From Entertainment Weekly - 'Southland': We're not in the O.C. anymore
Southland, the series that has gone into ER's time period, has one of the more annoying new lead characters of the year. It also has one of the most likable new characters. It's that kind of show: a mix of the bad and the good.
The bad one is gruff cop John Cooper (Michael Cudlitz), who barks out harsh advice and the sort of streetwise wisdom that comes with embossed exclamation points: "You're a cop because you don't know how not to be a cop!" (Dalton Ross remarked that Southland could be called Listen Up, Rookie!) The good one is rookie cop Ben Sherman (Benjamin McKenzie), who kept his trap shut through most of the premiere and therefore came off like the truly wiser policeman. I know McKenzie is doing a lot of soulful looking into space the way he did on The O.C., but the guy is excellent at soulful gazing. Plus, by the end of the episode, his character proved he could shoot a gun really well -- in other words, we know he's the competent one we're going to root for.
The rest of Southland played out like a lot of other cop shows. Produced by ER guys John Wells and Christopher ChuIlack, it was created by Ann Biderman, who wrote some episodes of NYPD Blue, and there was a lot of blue language and NYPD-style grittiness in this Los Angeles-set series. At least one early review compared Southland to The Shield, but Southland doesn't come close to that show's hardboiled sheen. It's more like an all-cop version of another NBC/John Wells series, Third Watch: a collection of subplots about people under duress and in danger, guarded by flawed but ultimately sincere people... except for the corrupt ones.
Southland is certainly well-made and well-cast. Even though his character is obnoxious, Michael Cudlitz portrays Cooper's obnoxiousness with admirable commitment. The cast includes fine actors such as Regina King and Tom Everett Scott, and, as I said, I like McKenzie's performance. But both on its own and leading out from the gloriously zany 30 Rock, Southland may not be the show for viewers looking for something both less familiar and less self-consciously "gritty." I'll keep watching for at least a few more weeks, to see how the characters develop
NBC's cop drama "Southland" led the pack of Thursday preems, posting respectable numbers as it moved into "ER's" old 10 p.m. slot.
Peacock's other preem for the night, comedy "Parks and Recreation" did just OK in its 8:30 p.m. bow despite a flood of promotion for the Amy Poehler starrer. Meanwhile, CBS' spooky new murder-mystery drama "Harper's Island" didn't scare up much of a crowd at 10 p.m. following "CSI."
"Southland" opened to 3.2 rating/9 share in the adults 18-49 demo and 9.7 million overall viewers, according to prelim Nielsens. That marked a nice tune-in bounce in viewers from its 9:30 p.m. "30 Rock" (3.1/8, 6.8 m) lead-in.
The Peacock's rookie drama about L.A. beat cops had no trouble topping the Eye's debut of "Harper's Island" (2.7/8, 10.6 m) in the demo, despite "Harper's" lead-in advantage from "CSI" (3.7/10, 16.1 m).
"Southland" also won both the 18-34 and 25-54 adult demo, making it a satisfying start for the drama exec produced by John Wells, who saw "ER" end its 15-year run last Thursday with strong numbers as well.
According to the Peacock, "Southland" is the first NBC drama since a January202005 broadcast of "Medium" to build on its 18-49 demo from 10 to 10:30 p.m.
The launch of the "Southland" Thursday night made for a happy Friday morning in Burbank.
"The fact is, I think, the ability for us to execute high-end, quality programming consistent with what NBC is and what we stand for," said NBC co-chair Ben Silverman: "With the midseason approach we used on these shows, we're pleased they paid off."
If "Southland" continues to perform well for the network, Silverman and his team may have to find a place for it on the fall schedule. Yet, with Jay Leno arriving to fill all the 10 p.m. weekday timeslots, the edgy cop drama will have to find a new home.
"What you'll love: McKenzie's performance perfectly captures a man whose naivete is fading in the face of the harsh realities of his beat."
NBC drama takes viewers on a thrilling, humorous cop ride
From the opening scene, McKenzie’s performance establishes that this show is not “The OC,” but a new and mature role by the actor. In fact the entire ensemble brings a solid performance from the beginning.
2. Best Show-Definer: Ben Sherman, the rich-kid cop of NBC's Southland, proves himself when a "superior officer" gets shot by a cuffed gangbanger who Sherman warns hasn't been searched — and Sherman stops the shooter cold. Yes, Southland also does the female-cop-as-hooker thing, but it balances her out with some male vice cops doing equally seedy jobs. We're loving this show
Taking the law into his own hands, Benjamin McKenzie shows off a pair of handcuffs during a visit Thursday to New York's WPIX Morning Show to promote his new NBC series Southland.
