Premiere Week Spring 2009 — Southland
The Good
- Really good cast. I didn’t realize Tom Everett Scott was a television actor now, but OK. Glad to see the kid from The OC got another gig.
- Yeah — that’s about it. I didn’t really dig this show
The Bad
- I don’t get the style. At first, I thought it was going to be a mash-up of Cops and The Office. Sort of like a faux-documentary following cops around and bleeping out names and curses and stuff. Kinda gritty like NYPD Blue but in LA. It’s only partially that, though. The rest of it, unfortunately, is every other cop drama ever made. Hey guess what? There are recovering alcoholics and bad parents on the police force. Look at the new ground we’re breaking!
- And really, the blend of two styles doesn’t work. At first, I’m watching the whole documentary filming thing and suddenly they cut away to a detective’s daughter out on Hollywood Boulevard because her car got towed. But… why are the documentary cameras following the daughter around? Oh wait, we’re not in the documentary-looking part anymore. Pick one and go with it. I think the faux-Cops thing would work. Blended with the other stuff just doesn’t.
The Rest
Not a fan. It’s a thousand other cop shows. And really, The Unusuals is doing the “rich kid becomes a cop” storyline with a little more authenticity. And, at the very least, The Unusuals is finally taking the ridiculousness that cops deal with and highlighting that instead of going with tired heavy drama. I mean, the NYPD sells being a cop as “getting a front row ticket to the greatest show on Earth” (seriously). Maybe if this was filmed Office style, with more focus on cop stuff and less on the family lives, I’d like it more. As it is, it’s every other cop show with bleeped out words.
Pass.