to Canada
where a mysterious woman known as the Director employs him to work for her crime-fighting institution. He soon learns that he will be working as part of a team with Li Ann, and the man she was engaged to, Victor Mansfield, a disgraced police officer. The trio soon are forced to work together under the manipulative Director.
After the success of the 1996 film, which was used as a pilot for the series, Glenn Davis and William Laurin created the series, which premiered in September 1997, with John Woo
as executive producer. The show started out with strong ratings, which quickly fell, and 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 it was not renewed, a fact which the producers were informed of before filming the last episodes of the series.
released John Woo's Once a Thief: The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1 (Canada only) for the very first time.
of other TV shows and film genres:
Premise
Li Ann Tsei, an orphanOrphan
An orphan is a child permanently bereaved of or abandoned by his or her parents. In common usage, only a child who has lost both parents is called an orphan...
who grew up amongst the Chinese
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
Tang family - a ruthless criminal operation - falls in love with Mac Ramsey, a thief who works for the family. However, when she is betrothed to Tang heir Michael, the two fake their deaths in an attempt to flee the country. Li Ann escapes, but Mac is arrested and left to rot in a Chinese prison.
Two years later, he is released and taken to Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
where a mysterious woman known as the Director employs him to work for her crime-fighting institution. He soon learns that he will be working as part of a team with Li Ann, and the man she was engaged to, Victor Mansfield, a disgraced police officer. The trio soon are forced to work together under the manipulative Director.
After the success of the 1996 film, which was used as a pilot for the series, Glenn Davis and William Laurin created the series, which premiered in September 1997, with John Woo
John Woo
John Woo Yu-Sen SBS is a Hong Kong-based film director and producer. Recognized for his stylised films of highly choreographed action sequences, Mexican standoffs, and use of slow-motion, Woo has directed several notable Hong Kong action films, among them, A Better Tomorrow, The Killer, Hard...
as executive producer. The show started out with strong ratings, which quickly fell, and 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 it was not renewed, a fact which the producers were informed of before filming the last episodes of the series.
Main cast
- Sandrine HoltSandrine HoltSandrine Holt is a British-born Eurasian Canadian model turned actress.-Early life:Holt was born Sandrine Ho in London, England to a Chinese father and a French mother. At age five, she and her family moved to Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which has remained her hometown. Holt attended St...
as Li Ann Tsei - Nicholas LeaNicholas LeaNicholas Lea is a Canadian actor best known for his portrayal of Alex Krycek on The X-Files and on Kyle XY playing Tom Foss.-Biography:...
as Victor Mansfield - Ivan SergeiIvan SergeiIvan Sergei is an American actor known for his work in television.-Personal life:Sergei was born Ivan Sergei Gaudio in Hawthorne, New Jersey, and is of Dutch and Italian descent. Ivan attended Hawthorne High School, where he was a member of the graduating class of 1989, and was a quarterback on...
as Mac Ramsey - and Jennifer DaleJennifer DaleJennifer Dale, née Ciurluini , is a Canadian television, dancer, and actress.- Early life :She is the sister of Canadian actress Cynthia Dale...
as The Director
Recurring Cast
- Robert ItoRobert ItoRobert Ito is a Canadian voice, television, and movie actor of Japanese decent.A Canadian actor of Japanese descent, Ito was, for many years, a dancer with the National Ballet of Canada before turning to acting in the mid-1960s...
as the Tang Godfather - Michael WongMichael Wong (actor)Michael Fitzgerald Wong aka Wong Man-Tak is a Chinese-American and a Hong Kong based actor, director, singer and producer.He is fluent in English, but not so in Chinese, which is reflected in many of the characters he has portrayed. His most notable film is the 1998 film Beast Cops which won a...
as Michael Tang, his son, originally betrothed to Li Ann - Howard Dell as Agent Dobrinsky, the Director's hard-nosed lapdog, played by Nathaniel Deveaux in the movie
- James AllodiJames AllodiJames Allodi is a Canadian actor, writer and director.-Career:James Allodi earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts, with a Major in Film, from New York University. Since then, the writer, director, and actor has amassed an impressive resume of stage, television and film credits...
as Nathan Muckle, the paranoid librarian at the agency who believes everyone but Vic to be aliensExtraterrestrial lifeExtraterrestrial life is defined as life that does not originate from Earth...