Ben in USA Today - Ben McKenzie opens window on his world, 'Southland'
By Dan MacMedan, USA TODAY
Ben McKenzie, photographed at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood, says he felt "a little out of place" in The OC. But new show Southland, he says, is "bizarrely comfortable."
Ben McKenzie says he doesn't lead an exciting life.
"I'd be the most boring Twitter-er," he says with a laugh over breakfast. "I'd be like: 'At home. Again. Walking my dog. Again.' "
The biggest thrill in McKenzie's life? His new series, Southland, which premieres tonight (10 ET/PT). The NBC midseason replacement is a far cry from The OC, in which McKenzie played Ryan Atwood, a troubled teen in Orange County, Calif., who was given a second chance.
In this new role, he's Los Angeles Police Department rookie cop Ben Sherman, who goes head-to-head with a by-the-books boss. It's a different twist on the procedural cop show, because there's not a crime being solved every week. It's a raw and uncensored look inside the police unit, but the series also shows the home life of the police, the criminals and the victims.
"I always felt like I was a little out of place on The OC because I was a little bit older and I'd been to college," says McKenzie, 30, who graduated from the University of Virginia. "Yet, I was doing this show that I was very grateful for and had a great time making, but it didn't come naturally.
"The thing that's strange about doing Southland is how bizarrely comfortable it is. I can finally breathe and relax. I'm not so much playing myself, but in a way this character is much closer to myself."
And stylistically, McKenzie liked that the show's creators wanted to try something new. The series has a reality-show quality, in the same vein of Cops.
"It doesn't do any good to try to look backward and duplicate what's been done before on television. You have to count that people's tastes have changed, their attention spans have shortened. And you really need to provide them with the immediacy of watching a scripted show that looks more like a real live series of events," he says.
"Hopefully we can get both the emotional payout of the drama with the authenticity of a cop show."
McKenzie is single, and taking his time: "It's more of a concern for my parents. I'm like, 'First of all, you don't really want to have a grandkid by me right now. There's a few steps in that process. You want me to have the girlfriend first, right? Then the wife? Then the kids?' " He says he hopes the OC faithfuls follow him to his new series.
"What I really like about the character I'm playing now is that he's ambitious. He's a very focused guy who expects a lot out of himself," McKenzie says, polishing off his breakfast salad. "He's going to take it and succeed or he's going to die trying. And I sympathize with that point of view."
The front page of Thursday's Los Angeles Times is expected to include a major feature story on LAPD cop Ben Sherman, chronicling the rookie's rough first day on the job.
It's not unlike the kind of personality profiles that frequently grace the newspaper's "Column One" feature. But Sherman, however, isn't real - he's the lead character in NBC's "Southland," played by thesp Benjamin McKenzie.
And the story itself isn't really a story - it's part of a large, six-column ad that will appear under the fold of the L.A. Times' front page.
The fake news story - which will run in the first column, much like those regular L.A. Times stories - is in a different typeface and style than the paper's normal content. It will also be marked as an advertisement.
But that won't likely placate the newspaper's critics, many of whom have taken the L.A. Times to task in the past for blurring the line between editorial and advertising.
Most famously, the newspaper drew fire in 1999 when an L.A. Times magazine issue devoted to the Staples Center was revealed to be produced under an ad revenue-sharing agreement with the venue. More recently, the same magazine was turned over to the business side of the paper.
The decision to put an advertisement on the front page with content that might be confused for a real story is sure to open a new round of criticism against the already-embattled newspaper. Yet as newspapers struggle to remain afloat, advertising methods that would have been forbidden a few years ago are now accepted as part of the new reality.
That includes front-page ads, which have begun appearing in the L.A. Times, New York Times, Chicago Tribune and other major papers.
According to NBC, the L.A. Times came up with the idea of promoting "Southland" - which takes place in Los Angeles, after all - via a front-page ad.
"We thought it was an interesting, provocative, breakthrough idea," said NBC Entertainment marketing prexy Adam Stotsky. "Treating a fictional story in an editorial context for Angelenos inside the L.A. Times connected to our show."
Stotsky said he knew that the L.A. Times would take some heat for the ad - and said both the network and newspaper took pains to "walk a fine line."
