Southland
- Thread starter houtx48
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Should this be in the "etc" thread?
this show reminds me of a mix between NYPD Blue and Hill Street Blues.. Lots of shaky camera shots, showing lots of un-necessary scenes, and tons of "teasers." Like the trainer cop ending the first episode in a gay bar and nothing about it in the following 2 episodes.
Maybe they are just building up the characters.
i've only seen the 1st ep. and i totally missed the part about him being in a gay bar at the end, i better rewatch that. cuz it might change my whole opinion of the show.
i thought the writing was awful, not the story lines so much but the actual dialogue. i thought it must be a period show, cuz in the setup for the black kid who got shot by the gang bangers he was talking like it was 1982 or something using slang that was so dated it was funny. if you were a fan of the shield, ur gonna find this an amateur attempt. the ONLY thing that makes cop shows credible is the street language, if u can't get that right it's a comedy.
But i was never a big fan of ER either, they're both pretty heavy handed in the story telling, ( i don't need to be spoon fed every factoid) and c'mon, do we really need the old cop to physically look like he could be young cops dad to make sure we get the mentor relationship (all i could think everytime i saw them in the car together was: ok so young cop's mom had an affair with this older cop dude and nobody knows it yet? and now they just happen to be partners?they gotta be related right?) so far this smells like the cop version of ER, just replace the scrubs with uniforms.
as far as getting the feel of LA right, "the shield" did a much better job and even that donnie wahlberg show that only had a few eps "boomtown" was far better.
I like Ben Mckenzie alot (he did a nice job with ryan on OC), but i wish they gave him better lines, i hope they make his character as dark as possible, at least he'll have somewhere to go with it instead of just playing spoiled little rich cop. C Thomas Howell is kinda off the rails but i'll reserve judgement till i see a few more eps. so far it seems populated with character retreads from hill st and nypd blue like 15shooter said, but in 2009 they feel a little tired. but hey i'ts NBC development, everything comes out looking the same with a network filter on it. thank god for cable. although "Homicide: life on the street" was brilliant and that was NBC. there may be hope yet.
i thought the writing was awful, not the story lines so much but the actual dialogue. i thought it must be a period show, cuz in the setup for the black kid who got shot by the gang bangers he was talking like it was 1982 or something using slang that was so dated it was funny. if you were a fan of the shield, ur gonna find this an amateur attempt. the ONLY thing that makes cop shows credible is the street language, if u can't get that right it's a comedy.
But i was never a big fan of ER either, they're both pretty heavy handed in the story telling, ( i don't need to be spoon fed every factoid) and c'mon, do we really need the old cop to physically look like he could be young cops dad to make sure we get the mentor relationship (all i could think everytime i saw them in the car together was: ok so young cop's mom had an affair with this older cop dude and nobody knows it yet? and now they just happen to be partners?they gotta be related right?) so far this smells like the cop version of ER, just replace the scrubs with uniforms.
as far as getting the feel of LA right, "the shield" did a much better job and even that donnie wahlberg show that only had a few eps "boomtown" was far better.
I like Ben Mckenzie alot (he did a nice job with ryan on OC), but i wish they gave him better lines, i hope they make his character as dark as possible, at least he'll have somewhere to go with it instead of just playing spoiled little rich cop. C Thomas Howell is kinda off the rails but i'll reserve judgement till i see a few more eps. so far it seems populated with character retreads from hill st and nypd blue like 15shooter said, but in 2009 they feel a little tired. but hey i'ts NBC development, everything comes out looking the same with a network filter on it. thank god for cable. although "Homicide: life on the street" was brilliant and that was NBC. there may be hope yet.
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MichiganRico
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Couldn't agree with you more...at least about the poor script and lack of authenticity. I haven't watched since the first episode either. Actually, the only reason I did was that I read on the blogs there would be a gay character showing up...and I was so hoping it would be Ben McKenzie, but that didn't happen--guess it would have been too obvious.
Here are some great vidcaps of Ben McKenzie from the first pilot episode of "Southland"....(He does look great in a uniform, doesn't he?)....
Ben Mckenzie - fmforums
yeah he really looks great, and i'm impressed that he's not part of that celeb crowd that chases the papparazi showing up anywhere that they can get their face or sex parts photographed.
iit looks like he's been hittin the gym too. he's got such a great jawline and nose, and the cop haircut works perfect on him, i remember when he first showed up on the OC, there were comments that he looked like a younger version of russell crowe but he's way hotter than russell ever dreamed of being, at any age. he seems serious about acting, no ashton kutcher thats' for sure.
iit looks like he's been hittin the gym too. he's got such a great jawline and nose, and the cop haircut works perfect on him, i remember when he first showed up on the OC, there were comments that he looked like a younger version of russell crowe but he's way hotter than russell ever dreamed of being, at any age. he seems serious about acting, no ashton kutcher thats' for sure.
