Southland

Southland turned out to be better than the ads for it made me believe. The ads seemed a little over the top, heavy handed even, but the show itself worked very well.

Michael Cudlitz's Officer Cooper has that nice combo of jaded and cynical but still obviously caring. His character seemed most likely to be over the top from the commercials, but in the context of the show came across about as close to perfect for the moment as you could ask. Looking forward to more with this character.

Benjamin McKenzie as Officer Ben Sherman also did very good. We didn't learn a whole lot about the character in the Pilot, but that makes sense in the debut as we will most certainly be learning more about him. Well acted by Mckenzie and has a nice rapport with Officer Cooper, that will by nice to watch develop.

Everything else in the show worked, and apart from a couple of moments that didn't quite jibe with the reality of the rest of the episode, makes me optimistic for the rest of the series.

Southland is absolutely one of the best cop dramas to ever be made! There are thousands of cop shows out there to choose from but this is among the best and most original I've ever seen. The cast is excellent and make it a very believable show. It really is one of the more underrated shows in television history!

I think Southland deserves to be considered amongst the great series: The Sopranos, The Wire, Breaking Bad, Deadwood, Better Call Saul, Rome, Dexter, Oz, Lilyhammer, Boardwalk Empire, Game of Thrones, Ray Donovan and Peaky Blinders. It is also, arguably, the most underrated. It should never have been on NBC, which NBC realized, and then it went to cable at TNT. It flourished creatively, in its 4 seasons there, but never found it's audience. If this show had been on HBO, I think more people would have found it and sung its praises. Even Emmy didn't see what an incredible cast the show had and what brilliant writing it employed. Also, unlike so many long-running series, it's final Season 5 was its best. It was not supposed to be its final Season, TNT decided to cancel it, which only goes to show the unfulfilled promise that lay ahead.

There was not a single bad performance with any cast regulars, but Michael Cudlitz and Regina King stand out, closely followed by Shawn Hattoy and Ben McKenzie. C. Thomas Howell blows it out of the water in a supporting role and Lucy Liu and Gerald McRaney nail it in guest spots. The scenes with Cudlitz and McRaney, S5 E7, Heroes, is the stuff that should be taught in acting classes and should have garnered both Emmy nominations.

Best Season: 5 Best Episodes: Season 5, E7, 8, 9 and 10.

I've been on IMDb for quite sometime now, but have yet to feel compelled to write a comment. I suppose my biggest concern is that one of my favorite shows (i.e. Freaks & Geeks, The Class, Undeclared, etc.) will again meet its' demise if not for full and utter fan support.

Right out of the gate, this show grabs you with not necessarily likable characters, but real characters. It makes no excuses for the way people act or the situations life inevitably holds for us on a daily basis. It is not over-dramatized, watered-down or needlessly careful. It's appeal is rather than being presented as a miniseries, it is shot more in the tradition of a motion picture or cable series (not unlike The Wire -- best show EVER) where measures are taken after the shoot to make it prime time friendly without being corny or sappy.

Though it's too early in the game to give this a 10, I can say that if you haven't checked this out yet, do yourself a favor -- you won't be disappointed.

This show is amazing. I literally stumbled upon it during the 2020 holidays while I was off work with nothing much to do due to laying low and staying safe from the COVID. This series was a holiday treat! I literally am embarrassed to say how fast I watched it but it was THAT GOOD. And I am a tough person to get sucked into a tv binge. This show grabs you from the first couple of minutes. The characters have a lot of depth and the acting is great for a TV series!! This show was a launch pad for a bunch of great actors that are now hugely well known. The storyline is thought provoking and very relatable to our continued and current cultural issues where people are still refusing to practice tolerance and acceptance. This show depicts the desperate need to demand equality. When I realized this show was almost a decade old and still, today, we suffer from the same national struggle that sickens me, these same issues of racial profiling and global discrimination will definitely be upsetting when watching southland but this show has a soul that makes HOPE seem like it just might be an actual possibility. Enjoy!