"The L.A. Times has to strike a balance between creating innovative solutions for marketers and the editorial integrity of the product," he said. "I'm sure this concept was developed not without a fair amount of discussion and debate internally. But we've delineated it clearly enough to signal it to the reader that it's an ad."
For NBC, it's a coup: Not only will several hundred thousand L.A. Times subscribers see an ad for "Southland," which comes from John Wells and Warner Bros. TV, when they pick up the paper Thursday morning, but the viral effect of putting this ad on the front page may resonate far beyond the actual paper readers.
Mock newspaper articles aren't uncommon in the advertising world; direct response ads designed to look like news stories regularly appear inside newspapers, magazines and inserts like Parade. (One ubiquitous ad disguised as a fake story for fireplace mantles designed by Amish workmen seems to run in virtually every magazine these days.) Publications such as Variety have also run ads designed as fake stories (clearly marked as such as well).
Nonetheless, the front page of a major metropolitan newspaper has long been seen as sacrosanct - and Thursday's ad is likely to strike a new debate in newsrooms and journalism circles across the country.
Bottom Line: That's some mighty fine shooting, partner.
The first hour of NBC's new cop drama "Southland" features two shootings, one child kidnapping, a club to the head, and one gruesome demise that underscores why, if you're going to die alone in your house, you should let the dogs out first.
That's right, the John Wells Fargo wagon is comin' down the street again, and none are to be spared. "Southland" was created and written with nimble expertise by relative television newcomer Ann Biderman, but in a lot of ways it's a combination of two of executive producer John Wells' previous successes, "ER" and "Third Watch," except here, the cops essentially do triage on an entire city.
The setup is classic: Young LAPD officer Ben Sherman (Ben McKenzie) is out for a training day with experienced Officer John Cooper (Michael Cudlitz), who rags him about his 90210 pedigree while showing him the ropes. Meanwhile, two other sets of cops and detectives respond to crimes and interview reluctant witnesses. It's a lot to digest, presented in a no-nonsense fashion -- as much must-see TV as don't-blink TV.
But here's the truth about "Southland": It's compelling from minute one to credit roll -- exciting, smart, realistic and brilliant, all in one brightly lit package. Unexpected and thrilling, "Southland" shoots us into this terrifying, sunny world where gangs rule with impunity and the cops' patois of humor and lingo is the only thing that keeps them sane. Phrases like "******* rodeo" and "badge bunnies," plus the insulting punch line "tuna boat," prove Biderman is more than ready for primetime.
There's some trouble in paradise, though: "Southland's" police force is very, very white (Regina King being the exception), and the perps are very, very non-white -- a lack of diversity that undercuts its realism. And NBC is taking a risk by shoving this show into a 9 p.m. slot once Jay Leno owns the 10 p.m. berth. But those are minor quibbles for now.
"Southland" is no tourist ad for L.A., yet despite the despair that leeches from the sidewalks and the humanity that all too briefly flashes in the faces of the officers, it's a place fans of smart TV should want to check into every week. To miss this series would be truly criminal.
From the Pampered Life to Police Work on the Mean Streets
In the 1930s Franklin D. Roosevelt was considered a traitor to his class, and in the 1960s so was Mick Jagger. The lead characters in two new police dramas that begin this week are upper-class kids who defy their upbringing to become cops. That downward mobility has little to do with solving crimes, but it does suggest that these days, it is fashionable for the rich to be self-loathing.
Casey Shraeger, played by Amber Tamblyn (“Joan of Arcadia,” “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants”), is the heroine of “The Unusuals” on ABC, and she is a Gossip Girl gone good — a Dalton School alumna who trades her Birkin bag and Jimmy Choos for a gun and a badge on the meaner streets of New York. On NBC’s “Southland” Ben McKenzie plays Ben Sherman, a rookie in the Los Angeles Police Department who grew up in Beverly Hills and is teasingly called “Tori Spelling” by his elders on the force.
Until recently cultural collisions mostly worked the other way. On “Gossip Girl” a middle-class student at a snobby private school has to make his way past the wealth and privilege of his super-rich classmates. On “The OC” Mr. McKenzie played a poor kid from Chino, Calif., who mingled with the plutocratic teenagers of Orange County.
But that reversal isn’t so surprising coming from John Wells, who was a creator of “ER” before moving on to “Southland,” because Dr. John Carter of “ER” (Noah Wyle) also came from rich, snooty parents who sneered at emergency medicine as déclassé. But the fact that the creators of “The Unusuals” made the same choice suggests there is a broader shift at hand. There are other similarities: both shows seek a bold, contemporary tone by breaking with current fads and borrowing from series past.