Last night's teaser was that by the end of the day 2 of the men would find they have something in common. I know Thadjock has not seen it so I won't spoil last night's episode. But watch episode 1 again when the other cops pull up next to the rookie and his partner and see who is in the back seat. That same dude is in the gay bar (all men dancing together), at the bar, at the ending.
I was not a fan of The OC (not talking about OCJock here!). I found it boring but I like the drama in this and Shawn Hatosy is not bad to look at either.
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ya he's the only thing that made alpha dog watchable,
another serious actor
i wasn't a die hard OC fan either but at least in the beginning it had a fresh take on teendrama, wasn't all sex and drugs. and the guy that played seth was a good balance of funny/cute. the writers had some fun and played it tongue n cheek alot of the time. it was a show with a sense of humor about itself.
I got a feeling this show will not make it to Australia any time soon which is a shame for me as I love Ben and his work on The OC and even watched 88 minutes just for him, so it is nice to see him getting a regular gig again.
And you are right guys in that it looks like he had bulked up again to what he was while on the oc in season one and season four. He was quite slim there for a while but he has packed on the muscles again and looks better for it. I do wish though he would let his hair grow out a bit longer as the short buzz cut does not suit his face that well imo but otherwise he looks quite fine. Just want the obligatory wife beater shots now lol
Oh, and what is this of his character being in a gay bar ?
And you are right guys in that it looks like he had bulked up again to what he was while on the oc in season one and season four. He was quite slim there for a while but he has packed on the muscles again and looks better for it. I do wish though he would let his hair grow out a bit longer as the short buzz cut does not suit his face that well imo but otherwise he looks quite fine. Just want the obligatory wife beater shots now lol
Oh, and what is this of his character being in a gay bar ?
I think that they really dropped the ball with that show in the second and third seasons when they took the focus away from the seth and ryan dynamic relationship and branched out more to the other side characters, especially with Marissa and Summer tbh. It worked best when it kept its focus mainly on the ' bromance ' that was the seth and ryan relationship that made season one so enjoyable and Ben and Adam themselves seemed to have really great chemistry together more so than their female co stars who they were paired with on the show.
Mr. Snakey
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ya it devolved pretty quickly into standard soap fare. I think when a new show doesn't get instant ratings the network pressures the writers to dial up the skank factor and then you get all the stupid story lines about the wife's dad's second marriage to a slut his daughter's age, and people dying, corporate espionage, illicit affairs etc. cuz they think people will only tune in for dirt.
His "veteran" partner is in a gay bar at the end of the 1st episode, not Ben.
oh, then i did see that part, and i did see the guy that they had arrested was in there too and they both noticed each other. it didn't register on me that it was a gay bar, it was really dark in there and i guess i thought it was just a dive bar where mostly guys go to drink.
he's kinda hot, i guess that could be fun, if they write it realistically and don't do a stereotypical "drive-by" with the story line. would be groundbreaking to see a masculine normal decent guy be gay for once, instead of flaming or scumbag or a cartoon in a tv drama.
I always wanted shane to turn out to be gay on the shield. walt goggins had a really hot gay role in the movie red dirt. takes a shower outside under a garden hose in front of his young hot landlord.
Damn! I think I saw Red Dirt but forgot. Those damn IMDB descriptions are useless now. Can you PM me what else you remember about it so I can decide if it is worthwhile adding to my collection?
:smile:
- Deno,
I did notice how the older cop handled the cross dresser in there shop, and the surprised look on the young cops face! Didn't really pick up on anyone being in a gay bar, I thought the older cop had a daughter and was kissing all over that women at the retirement party. That must have been someone else.
Veteran cop in gay bar is at 41:47 to 42:47 on episode 1 (total 44:13) available at:
NBC Video Rewind
gay guy who Vet saw earlier in back of other squad car: "I had the day from hell, got arrested."
Vet cop: "I had a crap day too"
this is only available until 5/15!
Also available FREE on COX On Demand "My Primetime," NBC, until 5/8, episode 2 until 5/15 and episode 3 until 5/22. Fast Forward, Pause, and Rewind not available (damn if I don't have to call and bitch at them again!
)With all its "short-comings" I still think this is worth watching for any hard-core cop drama lovers. Hell, it gives me something to talk about other than ball games.
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