It’s a holiday weekend

I realize that no one but me is reading the internet but, despite my comfy position on the deck and a delicious Kona Longboard in hand, I’m going to post about police shows.

There are a lot of problems with police shows – the foremost being we’re INUNDATED with the fuckers. If there’s anyone in the country who doesn’t know their Miranda rights by heart I have to believe that it’s willful ignorance. There’s also quality. Between Hill Street Blues, NYPD Blue, The Wire and The Shield – it’s been done and it’s been done damn well. So what does that leave you with?

If you’re a network, you’ve got to go to character. You need badass writers and great actors who can sell it. If you don’t have the cable safety net (and far less stringent censors) you’ve got to make up for the fact that your show isn’t going to be all that “real.”

The Closer is a great example of this. Create a magical squad that doesn’t have exactly the same rules as the beat cops, add a quirky leader and you’ve got suspension of disbelief. It’s the same reason I can stand NCIS – the ‘military’ association means I can pretend that Abby would get away with 1/4 of the shit she actually does and I don’t care because the character kicks ass and I WANT to like the show. The actors are so good that even when they’re bad, I can forgive some shoddy (and predictable) writing.

There are a bunch of good shows (versus the first string of police shows which I’d classify as GREAT) that get away with this. The Closer and NCIS get really good ratings. The Mentalist, Psych, Law and Order and Saving Grace all have a gimmick that allows them to be outside the straight up police procedural. That’s just one of the things I think is going to kill Rookie Blue.

I watched the first two episodes. I love Missy Peregrym. I dig the fact that it’s set in Toronto. Unfortunately it’s trying to be Hill Street Blues and, man, that ship has SAILED. By this time the average tv viewer knows as much about police procedure as some of the actors on these shows, I think. So you can’t be serious and “real” and then try to throw in these ridiculous love triangles (which I could see coming a mile away) and laughable shit like a new officer not knowing what “on the job” means. Dude. *I* know what that means. You just made your main character seem like a moron. Not a good sign.

I like what the show is trying to do but unless the writing gets sharp and I mean FAST I don’t think it’s going to have legs. You’ve got to be smarter – or at least cleverer – than your audience. Rookie Blue isn’t.