Tough-minded, suspenseful and shot in an unnerving bleached light, “Southland” is by far the better drama — Thursday’s pilot is one of the most gripping opening episodes of any network crime series. That’s partly because “Southland” leaves behind the hokey forensics fetishes of “CSI” and the soap-opera anguish of “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”; it bypasses the trend of eccentric, mind-reading detectives in favor of the harsh realism and moral ambiguities of cable shows like “The Shield” and “Rescue Me” and even, to a point, “The Wire.”
“Southland” finds eloquence in holding back. Ben’s first day on the job is so harrowingly tense that at times it also evokes “Training Day,” the movie that starred Ethan Hawke and Denzel Washington.
“The Unusuals,” which begins on Wednesday, isn’t nearly as thrilling. But it isn’t bad, just more predictable. It’s ambitious in a different way, trying to recover the mix of high drama and absurdist comic relief that distinguished shows like “Hill Street Blues.” It invests a little too much of its energy in attempted humor, including an unseen dispatcher who blurts out bulletins in a nasal Queens accent: “Second Squad, this is dispatch. Be on the lookout for a Puerto Rican man wearing a cape and no pants.”
Casey, who dropped out of Harvard to become a cop, is working undercover as a prostitute for the vice squad when she is suddenly recruited, still in her falsies and stiletto heels, to help investigate the murder of a veteran detective. It’s not a very imaginative way to start a new series about a female cop — more like the “jiggle TV” of yesteryear. But Ms. Tamblyn has an appealingly aloof, brooding manner that wipes some of the silliness off her character.
Casey’s new partner is Detective Jason Walsh (Jeremy Renner), who used to share his cases with the victim, and is a retired baseball player who in his off time runs a tiny diner. Walsh and Casey work well together despite the preening, idiotic interference of Detective Eddie Alvarez (Kai Lennox), who refers to himself in the third person and is the joke of the squad, a little like the Frank character on “M*A*S*H.”
No show is totally original, but “The Unusuals” lifts a scene from “The Wire” so blatantly that it’s practically plagiarism. Two of the more screwball detectives are questioning a suspect in a series of cat killings, and tell the man that the copier machine is the latest high-tech lie detector, before asking him questions and photocopying his hand with the word “true” on it. That ruse worked on “The Wire” because those detectives were questioning hardened teenagers from the ghetto who knew everything about drugs and weapons, but had no idea what even basic office or school equipment looked like. On this show the suspect is a well-spoken middle-class adult, and the prank makes no sense.
“Southland” doesn’t steal from “The Wire,” but it is inspired by that HBO show’s intense, intimate look at the inner workings of street crime and beat police work. Ben is assigned for training, not to say hazing, at the hands of a hardened police-force veteran, John Cooper (Michael Cudlitz), who subjects his charge to an endless stream of insults and sexist jokes. Ben, determined not to be baited, tries not to flinch or react, which prompts Cooper to call him a Canadian.
Most of the police officers who surround Ben are as crude and unfeeling as the suspects they hassle. It’s the crimes that are heartbreaking: a teenager killed for no reason by gangbanging ex-cons driving past him, a girl snatched outside her house when her father’s attention strays for a moment. Ben is almost as spooked by his new colleagues as he is by the criminals, and with good reason.
Even the most hard-edged network shows tend to surrender to expectations after a while and go soft, diluting their power with mawkish sentimentality and romantic subplots. For now, at least, “Southland” is commendably stinting and cold, a series that doesn’t aim to please, and is all the more pleasurable for it.
NBC'S intense new cop drama "Southland" won't be the last broadcast drama that shoots for the attitude and style of the critically acclaimed cable shows that have become the darlings of TV drama these days.
It's not that "Southland" goes much further than, say, "NYPD Blue" in language and content. It also didn't invent characters whose flaws make them strangely compelling, since the John Wells production team that created "Southland" did the same thing with its previous "ER" and "West Wing" casts.
What "Southland" has, already, is its own swagger, a get-outta-my-way style of moving and talking that says it's going for the raw edges we see on cable shows like "Breaking Bad."
"Southland" pulls it off, too. If Thursday night's premiere episode is an indication how it plans to roll, it's a keeper.
The show is set in Los Angeles and should do for that community's image what "Fort Apache" did for the image of the Bronx a few years back.
John Cooper (Michael Cudlitz) tells his new rookie partner, Ben Sherman (Ben McKenzie), that cruising their patrol area is "like driving through a sewer in a glass-bottomed boat."
