# New NBC Show, "Southland"; Good Review **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 7, 2009, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-nbc-show-southland-good-review/492300 "2009-04-07T20:47:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2009, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-nbc-show-southland-good-review/492300/21 "2009-04-11T01:03:54Z")
Didn’t stay very gold, did he? ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2009, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-nbc-show-southland-good-review/492300/22 "2009-04-11T18:29:36Z")
[Ratings](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i9797ecafefe6fc8b3ab7a4f9bbff9d54) are in. Looks good so far! (I have to be careful of being too happy…I am a “new show jinx” - if I like a show, cancellation is right around the corner!) ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2009, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-nbc-show-southland-good-review/492300/23 "2009-04-12T03:58:44Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > I liked the first episode enough to give it a try. > > Question though… > > Was the veteran cop (Cooper?) in a Gay bar in the last scene? Just curious, but what gave it away? That didn’t occur to me at all when watching it. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2009, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-nbc-show-southland-good-review/492300/24 "2009-04-12T05:03:18Z")
Just caught a rerun of it. Seems pretty good. The whole part with the lady detective fell flat. I’d rather it focus on the beat cops, since pretty much all cop shows these days focus on detectives. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2009, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-nbc-show-southland-good-review/492300/25 "2009-04-12T18:26:31Z")
> [@Red\_Barchetta](#): > > Just curious, but what gave it away? That didn’t occur to me at all when watching it. When the camera panned away from the close up, you saw the other patrons at the bar. Let’s just say it was a feeling…but a bar filled with only guys and not a single woman to be seen? Granted, that could happen anywhere - even in a straight bar, but it does make you go “hmmm”… ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2009, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-nbc-show-southland-good-review/492300/26 "2009-04-12T18:34:57Z")
> [@Red\_Barchetta](#): > > Just curious, but what gave it away? That didn’t occur to me at all when watching it. Another clue, although I had to watch the episode a second time to catch this. Earlier in the show, they pulled up next to an unmarked police car with a suspect in the back seat. They were told that he was picked up for soliciting in a park. He was in the bar complaining loudly about getting arrested earlier that day. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2009, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-nbc-show-southland-good-review/492300/27 "2009-04-14T16:35:56Z")
> [@Red\_Barchetta](#): > > Just curious, but what gave it away? That didn’t occur to me at all when watching it. I gues it was a combination of no females in the bar and the fact that all the bartenders were perfectoly groomed mucle bound guys in tank tops. They just looked TOO good for bartenders in your average corner bar. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2009, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-nbc-show-southland-good-review/492300/28 "2009-04-17T04:27:10Z")
I watched the first episode just before the second one aired tonight, and all I can say is that it may be better than some primetimecrime shows (I don’t watch them), but it’s no _The Wire_. Too predictable, too many noble, self-sacrificing, but slightly flawed cops, struggling to right the wrongs of the world in their small way. And no bad guys anywhere near as interesting as Stringer Bell or Omar. I don’t think I’ll be tuning in again. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2009, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-nbc-show-southland-good-review/492300/29 "2009-04-17T04:56:40Z")
Well, if you’re comparing it to The Wire, you may as well just give up on all cop shows now. I liked tonight’s episode more, but I wished they would just get rid of the bleeped swearing. It’s annoying. ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2009, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-nbc-show-southland-good-review/492300/30 "2009-04-17T12:14:00Z")
Caught last night’s episode. I may have been biased going in, but that was pretty terrible. Look, if you’re going to shoot it as if it were a documentary or an episode of _Cops_, then the dialogue, characters, and situations can’t be so clichéd. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2009, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-nbc-show-southland-good-review/492300/31 "2009-04-17T14:38:55Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > Well, if you’re comparing it to The Wire, you may as well just give up on all cop shows now. I almost never do watch cop shows, but since people were comparing this to _The Wire_, I tried it. If it’s better than the average cop show, it’s not better enough to make me watch it. > [@VarlosZ](#): > > Caught last night’s episode. I may have been biased going in, but that was pretty terrible. > > Look, if you’re going to shoot it as if it were a documentary or an episode of _Cops_, then the dialogue, characters, and situations can’t be so clichéd. Exactly. IMHO, it was just plain, ordinary melodrama. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2009, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-nbc-show-southland-good-review/492300/32 "2009-04-17T15:30:00Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > I think what interested me about it is I can’t remember the last time a cop show covered uniformed officers, the training officer seems like he’ll be an interesting character. The Shield featured uniform officers pretty regularly as did Michael Chiklis’ previous show, The Commish. As for Southland. It looks mildly interesting, but I can’t get over the ads that intone “NBC takes you behind the badge” as if _a show about the police_ is the most groundbreaking thing in the world. Plus, it stars the kid from The O.C… ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2009, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-nbc-show-southland-good-review/492300/33 "2009-04-17T15:53:37Z")
> [@VarlosZ](#): > > Caught last night’s episode. I may have been biased going in, but that was pretty terrible. > > Look, if you’re going to shoot it as if it were a documentary or an episode of _Cops_, then the dialogue, characters, and situations can’t be so clichéd. I never took it as a fake-docudrama type show. Yeah, it’s got those camera angles, but there’s no interviews with characters or breaking the fourth wall. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2009, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-nbc-show-southland-good-review/492300/34 "2009-04-17T16:13:32Z")
I was completely put off by this week’s episode. An hour about a baby? Pul-leeze. Boring dreck. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2009, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-nbc-show-southland-good-review/492300/35 "2009-04-17T16:17:19Z")
It’s doomed. Where’s NBC gonna put it when Leno’s on five nights a week? Saturday? Ha! Sunday? Double Ha! 9pm slot? Triple Ha! USA? Possible… ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2009, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-nbc-show-southland-good-review/492300/36 "2009-04-17T16:38:08Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > I never took it as a fake-docudrama type show. Yeah, it’s got those camera angles, but there’s no interviews with characters or breaking the fourth wall. I didn’t mean to imply that it **is** a fake-docudrama type show, just that it’s filmed like one (or like _Cops_), which would be fine if the characters talked like real people or encountered situations that, largely, real people would encounter. Likewise, it would also be ok to keep the dialogue and plotting mostly as is and film it in a more traditional way. The problem is that the cinéma vérité framing combined with boilerplate TV-drama dialogue and plots throws into sharp relief just how phony the whole enterprise is. For anyone who’s ever watched _Cops_, I just don’t see how you can watch \*Southland \*without a voice in the back of your head whispering fake-fake-fake-fake-fake-fake-fake. There were other things I disliked about it, but this was the most jarring. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2009, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-nbc-show-southland-good-review/492300/37 "2009-04-17T18:13:43Z")
I may as well put this here, as it’s too pedantic for a new thread… Did you happen to see the original trailer for this show, where the veteran cop said “He’s new. He’s new.” Well, that scene played out last night, and he only said “He’s new” once. I don’t know why, but I find that really annoying. ---
**Author:** ![SurrenderDorothy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/surrenderdorothy/32/1221_2.png) [@SurrenderDorothy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SurrenderDorothy)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2009, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-nbc-show-southland-good-review/492300/38 "2009-04-17T19:26:39Z")
eh. I was bored enough to just turn it off halfway through last night and I was watching it while playing on the computer, so… that’s really boring. I love cop shows and have been looking for a new one to love. I loved ER and I REALLY love Third Watch, so I had high hopes. Last week I watched it, was bored, and decided to keep on giving it a chance. This week I decided I don’t want to have to work to enjoy a show. I’ll keep looking for good reviews for a few weeks to see if it picks up, but so far no good. ---
**Author:** ![shy\_guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@shy\_guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shy_guy)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2009, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-nbc-show-southland-good-review/492300/39 "2009-04-17T19:44:12Z")
I loved the pilot, but I thought last night’s ep was pretty weak. The entire baby plot was stupid and most of the things I found interesting about the pilot were pretty much ignored. And, again, the whole baby thing was straight out of 50 episodes of ER. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2009, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-nbc-show-southland-good-review/492300/40 "2009-04-17T21:43:38Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > It’s doomed. Where’s NBC gonna put it when Leno’s on five nights a week? > > Saturday? Ha! > Sunday? Double Ha! > 9pm slot? Triple Ha! > USA? Possible… I would have no problem with that. Maybe it can replace all those NCIS reruns… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-nbc-show-southland-good-review/492300.md?page=1)