On Wednesdays, I take a look at shows that lasted one season or less. Here's a look at Brooklyn South!
BROOKLYN SOUTH
September 22, 1997 - April 27, 1998
22 episodes
CBS
Starring: Jon Tenney, Michael DeLuise, Gary Basaraba, James B. Sikking, Yancy Butler, Titus Welliver, Klea Scott, Patrick McGaw, Richard T. Jones, Adam Rodriguez and Dylan Walsh
Created by: David Milch & Steven Bochco & Bill Clark & William M. Finkelstein
Plot: The lives of cops in the 74th precinct of Brooklyn. They are led by patrol sergeant Frank Donovan (Tenney) who is secretly reporting to Lt. Stan Jones (Sikking) from Internal Affairs. The pilot plot intersects those two worlds and also involves a policewoman and girlfriend of one of the victims, Ann-Marie Kersey (Butler). Other major characters include well-liked cop Jimmy Doyle (Walsh) who is paired with transfer Phil Roussakoff (DeLuise). There was also volatile cop Jack Lowery (Welliver). Many other cops populate the main cast.
Brooklyn South started with a bang, literally. The entire cold open dealt with a cop shooting and subsequent chase scene that lasted several minutes and resulted in several more cops getting hit. It was intense and certainly marked Brooklyn South's arrival on the scene in a powerful way. The opening scene was well done, especially for a 1990s network drama. The rest of the pilot dealt with the fallout from the shooting making it clear that this was going to have a serialized element and not just be a "case of the week" show. In that respect, it felt a little more ambitious than most cop dramas on Broadcast TV in the decades since.
I liked this pilot because it was not expositional, it was letting us meet the characters through a substantial plot. Sure, some of the cop/citizen dynamics felt very 1997 but that's to be expected. What was most impressive was the show was willing to discuss some race related issues and larger discussions about the role of cops before that was a regular feature on cable newscasts. Just because it was clunky or a little less enlightened because of the era doesn't mean it wasn't impressive compared to what other shows were doing. There was a twist at the end of the pilot that I think was meant to land more of a punch than it did but it didn't negate the strong pilot.
Brooklyn South was a big deal for CBS in the Fall of 1997. Steven Bochco was one of TV's top producers in the 1990s having created or developed Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law, Doogie Howser M.D. and NYPD Blue to name a few. In February 1995, he signed a deal with CBS to develop shows for the network and that deal would eventually be exclusive but he had another ABC show premiering too in the Fall of 1997 with Total Security. His first show for CBS was Public Morals in 1996, a dark comedy that lasted just one episode. But everyone assumed his second show, Brooklyn South, would be the next big provocative cop drama in the vein of Hill Street and NYPD. CBS moved Chicago Hope from its slot to give Brooklyn the high profile Monday 10pm slot and the show garnered some pre-debut controversy like NYPD Blue by receiving the first TV-MA designation for a network show and the new TV ratings system.
Then, it premiered and the audience just sort of shrugged. They kept on watching NYPD Blue on Tuesdays and didn't really care about Brooklyn South on Mondays. It wasn't that the show was a bomb like Bochco's Cop Rock in 1990. The reviews were decent although not raves (Variety called it "generally compelling" and Entertainment Weekly called it "familiar yet fresh." The first 10 minutes of the pilot were highly promoted but audiences were watching football instead. When Bochco's Total Security was cancelled on ABC, he took more control of Brooklyn South and the reviews generally improved. But it was too little, too late. The series could never find its footing and was cancelled after one full season in the Monday slot.
Tomorrow: Very Very Playwriting!
Next Wednesday: A One Season Wonder look at Hiller and Diller!
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