I don't think we're in Mayberry anymore.
Cooper initiates his rookie about as gently as General Patton initiated the troops in his Third Army, calculating that the best way to survive is to get tough fast.
"You do what they teach you in the Academy, you'll be dead," says Cooper.
The interesting twist with Sherman is that he's a rich kid - arriving one night, ironically, after ABC started featuring a female rich kid in another new cop drama, "The Unusuals." In the blue-collar cop world, this makes him a suspect.
When Sherman loses it after seeing a decomposed, half-eaten body, Cooper tells the others, "Tori Spelling just threw up all over his brand-new Mary Janes."
But when it counts, the rookie has a tough side, too.
The rest of the squad, from what we see, shows dramatic promise. Lydia Adams (Regina King) is a single woman who takes care of her mother. Mothers are always good for a subplot in a pinch. Russell Clarke (Tom Everett Scott) has a shaky marriage and a wife who keeps calling him at work to have the Conversation ("How come you never talk to me anymore?").
"Southland" is well-sprinkled with sharp humor, much of it sardonic and dark. There is a role for alcohol. But the focus of week one is on what it means to be cops, the last row of sandbags where the water is 5 feet high and rising.
John Cooper makes his own declaration about what constitutes "God's work" in police situations. But like all good shows, "Southland" lays out the case and lets the viewer make the call.
If you pursue the pop-culture thing and indulge yourself in it, go to all the events and get yourself on the cover of Us Weekly every week, that fame is fleeting,It's not a road you can navigate for a long time. People get tired of you and you burn out. Ben Mckenzie
Ben McKenzie and Regina King - Entertainment Buzz (April 2009)
Gritty new police drama is fast growing in popularity
'Southland' already showing indications of being a TV hit
There was a moment late in last week's pilot episode of Southland -- the new ensemble drama from ER writer-producer John Wells and Public Enemies screenwriter Ann Biderman-- when a rookie police officer, Ben Sherman, played by The O.C.'s Benjamin McKenzie, sat in a hospital corridor, emotionally exhausted after his first day on the job. He was in his street clothes, and he looked as if he'd been through an emotional ringer.
"Are you a cop?" an African-American teenage girl asked him accusingly. Her older brother, whom she idolized, was in emergency surgery after being mistaken for a gang member by teenagers in a rival gang.
Sherman took a long pause, and eyed the girl soulfully.
"Yeah," he said. "I am."
It was a defining moment in the character's life, and in Southland itself.
There was a temptation to have McKenzie's character answer 'No,' writer Ann Biderman admitted earlier this year in Los Angeles.
"When you see that, you recognize the hellish day he's had, the tremendous vicissitudes," Biderman said. "He's growing aware of just how difficult the job's going to be."
For McKenzie, playing a rookie in the Los Angeles Police Department who grew up in Beverly Hills was an opportunity to examine the contrast between living the good life and working the mean streets, and how someone in that situation either adapts or washes out.
As it is, his hardscrabble colleagues are slow to accept him as one of their own, dubbing him -- only half-jokingly -- "Tori Spelling."
Southland is closer in look and feel to hard-hitting police dramas such as The Shield and NYPD Blue than popular forensic procedurals like CSI, Criminal Minds and Bones.
In the opener, a promising high-school athlete is gunned down in a drive-by shooting; a child is kidnapped off the street and murdered by a seemingly kindly neighbour; and a handcuffed gang member shoots an arresting officer by snatching a gun hidden behind his back.
That unpredictability -- the sudden bursts of violence, the emotional mood swings and the spiritual uplift that comes with unexpected, small victories -- were by design, Biderman said.
Biderman conceived the idea for Southland after coming across a seemingly simple statistic: Los Angeles, a city with 10 million people, has roughly 9,000 police officers.
New York City, a city with roughly eight million people, has nearly five times as many police officers: 44,000, according to Biderman.
The so-called "blue line" in Los Angeles is stretched thin, and scattered over 6,400 square kilometres with innumerable pockets and enclaves.
"Our intention," Wells explained, "is to be in the perspective of the police officers at all times, and see how they see this world, through their eyes."
Southland touched a nerve with viewers in its debut.
More than 1.3 million viewers tuned in across Canada on April 9 when Southland aired on CTV. Southland was the third most watched program of the night, behind CSI (2.3 million viewers on CTV) and Survivor (1.6 million on Global).
More than 10 million viewers watched in the U.S., where Southland premiered on NBC.
