Are any of you all still watching this? I haven’t seen a cop show I have enjoyed this much since Boomtown, which the idiots at NBC also killed. Thank goodness TNT picked up the slack with Southland.
Southland
by John Cole| 48 Comments
This post is in: Open Threads
irmaladuce
me! I love it so much. I only started watching last season though. I wish the earlier eps were streaming somewhere. I just can’t be bothered to catch up on a multi-season show via Netflix dvds. That’s why I haven’t watched Justified yet, even though I keep hearing about how awesome it is.
H Squared
I hate it when people throw around “the best show on television”, but I love this show; it never misses.
Cathie from Canada
Yes, I love Southland.
And Irma, there isn’t really much relationship now to last year’s Southland anyway — John the blond cop was so hooked on Oxy that he was just bizarre for the last half of last year, and Lydia went through a partner a week it seemed, culminating in having an affair with her partner’s grown son.
So you didn’t really miss a lot.
Except that maybe the son is the father of Lydia’s baby, but it doesn’t really matter anyway.
As for Justified, its one of those shows where the backstory is referred to often enough that you likely can pick up what you need as you go along.
srv
Can’t be bothered with DVD’s when there’s Luther.
janeform
John Cole, do you only watch TV shows with one-word titles, or do all TV shows have one-word titles? I haven’t watched TV in a while.
BGinCHI
Anyone else watch “Terriers”?
Watching it on Netflix now and it’s really good. Surprised.
Steve in DC
Yeah and it’s still crap.
FYI, if you want a pure made in the USA electronics item http://www.etymotic.com/ debating doing some blogs on them on other blogs. But I think this is how we get back to what we are. Huge IEM and headphone review coming up soon.
TheMightyTrowel
I love Southland. I stream the hell out of it because i can’t seem to find it on Australian TV and in the UK it always aired way past my bedtime on totally random digital channels.
patrick II
@BGinCHI:
I enjoyed Terriers enough that I pitched it a couple of times in comments here. The ratings were terrible and it seemed inevitable that it would be cancelled. My entreaties did no good.
Nobody plays the schlumpy looking sneaky smart guy better than Donal Logue. It was a good show.
JGabriel
How Americans Sound To British People
.
JGabriel
irmaladuce:
Justified has only 13 episodes per season, and it’s in the middle of the third, so it really isn’t that difficult to get caught up. There are only 32 episodes so far.
And yes, Justified is awesome.
.
Martin
Speaking of one-word show titles, people should check out the the Nightline spot on Apple’s manufacturing.
We’ve had some posts here about Apple and lots of comments and I thought it was a pretty well done segment.
Brandon
@srv: Loved Luther. Can’t say enough good things about that show. The latest Sherlock Holmes series is no slouch though either.
Been trying Whitechapel now. Not too bad for ITV.
@patrick II: On the one hand, I understand why FX had to cancel Terriers. The ratings were just in the toilet. But it was quite a fantastic show and I keep hoping that maybe, just maybe, they’ll bring it back just for benevolent reasons. However, I know that just won’t be the case.
Hovercraft Full of Eels
The parts of Southland that focus on the two teams of street cops are executed really well. Cudlitz deserves an Emmy nomination, Hatosy is really good at playing a pain in the ass, and McKenzie and Liu, two actors that I never particularly liked before this show, are both doing very solid work, too.
I like Regina King as an actress, but it seems like they’ve never quite figured out what to do with her character, and this year’s storyline that has her pregnant just isn’t working for me. YMMV.
Justified is a very entertaining show, as was Terriers. For those of you thinking about checking out the latter, but who are unsure about investing time in a canceled show, know that the 13 episodes that were produced have a more-or-less complete storyline that can be enjoyed as a thing in itself – like a miniseries, or a really long movie for TV.
trollhattan
@JGabriel:
This here.
Anybody who needs a Bullock fix from Deadwood must watch Justified. If only it had Wu and Swearengen…hmm, you never know, they kill off characters at a good clip.
