With the exception of promo clips and my own personal high expectations, I haven't seen a ton of material about the new show The Unusuals. It will make its debut on April 8, 10 PM ET/PT. In this day of so many shows canceled way too early before they can get a steady audience, I'm hoping this one makes it.Why, might you ask? After all, most of my posts are about the reality television genre. But I'm a cop show buff at heart. I expect a lot out of my cop shows. Some I watch just because -- you know, the Law and Order franchise kind of dealings. Some I watch for the amazing storytelling. The Wire comes to mind as not just a cop show, but stellar storytelling. I don't expect either the straight crime drama, nor the intensity of The Wire.
So, here are my reasons I want to like this show and why it shouldn't be canceled too soon:
- ABC is touting the show as a modern-day M*A*S*H set in an NYC detective unit. I was a M*A*S*H fan. If the writing is anywhere near as clever, this could be good.
- The cases are unusual. The detectives are unusual. Heck, I can be unusual myself. It seems to fit, eh?
- Barney Miller was the last "funny" cop show set in NYC. The city itself provides more funny crime tales than possibly any place on earth. Oh, yeah ... I know these are fictional shows, but that doesn't stop my imagination.
- Unlike Barney Miller (from the clips I've watched), The Unusuals is actually shot in the city.
- Hey, I might run into a shooting! No, not with a gun. I've managed to bump into some Law and Order and Third Watch shoots over the years.
- Adam Goldberg. I don't know why, but I've always enjoyed him even when he's appeared on failed (and sometimes sucky) shows.
- Harold Perrineau. Now, he played Michael on Lost. Any Lost fan knows that Michael's son Walt is living in the city. Can we say crossover? Heh.
- Amber Tamblyn. Just because she is.
- Noah Hawley is the creator of the series. He created Bones. While I hate the present time slot for that show, I'm a fan.
- My main reason for wanting this show to succeed is because I'm dreading the Jay Leno 10 PM takeover and there's already a dearth of shows at that hour which I enjoy watching. It's gotten so bad that I'm tossing a coin to decide whether to watch Animal Planet or FOX local news. I need me some 10 PM entertainment!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-20-2009 @ 10:38AM
Scott K. said...
I'm curious for some of the same reasons. I'm hoping it doesn't become a generic, trying-to-be-funny cop show only with unusual cops as charicatures and weird cases, but rather something more character driven. We'll see.
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3-20-2009 @ 10:40AM
Jason said...
We can hope all we want, the simple truth is shows don't do well at 10pm because the major networks still fail to check everyone's DVRs to see what they recorded at 10 and count that with their precious Nielsen ratings BS stats.
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3-20-2009 @ 11:02AM
Justin said...
I loathe Adam Goldberg. He's the quintessential jerk and I'm not talking about his acting. His superiority complex and ego are massive and he's can't act any way but manic. If he weren't on the show, I'd definitely watch it.
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3-20-2009 @ 12:03PM
purpleslog said...
"Barney Miller was the last "funny" cop show set in NYC."
Jackie, go and rent "The Job" on DVD. Do it now.
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3-20-2009 @ 9:42PM
Dan Buckley said...
You took the words right out of my keyboard. The Job was really funny. Thankfully Dennis Leary and Peter Tolan went over to FX to do Rescue Me. Which is kind of a spin off/sequal/reimagining of The Job, but more uncensored.
3-20-2009 @ 8:33PM
Grace said...
What!? No mention of Jeremy Renner as one of the reasons to watch the show, the nerve! I'm just joking. ;) I’m a fan of Bones and I like Harold, Adam and Amber, but Jeremy Renner is the sole purpose for me anxiously awaiting the premiere of The Unusuals. If you don't know who he is go rent Dahmer or go see The Hurt Locker when it gets released in June. He is amazing in both films!
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3-27-2009 @ 11:15PM
shorty said...
FYI Noah Hawley did not create Bones, Hart Hanson did. Still, I'm looking forward to seeing Mr. Hawley's creation.
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