More tellingly, perhaps, Southland's audience grew in its second half-hour in both the U.S. and Canada -- an encouraging sign, and a possible early indicator of a hit.
In tone and feel, Southland echoes Boom town, the critically acclaimed 2002 drama created by Toronto-born screenwriter Graham Yost. Wells cited Boom town as one of his favourite and most inspirational TV dramas of the past 25 years.
"Boom town was a wonderful show that used some very specific narrative techniques, especially in its first season," Wells said. "Southland is similar, in that it's an attempt to get you to know a number of people who are actually doing a difficult job in a metropolitan area that almost has the feel of a Third World city.
"It is not about the crime of the week. It has a very different narrative feel to a lot of the procedural dramas you see on television right now."
Southland is filmed in a deliberately unnerving style, full of jerky, hand-held close-ups and bleached, sun-washed daylight. The twilight and nighttime scenes are filmed with specially developed night-vision cameras, first used by filmmaker Michael Mann in his 2004 nighttime street thriller Collateral and later in his feature-film followup to the hit '80s TV series Miami Vice.
Wells says Southland's depiction of "the code" -- the unspoken bond between police officers -- owes its origins in part to a conversation he had with a Los Angeles police officer while researching the pilot episode.
The officer was an African-American sergeant assigned to the predominantly African-American neighbourhood of South Central L.A.
"I asked him . . . how he handled the tension between white and black," Wells recalled. "He looked at me and said, 'I'm not black. I'm blue.'"
Southland (NBC, CTV, 10 p.m.) also started last week, very strongly. On the surface, it's predictable – new, young LAPD officer Ben Sherman (Ben McKenzie, above) is introduced to the harsh reality of the streets by a cynical old-hand, Officer Cooper (Michael Cudlitz). But the show has a toughness to it that never lets up. The audience sees L.A.'s mean, vicious streets through the young officer's eyes. And by heavens, it's a grim place of poverty and hate. This is not The Shield, but it's good, compelling TV drama for grown-ups. And recommended
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If you pursue the pop-culture thing and indulge yourself in it, go to all the events and get yourself on the cover of Us Weekly every week, that fame is fleeting,It's not a road you can navigate for a long time. People get tired of you and you burn out. Ben Mckenzie
Thank You For The New Thread.
+ All The Updates On Our Man! Totally Appreciated.
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I Never Wanted Anything So Much Than To Drown In Your Love And Not Feel Your Reign.
I'm getting hooked. Maybe it's the wave of New Sincerity that Susan Boyle has loosed upon this country, but I found myself really engaged by Southland's baby-found-crawling-in-the-street subplot last night. And the rest of the episode -- complete with thirteen bleeped curse words, four before the opening credits were finished -- was nearly as interesting.
NBC's replacement for ER shares the hospital drama's method of focusing on professionals under stress, combined with interesting cases and expected moments of humor. Last night, nearly all the major players, including stars Ben McKenzie and Regina King, were involved in the abandoned-child story line. Written by show creator Ann Biderman, this episode kept us guessing about where that baby would land: in Child Services, or returned to her former-addict mom. Even with a (relatively speaking) happy ending, it was a heart-breaker.
There was an excitingly-filmed suspect chase that ended with co-star Tom Everett Scott shooting the guy... with a "non-lethal" bean-bag gun. (When are we going to get some of the Scott character's backstory? Southland is teasing us nicely.) I feel as though Southland is trying to cherry-pick the best elements of cop dramas such as NYPD Blue and, especially, Hill Street Blues, while building its own visual style and narrative rhythm. If so, that's a smart decision: It invites a large audience to enjoy episodes that feel at once familiar and fresh.
The show continues to use Los Angeles and its neighborhoods well. (I'd swear that the motel the cops brought that girl and her grandmother to for safekeeping was the one I stayed in on Sunset Blvd. my first night in L.A.)
And next week -- did you catch the coming attractions? Special guest star Tom Sizemore!!
For its shortcomings, “Southland’s” strength will undoubtedly be the talented McKenzie, whom I’ve liked since “The O.C.,” which I truthfully followed all the way through its four seasons. But it was in that least-watched fourth season that some surprisingly funny and touching moments came and where McKenzie sharpened his timing skills and proved he could do more than brood and skulk and brood some more. That season also came after his impressive turn in Junebug,” and hopefully he’ll continue to be in more projects.
I gotta say it right away, if you are not watching Southland you are missing the best cop drama I've seen since Hill Street Blues.
