met with NBC Entertainment president Brandon Tartikoff in 1987 and pitched a story about a lawyer who avoids going to court, on a number of other projects before suggesting they work together to create a new TV series. The pilot movie, written by Sayles and aired on NBC on June 4, 1989, introduced an element of film noir that continued throughout the series. This was further enhanced by a haunting jazz score for the pilot by Wynton Marsalis, who also provided the theme music. Sayles received a 1990 Edgar Award for his screenplay for the pilot. Once the show got picked up as a series, Sayles directed one of the episodes, and had a cameo appearance in the "Words to Music" episode as a jealous boyfriend who gets into a confrontation with Shannon. The show took a cynical view of the legal system, as Sayles told Entertainment Weekly: "Shannon's a fixer. There are very few clear-cut victories in his life, and one of the few he gets is that his clients don't go to court. You can like Shannon, but you can't always come away thinking that [he] did the right thing or [he] won this one." Broadcast Shannon's Deal was picked up as a regular series after the ratings success of the TV movie. On Friday, April 13, 1990, NBC reaired the movie pilot at 9/8C, and the following Monday at 10/9C, the series officially premiered. Counting the movie pilot as the first two episodes, the show initially ran a small spring season of eight episodes. NBC changed its timeslot around a few times during this run, but the ratings were not too adversely affected, so a second season was awarded to the show. The series did not return with new episodes until Sunday, March 23, 1991, followed by its permanent move to Tuesdays at 10/9C in the first week of April. The new timeslot, coupled with NBC putting off the new season for many months, caused a massive ratings decline. After the last completed episode of the second season aired on May 21, 1991, Shannon's Deal was cancelled. A total of 14 episodes aired, along with the original television film. Reception Critical response Entertainment Weekly gave the show a "B" rating and Ken Tucker wrote, "Right now, Shannon's Deal remains an intriguing show with first-rate acting by Sheridan and Peña, but they could use some behind-the-scenes help". In