Aw, you took mine. But especially the character played by Niecy Nash. (Haven’t seen it in ages so I’m blanking on the character name.)
I always liked Lauren Holly, who played Officer Maxine Stewart on Picket Fences. Red heads do it for me.
Oh, definitely. Haven’t seen the American remake - is it any good?
Betty Thomas as Ptl. (later Sgt.) Lucy Bates was always good on Hill Street Blues; could handle comedy and drama equally well: http://a4.l3-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/110/9190a4a68fb54555bd7ea54a20adc31f/l.jpg
Lindsay Frost as Sgt. Helen Sullivan on the all-too-short-lived cop show High Incident; a great mix of the tough-as-nails and vulnerable:
http://homepage2.nifty.com/bibatomo/kaigai1/h7.JPG
Figures, I come into a thread that was started 16 hours ago and get ninja’d by 10 minutes.
There are lots of good mentions in this thread, but I kept coming back to Lucy. She was a true cop’s cop, and tried to keep her gender from being an issue, but sometimes couldn’t help it. She couldn’t quite be one of the guys, but she couldn’t be a girly-girl either, and Thomas did a great job of walking that line.
Since Heather Locklear’s already been taken, I’ll have to go with Tara Spencer-Nairn as officer Karen Pelly, in Corner Gas.
One of my current favourites is Teresa Lisbon on “The Mentalist.” You could argue that she is a patsy who is being manipulated by Patrick Jane, but I think their relationship is more complicated than that (as we saw this season, she is the one Jane wants to work with - he’ll just get rid of anyone else they try to put in her job).
Molly Price as Faith Yokas in Third Watch. Why no, she’s no fashion model moonlighting as busy badass cop.
Also, Jennifer Esposito is basically the take-no-shit Latina cop.
I liked all the women detectives on “Without a Trace”; another vote for Law & Order’s Eames and for Kyra Sedgwick’s Brenda Johnson
Hey, Sheridan has DEPTH, man.
Ditto. I like her best. Jules on Psych seems stupid, and she is definitely manipulated by Spencer, and Beckett’s spike heels throw me right out of willing suspension of disbelief – no one can chase down bad guys or stand or walk for hours in that kind of footgear, and no working cop could devote as much time to makeup as her huge amounts of it would demand. Lisbon often wears flats and functional clothing, and makeup is minimal. It makes her more believable.
I also love Jo from Eureka. Smart, pretty and no nonsense. And she will kick your ass, so don’t tempt her.
But my favorite TV cop was Raineesha Williams from Reno 911! She was 20 pounds of officer in a 5 pound bag. Plus a bag of chips.
kathy norris in cold case.
Word. Girl is natch’ral born POlice.
Ditto this. Lily had this translucent, porcelain complexion. Sigh. And she was a troubled and complicated person. I also only caught the show in reruns, thanks to my dvr. The plots were intense and poignant and often left me in tears-- the good kind.
As far as real girl cops go, those Italian female cops we always saw escorting Amanda Knox to and from the courtroom were pretty darned hot.
These are the ones that I have liked. Of them, I’m going with Deb Morgan as #1.
I always liked Kim Delaney on NYPD Blue, she was so stylish and pretty, marching a perp into the police station. She won an Emmy as ‘Diane’, shame she’s fallen so low in her personal life.
Currently, I like the actor - whatshername - Mirelle something - on The Killing. Oh, and on Everybody Loves Raymond, Robert’s partner, who took him out dancing (when he “turned black”) - she is just hilarious in her no-nonsense way. She should have her own show.
It’s actually pretty good. I was prepared to hate it, as nobody could replace Helen Mirren, but they’re not trying to mimic the original.
I watch Sela Ward as Jo Danville for the opposite reason!
Ditto on Chefguy’s comments. Maria Bello is a good American counterpart to the British Mirren character, and the tension among the male cops and the strong woman that is Jane is a dynamic that benefits from the more macho American male cop image.
It looks like NBC is giving the show every chance to catch on, and I hope they find the right time slot for it.
Upthread Jennifer Esposito was mentioned. I like what she’s been doing on Blue Bloods in a minor role.