It kept me on edge, riveted and other terms like that the whole hour, right up until the grizzled Silver Lake training office played by Michael Cudlitz walks into The Faultline (or a reasonably facsimile, anyway), my favorite leather/levi gay bar in the neighborhood for a post-shift beer.
Southland_king_2 (Oh, and did you catch the reference to Barnsdall Park in the pilot? That really cracked me up, that place was notorious for years. I thought next time I was in town I would take pics of the huge signs they claim in the pilot script are now there warning about arrests for cruising there. And seriously, my gay brothers ... still cruising in parks? You should be having sex in places with towels and hot water. AND CONDOMS!!!)
Cudlitz was amazing. And very very brave of John Wells, episode scribe Ann Biderman and the crew in the writers' room to make the straight-laced white guy the gay cop.
How's he gonna deal with that beautiful Ben McKenzie riding shotgun with him? Hey, we're not all into the pretty boys, Officer John Cooper might be into bears.
(Me? I'd be distracted. Very distracted.)
Regina King turns in yet another remarkable performance. Her face says so much. Her diligent, world weary detective took us through every thought and every action with her whole being.
In this case the network hype is right, this is don't blink TV. I can't wait to see where this show goes, though I can wait until the daytime hours the day after it airs to watch it. It's so close to home for me ... the neighborhood is my old neighborhood, crimes like these are on our local news each night (if you can bear to watch the local news, it makes one really sad) and you just can't predict what's gonna happen next.
P&R_leslie_outdoor_table I wanted to write about the show earlier in the week, but I didn't think I could do it justice. I hope I did today.
Plaudits all around to the creative team and the performers.
NBC received some good news at 10: New cop drama "Southland" seems to be clicking. The show won the time slot with 9.6 million viewers. "Harper's Island," the new murder-mystery on CBS, ran second with 8.2 million. A "Private Practice" rerun on ABC was the tonic for 4.4 million.
NBC took the lead at 10 with "Southland," 6.1/11, which was on par with its premiere last week. "Harper's Island" posted a 5.3/9 for CBS -- down significantly from its premiere -- while a "Private Practice" rerun on ABC drew a 3.1/5.
Southland was remarkably consistent, it dropped a mere 10th of an 18-49 ratings point to a 3.1, although week over week Southland’s lead-in was better last night. A week ago 30 Rock had a 3.1 adults 18-49 rating at 9:30p, last night it had a 3.5.
Southland is the best show launch NBC has had in a while and given its consistency half hour to half hour, I expect NBC to add “The New Hit everybody is talking about” to the promotions any second now
Frompifeedback.com
In the week two 10 p.m. battle of NBC’s Southland versus Harper’s Island on CBS, the winner once again was Southland. The new John Wells crime drama averaged a 6.6/11 in the overnights -- 47 percent above lead-in 30 Rock with only a four percent loss from its week-ago premiere (6.9/12 on April 9). Gory Harper’s Island dipped to a 5.5/10, holding only 55 percent of the 9:30 p.m. portion of lead-in CSI (10.0/16). Compared to it’s week-ago debut (6.7/12), Harper’s Island was down by a more significant 18 percent. Yes, it looks like NBC has something here. But with Jay Leno waiting in the wings, Southland will have to find a new time period. Monday or Wednesday at 9 p.m. seems like the most logical options.
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If you pursue the pop-culture thing and indulge yourself in it, go to all the events and get yourself on the cover of Us Weekly every week, that fame is fleeting,It's not a road you can navigate for a long time. People get tired of you and you burn out. Ben Mckenzie
Southland (9.6 million) continued to impress, and continued to put up numbers for NBC at 10 p.m. that two nights' worth of Jay Leno may not be able to match.
"Southland” fared even better in its second outing, declining just 3 percent to a 3.1 from last week’s 3.2. The cop drama easily won the 10 p.m. hour, outpacing fellow newcomer “Harper’s Island” on CBS.
E! news did a segment on Southland and Harper's Island concerning the ratings. It's on about 10 minutes into the show. If I can find it online, I'll post a link.
NBC cop drama "Southland" retained virtually all of its solid premiere-week audience in its second outing Thursday, opening up more distance on its rookie rival "Harper's Island" on CBS. Peacock comedy "Parks and Recreation" also performed pretty well in its second try.
According to preliminary nationals from Nielsen, "Southland" easily led the 10 p.m. hour with a 3.1 rating/9 share in adults 18-49 and 9.6 million viewers overall -- retaining 95% or more of its premiere-week ratings in various categories. In the same hour, CBS mystery series"Harper's Island" declined by about 15% from its premiere to a 2.2/6 in 18-49 and 8.2 million viewers overall.
