Southland

[ClosetRTWatcher]

I watched last night, but wasn't all that drawn in. I just don't feel much interest in knowing more about these characters. The only slight exception is the female cop that was dealing with the baby. I am curious about what was going on with the man she went to see.

[steppemaster]

I love this show a lot and mostly for the great details of actual police work they bring to it--like the use of the Flex Baton last night to bring down the drug guy with the knife.

I can't remember ever seeing any other cop show having the cops employ the baton (a shotgun modified to shoot beanbags--which as the character kept howling really really hurts) which is used all the time in actual police work.

For me this show is super.

[causingchaos]

Probably why it doesn't interest me as much as it should is because I work with police here so this is nothing really new to me. I see enough of this stuff in reality I don't really need a show showing me this stuff as my entertainment.

[prhoshay]

I just think that so many other cop shows have been done so much better.

[causingchaos]

I think that because there are so many cop shows that this one just doesn't stand out from the group.

[steppemaster]

Probably why it doesn't interest me as much as it should is because I work with police here so this is nothing really new to me. I see enough of this stuff in reality I don't really need a show showing me this stuff as my entertainment.

Ditto and I really like when the work is presented in some semblance of reality (as much as a tv show can be said to be "real.")

I like that they showed the use of the Flex Baton--which is used quite often to subdue various kinds of suspects and other individuals--instead of just seeing another cop-shoots-violent-person routine.

We hardly ever hear about less than lethal on tv shows.

I say it's good to see the wide range of tools and remedies the cops have and use every day.


I feel the same way about the amount of noise the show presents in a lot of situations--like all the dogs barking endlessly in last week's gang roust.

Background noise can often be so intense aod so distracting and make decision making so difficult and it is so rarely presented on cop shwows when it is very much a part of a cop's everday work/life.

[causingchaos]

It's nice they show it on TV but it's just not that interesting of a show.

[steppemaster]

I like the wide variety of characters too.

In writing stories with multiple characters it takes some time to get all the characters introduced to the reader/viewer.

I think maybe people don't remember how long it took to get acquainted with all the characters on ER--for example--the show that Southland is supposed to replace.

But of course everyone has their own tastes--so to each their own.

[causingchaos]

It's not all the characters that I can't get used to. It's how slow it is.

[prhoshay]

It's not just thepace of the show; I think it's also how poorly the characters are being developed, too. This show cannot even "carry ER's jock strap"!

(That's a crude line that I learned from some of my guy friends many years ago! )