3/4  Insanely Funny!
Roy Munson was a bowling champion in the late 1970s. Roy retires after a dirty trick pulled by Ernie McCracken costs him to lose his hand. Roy becomes an alcoholic and sinks very low going as far as sleeping with his repellent, disgusting ... (read full)

1.5/4  Kingpin Quick Review
This was so over-the-top gross I had to look away.

2/4  Kingpin Quick Review
Has its moments, but seems to stretch too far for a joke or gross-out gag. Anything combining Amish life and pro bowling is bound to be funny at times, but it seems too forced to be anything better than average.

1.5/4  Kingpin Quick Review
I was expecting much better. Somehow it seemed like the Farrelly Bros.' least funny movie to me. Maybe it's because I don't like bowling :(

3/5 Kingpin... Well it has a tiger.
  by Julian Kennedy (St Pete Florida)
Kingpin: 5 out of 10: As seen on NBC and inexplicably spread over three DVDs, The six hour mini-epic Kingpin is now available to all those who blinked and missed it. Visually stunning with great sets and production values Kingpin certainly looks great. The story is another matter.

Scarface minus The Godfather plus American Family then mix thoroughly with network standards and practices and you really have a mess. This story cries truly for more sex and violence.

The acting is a mixed bag with Yancey Arias giving a great performance as the head guy. Sheryl Lee chewing scenery as his shrewish Anglo wife and most embarrassingly Brian Benben hopelessly miscast as an indebted mule/plastic surgeon. Yep it is Nip/Tuck meets The Shield without the grittiness of either as well as a lot of unsubtitled Spanish to wade through.

After you watch the first twenty minutes you will say to yourself hey this is really cool. Do yourself a favor and turn off the TV. It is the only way to preserve the feeling.



4/5 KING PIN is worth watchiing
  by Terrence A. Henderson (WISCONSIN)
King Pin is a violent take on the leaders if a mexican drug cartel. Alot here call it Mexican Sopranos and thats a fair analogy. This was the only season of the show and When you view it like I did over a couople of days You kinda wish there was more . The fact there wasnt means NBC gave up on this series before the audiences found it . It would of been better served on a cable station like HBO but NBC gave this one good actors and nice production values. Plot was good and full of violence and sex and of course Family ties. Take a peek at this if you like the topic and You will likely be pleased. Overall...thumbs UP

5/5 love it
  by Katherine Treiber (moses lake wa usa)
i loved the show when it aired of tv and i love the product now it is so good.

5/5 Too bad it was canceled
  by M. Kazmierczak (Washington, DC)
Finally NBC tries something a little cutting edge (even if a blatant copycat of other mafia shows) and what do they do, cancel it. No wonder they are no longer top dog.

4/5 SOUTH OF THE BORDER SOPRANOS
  by Mark Turner
Miguel Cadena (Yancy Aria) is a young American educated Mexican in the employ of one of the biggest drug runners in the country. This mini-series tells his story not only directly through his eyes, but through the lived of those his business touches as well.

When the drug lord goes insane and finds a price on his head, Miquel and his brother take matters into their own hands. Seeing the time is ripe to make their move, they take out their boss and attempt to maneuver themselves into his role. Just to insure things, they take out his son, the next in line as well.

But their plan gets twisted when the boss' brother comes out of retirement for the time being to run things. Even with him in charge, the pair make moves to increase not only their business, but their power as well.

As all of this goes one, we are also brought into the family life of Miguel. His wife (Sheryl Lee) is a high powered attorney who helps him in many of the decisions he must make. The pair is the doting parents of a young son, a boy they insure knows nothing of their lifestyle or business ventures.

As members of the organization move to take over and win their place at the table, Miguel must maneuver his way around them as often as he does the law. He does so with a smooth style, an ease, a coolness that reveals him to be more deadly an adversary than most would give him credit for.

Other plot lines? How about the plastic surgeon going through a nasty divorce who wants to divest himself from dealing drugs? All he needs to do is dispense with his last shipment and pay off what he owes. This leads to a hip hop record producer who uses the load to finance his dreams of making the big time. And he in turn connects with a DEA agent on the skids with the department after having lost a partner and being wounded by a drug dealer.....who works for Miguel. See how nicely these pieces all come together?

The story is believable and fascinating to watch. It's like seeing the strategies of a chess game made plain and understandable, feeling compelled to watch until the next move is played, and then waiting for the next and the next and the next. Which leaves you feeling a void once the show is over because it doesn't actually end! This was a series on NBC for a while that never seemed to draw in the ratings it deserved. Now we'll have to wait and see if they actually finish the story!

The last time this topic was given any intriguing attention was in the book by James Mills THE UNDERGROUND EMPIRE, which told the story of three individuals involved in the drug trade and where it took them. This show captures that feeling of being a part of the story and going behind the scenes. It makes for interesting viewing and dynamite television. Had it been given a chance to find it's core audience on a cable station, this show would have rivaled THE SOPRANOS for best crime family drama.