ABC's repeat of "Private Practice" ran third in the hour (1.3/4 in 18-49, 4.6 million viewers overall) and should provide a stiff test for "Southland" when it returns with originals next week behind "Grey's Anatomy."
Amy The second episode of NBC's new police drama Southland was on par with its premiere and won the 10 p.m. hour Thursday night, giving the network some tentative assurance that last week's promising debut wasn't a one-time headline.
Southland (9.6 million viewers, 3.1 preliminary adults 18-49 rating) was just a tenth off from its debut and steadily maintained its rating throughout its time period, though lost some steam coming out of an improved 30 Rock (7.3 million, 3.5).
As expected, NBC's other new Thursday series, the comedy Parks and Recreation (5.9 million, 2.5), had a rougher time at 8:30 p.m. With a much lower lead-in this week from My Name Is Earl (5.3 million, 2.1) compared with last week's The Office special, Parks rose 19% from Earl but fell 17% from its premiere. At 9 p.m., The Office (8.2 million, 4.1) was up slightly.
NBC tied Fox for second place for the evening, with CBS coming in first. Survivor (11.6 million, 3.5) and CSI (15.4 million, 3.8) matched last week and the second episode of Harper's Island (8.2 million, 2.2) dropped 15%.
Fox's Bones (8.7 million, 2.5) was steady, though the detective dramedy showed notably more spark airing Wednesday night for its special, with Hell's Kitchen (8 million, 3.4) up a tenth.
Third-place ABC aired repeats of its medical dramas, with 8 p.m.'s In the Motherhood (4.7 million, 1.4) and Samantha Who (5 million, 1.5) each climbing a tenth. The CW aired repeats.
'SOUTHLAND' WINS ITS HOUR IN ALL KEY CATEGORIES AND 'PARKS AND RECREATION' DELIVERS BIG BUILDS AT 8:30
'SOUTHLAND' TOPS 'HARPER'S ISLAND' BY A DECISIVE 41 PERCENT MARGIN IN ADULTS 18-49, UP FROM 23 PERCENT A WEEK EARLIER
'SOUTHLAND' RETAINS 97 PERCENT OF ITS POTENT PREMIERE-WEEK RATING IN ADULTS 18-49 AND 100 PERCENT IN ADULTS 18-34
'PARKS AND RECREATION' BUILDS ON ITS 'EARL' LEAD-IN BY 19 PERCENT IN 18-49, AND WINS ITS SLOT IN 18-34
UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. April 17, 2009 NBC's new Thursday series "Southland" and "Parks and Recreation" continued to post strong numbers in their second original telecasts, while "The Office" for the second week in a row emerged from the Thursday fray as the #1 show of the night in primetime's key demographic of adults 18-49, according to "fast affiliate-based" "live plus same day" viewing figures from Nielsen Media Research
At 10 p.m. ET, "Southland" (3.1/9 in 18-49, 9.6 million viewers overall) dominated its time period in adults 18-49 and won the hour in every key ratings category. In adults 18-49, the "Southland" margin of victory was a decisive 41 percent (3.1 vs. a 2.2 for CBS's "Harper's Island" in second place). Last week, this margin was 23 percent. In adults 18-34, last night's margin of victory was 56 percent (2.5 vs. a 1.6 for "Harper's"). Pending updates, "Southland" is currently topping the CBS-ABC competition combined in the hour in all key adult-male demographics.
In its second week, "Southland" retained a potent 97 percent of its robust 18-49 rating from its week-ago premiere (3.1 vs. 3.2), while maintaining 100 percent of its adult 18-34 rating (a 2.5 both weeks). In total viewers, "Southland" retained 97 percent of its premiere results (9.6 million vs. 9.9 million, pending updates).
From half-hour to half-hour, "Southland" maintained its 3.1 rating in adults 18-49 and increased its overall viewership by 2 percent (to 9.7 million from 9.5 million), while both CBS's "Harper's Island" and ABC's "Private Practice" encore declined half-hour to half-hour in both categories.
If you pursue the pop-culture thing and indulge yourself in it, go to all the events and get yourself on the cover of Us Weekly every week, that fame is fleeting,It's not a road you can navigate for a long time. People get tired of you and you burn out. Ben Mckenzie
That was funny! And the jacket looked nice. Handsome Ben! 
