Cop-Show Streets Get Meaner

LA Times ^ | 3/12/02 | GREG BRAXTON

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Shawn Ryan remembers well the furor that erupted when "NYPD Michael Chiklis stars as an LAPD officer in the FX series "The Shield," created by Shawn Ryan, background. Blue" premiered in 1993. Ryan, the creator of FX's new gritty police drama, "The Shield," is from Rockford, Ill., home to one of the numerous ABC affiliates that initially refused to air "NYPD Blue" due to its bedroom scenes, violence and nudity. Station managers, religious leaders and several advertisers felt the show went too far. "Rockford was a very religious town, and I remember talking to my mother there about how appalled ...

[frmrda]

Just caught the first episode.

Wow. What a great show. Definately not for the kiddies.

Michael Chilkis (the guy who played "The Commish") has got the role of a lifetime and is taking full advantage of it. An utterly amazing performance and an interesting, very flawed, character.

One thing to notice is all the veterans of "Homicide-Life on the Street". Reed Diamond (Detective Mike Kellerman on HLOTS) plays a guy in Chilkis' squad. Max Perlich (the camera guy on HLOTS) plays a fence and Clark Johnson (Detective Meldrick Lewis on HLOTS) directed the episode.

Definately this show is must-see TV right up there w/ The Sopranos.

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I thought this post was lost forever.

[Fred Mertz]

I watched it tonight and it was pretty raw and brutal. I'll probably watch it next week too. I'm trying not to get hooked into another weekly series, but I'll check it out again.

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

I'm convinced to break away from my non-television habits and tape it.

[Texasforever]

I thought it was great too but man, that ending, him shooting the other cop, really sat me back in my chair.

[frmrda]

Yeah, that shocked the hell out of me as well. Poor Reed Diamond, he always gets dissed by other cops. It all stems from him shooting Luther Mahoney (If you're not a HLOTS fan you have no idea what I meant).

What makes this show so interesting is the Vic Maggio character. Here's a corrupt cop who cares about crack whores seeing and taking care of their kids, and who actually wants to do a good job of getting people off the streets, but uses murder, extortion and threats to acheive his goal. Going to be very interesting.

[JSteff]

re:him shooting the other cop, really sat me back in my chair.

I did not see the whole thing... so why did he shot him?

[frmrda]

Because the cop was working with the Captain to try and bring Maggio down. The cop was trying to get dirt on Maggio and Maggio must have found out (we don't know how yet) so they set it up like he got shot during a raid.

[browardchad]

There was some extensive previews of future shows at the end, which seemed to show Maggio murdering quite a few people. I have a feeling this series will make The Sopranos look like a Disney cartoon. We decided to take a pass on the rest of the series -- there's enough real blood, corruption and dirty politics in the world right now...

[VOA]

Reed Diamond (Detective Mike Kellerman on HLOTS)...
Max Perlich (the camera guy on HLOTS) Clark Johnson...
(Detective Meldrick Lewis on HLOTS) directed the episode

Wonder if these guys are doing penance for the horrible mess that HLOTS became in the
last season or two.

...not that it was their fault...
But if this show re-captures the grit of the early HLOTS years, it's gotta' be great.

I didn't recognize Chiklas when I first saw his picture in the LA Times this morning.
Talk about range: from Mr. Nice Family Cop in "The Commish" to this show!
Good thing I don't have cable...or I'd be hooked.

[glc1173@aol.com]

The real streets have gotten meaner, too.

I've been a scanner listener here in Burlington, North Carolina for over 20 years now - and the past weekend was absolutely nutty.

It's been part of a trend around here - much worse trouble involving either illegal aliens themselves or the addicts they sell to in the six years since North Carolina first got any substantial illegal-alien population. At one point, this city had more armed robberies in and of businesses in two years than during the prior 20!

[frmrda]

Yeah, HLOTS became an utter mess in the last season. When Andre Braugher left the show became 3rd rate. The new cast was simply brutal, and not fit to stand in the shoes or Braugher, Ned Beatty, John Polito, or William Baldwin (yes, a Baldwin Brother who can actually act).

Get someone to tape this show for you. They are rerunning it at 9pm on FX next week just prior to the new episode at 10 pm. This show is every bit as good as "Oz" and "The Sopranos".

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

How realistic was this?