Odds and ends to conclude the year and look ahead to 2010.
Holiday Gifts: General kudos to cable’s programmers this month. It’s usually a hit or miss situation when it comes to receiving preview tapes from networks prior to the January TV critics tour. With TCA arriving so close to the holidays, it’s understandable that the task of distributing preview tapes to critics of next year’s shows sometimes slips. Not this year.
TNT sent out the critically acclaimed police series Southland weeks ago. Just the other day Investigation Discovery delivered its Valentine’s Day special, Prison Wives. Earlier, HBO, which is always reliable in terms of sending screeners, posted us parts of its much anticipated Hanks-Spielberg 10-night mini The Pacific.
So, how were the tapes we received?
Before that let’s look at the schedule. Remember Southland is a series that Turner Entertainment chief Steve Koonin grabbed for TNT after its cancellation by NBC. Beginning Jan 12 at 10pm, TNT plans to present 13 eps of Southland, including 7 that aired previously on NBC; the new eps will commence on TNT March 2.
The eps TNT sent us recently included an extended pilot—there is some 6 minutes of material here that NBC deleted when the pilot debuted originally. Even better, TNT will show this longer pilot commercial free on Jan 12.
OK, so how’s the quality of Southland? Koonin, one of cable’s most pleasant execs, can keep smiling. The critics weren’t wrong about Southland. It’s a gritty police drama based in Los Angeles and it’s largely believable. Much of the pilot’s time is spent with rank-and-file officers Cooper (Michael Cudlitz), a hard-nosed veteran, and Sherman (Ben McKenzie), a green rookie who’s assigned to train with Cooper. While Cooper and Sherman’s adventures largely are predictable and the other characters are more traditional than TNT’s original police dramas The Closer and Saving Grace, Southland is solid. The larger question will be whether TNT orders new episodes after this season. Should it do so, will Southland retain its broadcast network (read more expensive than cable) look and feel?
Interestingly The Pacific reminds me of how good the concept of another series was. History’s WWII in HD, which premiered in November, really was a misnomer. Yes, the digitized and colorized footage was impressive, but the real stars of that fine series were the men and women who told their WWII stories. After introducing their stories, they gave way to actors who voiced their words. Eventually their narratives were woven into History’s telling of the war.
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