“Imagine the ocean is full of dolphins and Profit is a new kind of shark that looks just like a dolphin. He can maneuver among the dolphins. The other dolphins would say “welcome” in dolphin talk. Then one night he would start eating them.” – John McNamara co-creator of Profit
Profit was a short lived Fox series (airing during April of 1996) that over the years has accumulated a cult following. I happened to catch it back in 1996 when it originally aired and was a big fan of the few episodes I saw. Recently I re-watched it and got to see the episodes that Fox never aired. I would say it doesn’t hold up as nearly as well as i thought it did in my head but its still enjoyable.
On the show Adrian Pasdar stars as Jim Profit who works at the fictional Gracen & Gracen company which is one the most powerful companies in the world. Jim had a traumatic childhood and is pretty much dead inside and a giant manipulator who always manages to stay a few moves ahead of his enemies.
“The game we played in the writers room is what’s the worst thing he could do…and then try to double it.” – John McNamara
When the show starts Jim was just made Junior Vice President of Acquisitions his goal is to be the Head of Acquisitions. He wants power but doesn’t want the publicity. Although from the beginning certain people don’t trust him such as Gracen & Grancen’s Security Chief Joanne Meltze played by Lisa Zane. So you follow Jim as he tries to move up the corporate ladder by anyway means necessary while he is being chased by Joanne and others out to eliminate or arrest him. Also in the picture is Profit’s step mother, Bobbi Stakowski (Lisa Blount), who knows things about his past and is blackmailing him. So it should come to no surprise when Profit takes the new job he ends up blackmailing a secretary, Gail Koner (Lisa Darr), at the company to working for him and doing some of his dirty work.
The show was certainly ahead of its time its kind of a prototype to a show like Dexter. While it might not go as far as Dexter it did push boundaries for its time. Now shows can go much farther on broadcast television and even more so on cable network or premium cable. But Profit was on prime time on Fox and dealing with a sociopath killing people and touching on subjects like a lesbian relationship (controversial for 1996), insest and child abuse. When Profit debuted it was met with critical acclaim but poor ratings. The cast and crew feel that if Fox would have kind of stood by the show and gave it more time to find an audience it would have turned things around. But the ratings were too bad and Fox canceled it not even airing all of the episodes they had shot. The series did air in its entirety in the UK and eventually years later it aired in full on cable in the US.
Profit is entertaining but it does seem dated if you were to watch it now. Also sometimes it is too melodramatic it almost reaches soap opera levels but it never goes that far. Another gripe i have is the voices, Profit and his boss Charles aka Chaz Gracen both have the gravely serious voice. Kind of like Christian Bale did when he was batman in The Dark Knight but they didn’t go that far. But it takes me out of the show at times. Also Lisa Blount gives Bobbi a very southern accent that bugs me, it seems so phony. Also one thing i don’t like is at the beginning or the end of the episode Profit will turn to the camera and talk to the audience. I think breaking the fourth wall is bad decision here. He does it because John McNamara (who is co-creator of Profit along with David Greenwalt) got the idea for Profit when he saw a production of Richard III set in modern times. In Richard III he makes these asides to the audience but im not a fan of it in Profit.
I did like watching to see what Jim Profit will do next and how he will handle problems and its interesting learning about his troubled times as a child that shaped him into the monster he became. Also Lisa Darr as Profit’s secretary Gail did a good job. A lot of the acting in the series is kind of stiff and the characters are two dimensional but you learn more about Gail and she brings a lot to the role.
So overall the show was most likely too ahead of its time. Profit has its flaws but its an entertaining ride of deception and debauchery. In 2005 it was release on DVD which you can buy here. On the DVD there is a documentary where they talk to all the key people, it’s a nice bonus for fans of the show.
