CROSSING THE BORDER.(Kingpin, Dragnet)(Television Program Review)

The word for "soprano" is the same in Spanish as it is in Italian, but on TV "The Sopranos" translates as "Kingpin," which is the title of the new NBC miniseries about an affluent Mexican-American family whose illegal and murderous business--trafficking drugs between Mexico and the United States--finances their apparently respectable public life and aspirations. It may be unfair to take the comparisons with HBO's "The Sopranos" too far, but "Kingpin," which starts this week and ends on February 18th, wouldn't exist without that show, which left all the networks kicking themselves for passing on it and scratching their heads as they tried to figure out how to create the ...