Southland: The New Police TV Show on NBC

Southland is a new, dare I say it, scripted hour long drama, a rarity in a time when reality shows run amuck on every network. Southland takes over the NBC Thursday 10 pm time slot, a slot that the beloved ER maintained for years. The show follows the life of policeman on the streets of Los Angeles, California. The new police drama fills a void left by shows like, NYPD Blues and to a lesser degree, The Shield.

The show was created by, Ann Biderman, who among her vast writing credits, worked on the critically acclaimed series NYPD Blues and the hit movie, Primal Fear. Biderman obviously has a talent for writing great police drama, as well as creating complex characters. Former ER producers John Wells, and Christopher Chulack are also onboard. The show clearly has the behind the scene talent to be great.

Onscreen, looks just as promising, the show features an impressive cast. The young rookie officer, Ben Sherman, is played by, former star of The OC, Benjamin McKenzie. Sherman is the John Carter (ER) of Southland. Every on the job experience is a new one for Sherman and we'll get to see the effects his job and the people he's now surround by, have on him. Each experience will help shape the man and cop he'll become. If the first day is an indicator of what's in store for the young officer, Sherman's in for a hell of a rookie season. Ben's partner is a seasoned police officer, but may not be the best role model.

20 year veteran officer, John Cooper, loves being a cop, he loves the power and enjoys putting bad guys away, by any means necessary. He doesn't trust his new partner yet, because he's too young and too wealthy. Cooper reminds me of the Denzel Washington character in Training Day the way he pushes and tests his new rookie partner.

The rest of the cast looks equally as strong. Regina King plays Lydia, an overworked woman who's trying to deal with a demanding job, while taking care of her mother. Lydia's partner is played by, Tom Everett Scott. While he seems nice enough, there seems to be something not quite right about him. C. Thomas Howell plays the guy you love to hate, Dewy, the Romano character of the show, yet another ER reference. Howell does a great job playing a jerk, but since he's announced his retirement from the force, it's not known how much will be seeing of Dewey. The other cast members are, Arija Bareikis as Chickie, Dewy's former partner, Michael McGrady as Sal, the cheating husband, and the officers of the gang division, Shawn Hatosy as Sammy, and Kevin Alejandro as Nate. It's early on, so we're still learning about these characters, but it's clear they all seem to have sufficient "issues" in their personal life, which makes for interesting television.

There was a lot of action in the premiere episode, gang shootings, dogs eating human flesh, a missing child, and a shot cop. The second episode was just as exciting, more gang related shooting, a baby found crawling in the road, and a daughter catching her father making out with a woman, that wasn't her mother. Oh, and young officer Sherman let the bad guy go free. It will be interesting to see if officer Sherman and Southland survive the first season.

Sources:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0081189/

http://www.nbc.com/southland/photos/gallery#item=68026