''Hack'' is an American

crime drama Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), dr ...

television series created by

David Koepp David Koepp (; born June 9, 1963) is an American screenwriter and director. He is the fourth most successful screenwriter of all time in terms of U.S. box office receipts with a total gross of over $2.6 billion. Koepp has achieved both critical ...

that aired on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

in the United States from September 27, 2002 to March 13, 2004, having 40 episodes broadcast over two seasons. The series centers on former

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

police officer A police officer (also called policeman or policewoman, cop, officer or constable) is a Warrant (law), warranted law employee of a police, police force. In most countries, ''police officer'' is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. ...

Mike Olshansky ( David Morse), who leaves the force after being accused of corruption and works as a

taxi A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a Driving, driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of thei ...

driver.

Premise

Mike Olshansky, a Philadelphia police officer, leaves the force after being accused of corruption. Although the charges were never clearly proven, Olshansky, riddled with guilt, considers it his duty to make up for his past wrongs by helping those the police will not help. While working as a

driver, Olshansky saves many lives and people by going above and beyond the call of duty, becoming a kind of heroic

vigilante Vigilantism () is the act of preventing, investigating, and punishing perceived offenses and crimes without legal authority. A vigilante is a person who practices or partakes in vigilantism, or undertakes public safety and retributive justice ...

. He receives "inside" help from within the police force from his ex-partner Marcellus Washington, who often comes close to risking his own career. Meanwhile, he tries to repair his relationships and rebuild his life after losing his marriage, his son's admiration, his professional identity and his reputation.

Cast

Cast listed by number of episodes in which they appeared * David Morse as Mike Olshansky *

Andre Braugher Andre Keith Braugher ( ; July 1, 1962 – December 11, 2023) was an American actor known for his roles as Detective Frank Pembleton in the NBC police drama series '' Homicide: Life on the Street'' (1993–1999) and Captain Raymond Holt in the ...

as Marcellus Washington * Matthew Borish as Mikey Olshansky *

George Dzundza George Dzundza ( ; born July 19, 1945) is a retired American actor. He is known for his varied work in film and on television, including '' The Deer Hunter'' (1978), '' Skokie'' (1981), '' No Way Out'' (1987), '' The Beast'' (1988), '' Impulse'' ...

as Father Tom Grzelak (Season 1) *

Donna Murphy Donna Murphy (born March 7, 1959) is an American actress, best known for her work in musical theater. A five-time Tony Award nominee, she has twice won the Tony for Best Actress in a Musical: for her role as Fosca in '' Passion'' (1994–1995) ...

as Heather Olshansky (Season 1) *

Matt Czuchry Matthew Charles Czuchry (; born May 20, 1977) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Logan Huntzberger on the WB television series ''Gilmore Girls'' (2005–2007), Cary Agos on the CBS television drama ''The Good Wife'' (2009–2016 ...

as Jamie Farrel (Season 2) * Jacqueline Torres as Liz Garza (Season 2) * JoAnna Rhinehart as Deborah Washington *

Paul Adelstein Paul Adelstein (born April 29, 1969) is an American actor. He is known for the role of Agent Paul Kellerman in the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox television series ''Prison Break'' and his role as pediatrician Cooper Freedman in the American Broad ...

as Aldo Rossi *

Bebe Neuwirth Beatrice "Bebe" Jane Neuwirth ( ; born December 31, 1958) is an American actress, singer, and dancer. Known for her roles on stage and screen, she has received two Primetime Emmy Awards, Emmy Awards, two Tony Awards, and two Drama Desk Awards. ...

as Faith O'Connor (Season 1) * Gregg Edelman as Ryan Ambrose * Cindy Katz as Bettina Corwin * Cameron Ball as Ashton Washington

Production

The series was produced by The Thomas Carter Company, Pariah, Big Ticket Television and

CBS Productions CBS Productions was a production arm of the CBS television network (an initialism of Columbia Broadcasting System, along with its parent company CBS Television Studios; the radio network was founded in 1927), now a part of Paramount Global, form ...

. David Morse said of his role as Olshansky; "I think I can really live with Olshansky. We can go a lot of places. And as an actor, being in this kind of production is pretty unheard of. I didn’t even think it was possible. To actually go home every day and see my kids is a great thing... I like being a dad. I like going to the grocery store and cooking every night." Filming took place on location in Philadelphia. ''Hack'' would go on to become one of the last series to air on Saturdays in the United States for over a decade, as during the series' tenure, networks began to remove first-run scripted programming from the prime-time slot on Saturdays.

Broadcast

The show also aired in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

ITV3 ITV3 is a Television in the United Kingdom, British free-to-air television channel owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc. The channel was first launched on Monday 1 November 2004 at 9 pm, replacing Plus (British TV channel), Plus ...

, being only one of two original dramas to be shown on the channel's launch night on November 1, 2004. The final four episodes of the first season never aired on ITV3, as the network allowed the broadcast rights to lapse before they were shown; however, both seasons later aired in their entirety on

CBS Drama True Crime Xtra (Styled as TRUE CRIME XTRA, formerly known as CBS Drama and RealityXtra) is a British free-to-air television channel that centres its programming on American television shows produced by CBS. It is the sister channel of True Crim ...

and

CBS Action CBS Action may refer to: * CBS Justice CBS Justice, formerly CBS Action, is a television channel specializing in factual programming ranging from action films to drama and murder-mysteries. Currently available only in Africa since 21 November 2 ...

, beginning with the first season on February 10, 2015. Episodes were broadcast weekdays at 10:00pm. The series also in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as the 10 Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Paramount Global's Paramount Networks UK & Australia, UK & Australia division and is o ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

on M6 and

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

on Fox Crime. In the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, the series re-ran on

Crime & Investigation A&E Television Networks, LLC, doing business as A+E Global Media (formerly A+E Networks) is an American multinational broadcasting company owned and operated as a 50–50 joint venture between Hearst Communications and The Walt Disney Company th ...

AXS TV AXS TV () is an American cable television channel majority-owned by Canadian broadcaster Anthem Sports & Entertainment. It is devoted primarily to music-related programming (such as concert films, documentaries, and reality series involving musi ...

Universal TV Universal TV, formerly Universal Channel, is an international pay television network specializing in movies and television series in the thriller, drama, comedy, horror, crime and investigation genres, owned by NBCUniversal International Netwo ...

and

GetTV Get (Great Entertainment Television, stylized as get. since 2023, and formerly stylized as getTV) is an American Digital subchannel#Commercial networks, digital multicast television network owned by the Sony Pictures Television#Sony Pictures Tel ...

. On GetTV, episodes aired at 3:00 pm weekdays from April 24, 2017. Both series were also available for streaming on

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

, but have since been removed.

Release

On March 8, 2016,

CBS Home Entertainment CBS Home Entertainment (formerly CBS Video Enterprises, Inc., MGM/CBS Home Video, CBS/Fox Video and CBS Video, currently branded as CBS DVD for DVD releases and CBS Blu-ray for Blu-ray releases) is an American home video company that distribut ...

released ''Hack: Season 1'' on DVD in Region 1 via Amazon.com's CreateSpace program. This is a Manufacture on Demand (MOD) release, available exclusively through Amazon.com.

Episodes

Season 1 (2002–03)

Season 2 (2003–04)

Explanatory notes

References

External links

* {{David Koepp 2000s American crime drama television series 2002 American television series debuts 2004 American television series endings Fictional portrayals of the Philadelphia Police Department Television series by CBS Studios Television shows filmed in Pennsylvania Television shows set in Philadelphia Vigilante television series Works about taxi drivers Works by David Koepp CBS crime dramas