Apparently inspired by the success of the 2001 remake of Ocean's 11 and its sequels, the NBC series Heist spent its entire first season following a gang of clever and charismatic criminals as they prepared to rob three Rodeo Drive jewelers simultaneously on the eve of the annual Academy Awards ceremony. Dougray Scott played ringleader Mickey O'Neil, who engaged the series of a team of "specialists" -- chief among them Lola (Marika Dominczyk) and Ricky (David Walton) -- to carry out his elaborate scheme. As O'Neill's team pulled off a series of smaller robberies to finance the big caper, police detective Amy Sykes (Michele Hicks) began to dog their trail, determined to gather enough evidence to throw the gang into the clink before anything else was stolen. Alas, Amy was hampered not only by her squabbling partners, Tyrese Evans (Reno Wilson) and Billy O'Brien (Billy Gardell), but also by the fact that she had fallen in love with O'Neill. Others in the cast included Steve Harris as James Johnson, O'Neill's best friend/severest critic/sounding board, and Seymour Cassel as veteran career criminal Pops. To boost its initial ratings, Heist was unveiled by NBC on March 22, 2006, in the Wednesday-night time slot usually reserved for the league-leading Law & Order.
by Hal Erickson
synopsis
