First, "Smith" focused on a faction of criminals who showed no remorse. Traditionally, in films and television shows, the criminal is synonymous with the villain. Ironically, the "Smith" felons are the protagonists rather than antagonists. Consequently, since audiences are skewed to sympathize with the protagonists in a television show, viewers must have found themselves experiencing cognitive dissonance. Indeed, this ambivalence may be reflected perhaps in the Neilson ratings that indicate the program lost a percentage of its audience during the second half-hour. "Smith" encouraged them to empathize with protagonists who qualified more as villains. These protagonists ranged from an enigmatic woman, Charlie (Shohreh Aghdashloo),that commissioned high-end crimes. Bobby Stevens (Ray Liotta) plotted the robberies down to the last detail. Bobby's crew consisted of paroled convict Tom (Jonny Lee Miller), Jeff (Simon Baker) a sociopath prepared to steal from or kill anybody without a qualm; Annie (Amy Smart) who relied on her brains and beauty not only to commit crimes for Bobby but also for herself; a mustached garage mechanic Joe (Franky G) who accommodated the crew's automotive needs, and Shawn (Mike Doyle) an explosives expert whose gambling addiction has him in hot water with a loan shark. Despite the negative characteristics of the protagonists, audiences found little to align themselves with the guardians of law and order. "Smith" depicts FBI Agent Dodd (Chris Bauer) and his fellow agents as second string supporting characters that lack both the charisma and luck of the protagonists. Traditionally, unless they are the program protagonists, the authorities are treated with little respect. Second, "Smith" departed from CBS's programming formula. The message of its law and order shows could be summarized simply, as crime does not pay. This conservative ideology clashes with the premise of "Smith." Instead, crime pays in "Smith." Despite the program's considerable sophistication in ameliorating this right and wrong as well as good versus evil ideology, "Smith" allowed its criminal protagonists to walk away from the scene alive, free, unfettered, and monetarily compensated for their larcenous endeavors. "Smith" depicts law enforcement at its nadir. Despite the vast resources at its disposal as one of the world's foremost crime fighting organizations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation makes little progress in their efforts to identify the anonymous criminal genius that they designated as "Smith," though they generated several marginal leads about Annie. At best, the Federal agents function as a Greek chorus that provides expository information about the criminals' exploits; otherwise, law and order proves ineffectual. Ironically, the criminals in "Smith" have more to fear from their own rivals in the underworld. By episode three, a dead criminal's loan shark Big Art Jackson (William Lucking) begins to create some anxiety in the gang. The more curious that Jackson grows about the deceased gang member, the more that he interferes with the protagonists and their criminal activities. Meanwhile, a thuggish family member was out to wreck revenge of the guy who murdered his brother on the seashore. Ultimately, criminals and ordinary citizens wind up getting closer to the crime crew than the FBI. Third, audience demographics inevitably contributed to "Smith's" downfall. Television programs are designed to appeal to women, but "Smith" portrayed women in an unsavory light. Typically, television programs involving women are consensus oriented. The misogyny in "Smith" is unmistakable. The women are depicted as either untrustworthy or openly wanton in their lack of respect for the law or lawful institutions. At the same time, these women are independent, determined, and ruthless. Although she never comes out and accuses Bobby of skullduggery, Hope suspects that Bobby is up to something bad. She inquires constantly about his work, his out-of-town trips for a cup manufacturing firm, and eventually tries to tail him through traffic without arousing his suspicion. Ironically, Hope is the one who has gotten into trouble with the authorities because of her alcoholism and must attend group therapy meetings and provide urine samples for an equally suspicious female parole officer. Nevertheless, as suspicious as Hope is, she confides in nobody else her fears that Bobby is up to no good. All she wants is start over and live a quiet life in the suburbs that won't force them to uproot their family. Meanwhile, Annie makes Hope look like a Girl Scout with her own activities. She sleeps around with anybody who can advance her monetary needs and pays off another Las Vegas dancer for credit card information about big spenders. Eventually, she sets up a daring nighttime credit card robbery with Jeff and Tom to steal information from a credit card company. Tom and she have a prior relationship that both Bobby and Jeff have to remind Tom that she was not responsible for his getting apprehended and sent to jail. Similarly, when Agent Dodd and his people try to pry information about Annie out of an African-American prison inmate about a job that Annie and he pulled, the inmate refuses to divulge anything because he has his own ideas about revenge on Annie when he gets out of stir. To a lesser degree, Shawn's wife Macy (Valarie Rae Miller) constantly nags poor Joe about Shawn's disappearance and admits at one point that she should have married the former. Big Art scares Macy so badly in episode three that Joe has to help her and they become involved romantically. Finally, Charlie bugs a reluctant Bobby about tackling more capers for her. Essentially, Bobby is caught between his own monetary needs and Charlie's desire to send him off to commit other crimes. Charlie acts as Bobby's buffer between him and his boss at the cup company, Jerry (Shawn Toub), who evidently knows enough about Bobby's illicit activities that he will do anything to get rid of him, even offering him a generous severance package with extensive medical benefits. Nevertheless, Bobby refuses Jerry's offer and reminds him about Charlie, a reminder that Jerry treats as a threat. Again, "Smith" is essentially about badguys that get away with their crimes.