Also, too, “Rescue Me’s” demise leaves a big hole in the teebee schedule.
Batocchio
I was a fan of Boomtown, too, but NBC heavily promoted it at first and its numbers weren’t strong. That’s how it normally goes…
agorabum
Yea for Southland. Any show that will have a kid urinate on a corpse…while a cop just stands there, is ok in my book. And then has characters defend the stand-around cop.
People are complicated…
Bruce S
Southland is great.
Also loving Justified. My personal favorite. I think it’s got the greatest array of characters of any current show. Plus an episode with Dave Alvin. And, oh yeah, “Gangstagrass” theme music.
Not really getting into Luck.
Mustang Bobby
I love Southland. It’s one of those shows that consistently surprises me with the writing and the story turns, and I’ve been a big fan of Michael Cudlitz since Band of Brothers. I’m also glad to see Ben McKenzie show a little more character since he got pegged as the moody muscle-stud bad boy in that soap The O.C., and Regina King rulz.
Maxwel
@H Squared:
Paying attention?
Best show on television.
Chris from Arlington
You should check out Flashpoint on Ion. It’s a Canadian series about a Toronto swat team. It’s quite good, I’ve been watching it for weeks and I believe I saw my first gunshot by a policemnan last week – they always try to talk the suspect down first.
R-Jud
@JGabriel: I just sent that to a friend. But I won’t be able to talk to him about it, because he can never understand a fucking word I say.
Southern Beale
Christine O’Donnell trying to be part of the national conversation, failing miserably.
Bill Maher had something interesting to say about people like her and Sarah Palin and the other Republican Fembots. Women hate them because they’re stupid and advocate anti-woman policies. But Republican men love them. O’Donnell and Palin are like the living embodiment of the Stepford Wife.
Elizabelle
Good morning.
Open thread, please? Pet picture optional.
jeffreyw
@Elizabelle: Can’t open a thread for ya, but…
Joey Maloney
I really enjoyed the first two seasons of Justified, but I’m not that interested in this third season’s Big Bad, and that’s a big part of what makes it work.
JR
Love “Southland,” love “Luther” (Alice Morgan is an amazing character, a combination of Moriarty and Watson and Irene Adler with–and these are words I never thought I’d ever type–the sexiest damn underbite in history), miss “Terriers,” miss “Deadwood,” highly recommend both “Justified” and “Sons of Anarchy” (the two shows where all the “Deadwood” cast seem to have migrated, save for Ian McShane), and yet I still manage to enjoy the milquetoast schlock that USA puts out as well.
Rosalita
Love, love, love SouthLAnd Michael Cudlitz and Regina King are awesome.
Seanly
Southland rocks. The switch to mostly covering the street cops made sense – but sorta leaves the wonderful Regina King in a weird spot.
Chat Noir
I started watching it on your recommendation, John. Very glad that I did. Love the pairing of Michael Cudlitz and Lucy Liu this season.
Soonergrunt
I love Southland.
nickgb
Southland is the first cop show I’ve loved as much as Hill Street Blues. It’s not the best show on TV, probably, but it fits a niche for gritty and dark reality that is otherwise missing in my TV life.
Bondo
Of course, this is one of the best shows on television, and this season has been amazing. Lucy Liu rocks. Sorry Chickie isnt on anymore though, her season 2 arc was great, and I expected her to get in it with Cooper, but they flashed forward a year.
dang
Yeah, I love ‘Southland’, too.
But, damn. It puts you through the emotional wringer every episode. Never had a TV show leave me so spent, and frankly depressed, after each episode.
Not exactly a recruiting poster for the LAPD, but sure as shit is a quality drama.
That said, nothing compares to my ‘Justified’
DonR9
I whole-heartedly agree. Southland and the first season of Boomtown are/were terrific shows. So, too, were Men of a Certain Age and Terriers.