. - Greg KramerGreg KramerGreg Kramer is a British-born Canadian author/actor/director/magician. His first novel, The Pursemonger of fugu, published by Riverbank Press in 1995 was shortlisted for the City of Toronto Book Award...
as Mr. Murphy, one of the "cleaners", assassins who makes problems go away. - Julian RichingsJulian RichingsJulian Richings is an English-born Canadian actor. He appeared in over 50 Canadian films and 20 separate television series.-Life and career:...
as Mr. Camier, Murphy's partner. - Victoria PrattVictoria PrattVictoria Ainsle Pratt is a Canadian actress and fitness model. Her television roles include Xena: Warrior Princess, Once a Thief, Cleopatra 2525, Mutant X, and Day Break. Her film roles include House of the Dead 2.-Early life:Pratt attended Chesley District High School in Chesley, Ontario...
as Jackie Janczyk, the daughter of a mob boss, who comes to work for the Agency.
DVD release
On June 21, 2011, Alliance Home EntertainmentAlliance Films
Alliance Films is a major Canadian motion picture distribution/production company, which serves Canada, the United Kingdom, and Spain.-History:It was formed in 1984 by Stephen Roth, Denis Heroux, John Kemeny, Robert Lantos and Jay...
released John Woo's Once a Thief: The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1 (Canada only) for the very first time.
Reception
- 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. In episode 20, there is a reference to the audience's unfavorable reaction to the show: when the Director is told that the trio is coming along well, she replies "that depends on who you talk to."
Allusions
Several episodes are parodiesParody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
of other TV shows and film genres:
- Episode 9, Jaded Love, spoofed black and white mystery movies of the '40s1940sFile:1940s decade montage.png|Above title bar: events which happened during World War II : From left to right: Troops in an LCVP landing craft approaching "Omaha" Beach on "D-Day"; Adolf Hitler visits Paris, soon after the Battle of France; The Holocaust occurred during the war as Nazi Germany...
and '50s1950sThe 1950s or The Fifties was the decade that began on January 1, 1950 and ended on December 31, 1959. The decade was the sixth decade of the 20th century...
. - Episode 18 features several scenes which are parodies of The X-FilesThe X-FilesThe X-Files is an American science fiction television series and a part of The X-Files franchise, created by screenwriter Chris Carter. The program originally aired from to . The show was a hit for the Fox network, and its characters and slogans became popular culture touchstones in the 1990s...
, the show on which Nicholas Lea played Alex Krycek:- The characters of Agent Clancy (Alexa Gilmour) and Agent Diller (Graham AbbeyGraham AbbeyGraham Abbey in Toronto, Ontario is a Canadian film, television and stage actor.- History :...
) are spoofs of Agents MulderFox MulderFBI Special Agent Fox William Mulder is a fictional character and protagonist in the American Fox television shows The X-Files and The Lone Gunmen, two science fiction shows about a government conspiracy to hide or deny the truth of Alien existence. Mulder's peers consider his theories on...
and ScullyDana ScullyFBI Special Agent Dana Katherine Scully, M.D. is a fictional character and protagonist on the Fox television series The X-Files , played by Gillian Anderson. She also appeared in two theatrical films based on the series... - 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 The Lone GunmenThe Lone GunmenThe Lone Gunmen are a trio of fictional characters, Richard "Ringo" Langly, Melvin Frohike and John Fitzgerald Byers, who have recurring roles on the American television series The X-Files. They also starred in a short-lived spin-off, also called The Lone Gunmen. The name was derived from the lone...
-esque figure. - Agent Clancy and Agent Diller have a cell phone conversation like Scully and Mulder often do. However, they are within a few feet of each other and in plain view at the time.
- The characters of Agent Clancy (Alexa Gilmour) and Agent Diller (Graham Abbey
- Episode 19, Shaken Not Stirred, spoofs James BondJames BondJames Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
-esque spy dramas. - Episode 19's subplot, featuring the organisation's assassins Camier and Murphy, is a parody of the Samuel BeckettSamuel BeckettSamuel Barclay Beckett was an Irish avant-garde novelist, playwright, theatre director, and poet. He wrote both in English and French. His work offers a bleak, tragicomic outlook on human nature, often coupled with black comedy and gallows humour.Beckett is widely regarded as among the most...
play Waiting for GodotWaiting for GodotWaiting for Godot is an absurdist play by Samuel Beckett, in which two characters, Vladimir and Estragon, wait endlessly and in vain for someone named Godot to arrive. Godot's absence, as well as numerous other aspects of the play, have led to many different interpretations since the play's...
.