Rafer Janders
Southland is great, but it’s undergone a substantial revision since the series began. When it started, it was about evenly split between stories about the plainclothes detectives and the uniformed street officers. Since then, the detectives, apart from Regina King’s character, have been dropped (some were written off, one was killed because the actor left for another series, and Shawn Hatosy’s detective character went back to being a uniformed officer).
I like the emphasis on the street cops, but, as someone noted above, the re-design has somewhat stranded Regina King’s character as the sole detective. Moreover, the episodes are now structured so that they all take place on one single day, from start of tour to finish. But this results in several completely unbelievable storylines where King gets to a murder scene, investigates, gets lab results, interviews witnesses, and catches the killer, all in the course of eight hours.
Rafer Janders
Yeah, what happened to Chickie? Did they ever say what became of her character? Or Detective Sal Salinger? I understand that casts get re-arranged, actors leave, etc., but I’d have appreciated at least a mention of what became of them.
Rafer Janders
@nickgb:
For me it’s my ER replacement (somewhat fittingly, since NBC first aired it when ER was cancelled): it’s one of the only semi-realistic multi-character workplace shows left that isn’t a CBS crime procedural.
Henry Whistler
Yes! Hadn’t really noticed the drift away from detective work, probably because Regina King satisfies all my viewing needs. TNT picking the show up was one of the best stories in network television. The show has only blossomed even more. Adding Lucy Liu was F’ING brilliant, and allowing Cudlitz to move past the back pain/drug abuse thing gave his character new life. God, that scene this week of him getting !eaten! by a psycho who knew jiujitsu was unnerving.
I like how the light touch on grand arcs allows the show to achieve greatness through simplicity. Every episode maintains the same consistency of quality, because a police officer’s day really is a series of smaller stories that they intersect. Sure, there are a few interesting threads, but it’s more about turning the corner and HOLY SHIT!!!
alhutch
Love Southland and Justified. DVR is working overtime on Tuesday nights.
For those that might wonder, FX was pretty thoughtful in their decision before pulling the plug on Terriers:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2010/12/fx-explains-why-terriers-was-canceled.html
Scott
Yeah, love Southland, but I don’t understand why they have the characters cursing only to bleep it out. I understand people stream it and get the full monty, but it just doesn’t make sense when first run is on TNT.
Also loved Terriers, and still hold a grudge against Walking Dead for helping to kill it(ran opposite).
Justified is excellent. Olyphant is very good as Raylan.
OT- Hey Cole- I sent you an e-mail a couple weeks back about some old Sports Illustrateds from the ’70s with the Steelers on the cover and winning everything in sight during that time. If you want’em, let me know, they’re pretty cool and in excellent condition. If not, I’ll just get rid of’em. Thanks, and stop torturing your cat.
Henry Whistler
Love this show but my comment was eaten. Grumpy.
Al
At 53 years old every “new” tv show is pretty much a derivative of something else, in this case being Adam12. So it’s really enjoyable when something comes along that is so well written and well acted that it catches my eye. And damn can they run!
John N.
By 2014, every living American actor will have played either a cop or a serial killer on one of these cop shows. FACT.
WARNING: Facts presented herein may not be strictly factual.
BruceJ
@Al: Well, until you actually catch reruns of those old shows like Adam-12 and realize just how staged they feel today.
OTOH, one of the cable networks I get is re-running old Alfred Hitchcock Hour episodes…amazing stuff.
virag
southland certainly has changed from its start, now down to only four characters mostly due to budget and short seasons. not as nuanced as it was, but still interesting. lucy lui really seems to have locked in on her part this season also. i bet she gets killed off, since she’s constantly billed as a guest star.
justified good, too. tim olyphant can only play sheriff bullock–or dave alvin. he’s gonna rule in the dave alvin biopic. i hope it comes soon enough that john doe can play himself!
Eric
I am so glad to see that there are others that enjoy Southland as much as I do. And Boomtown was a kickass show too! Great minds……..
Eric
@JR: I still shed a tear anytime someone mentions Terriers. What an awesome show! Completely insane that that showed got canceled.