Bakersfield P.D.

I remember this series...I wasn't very old at the time. But I suspect this kind of humor is something I will still like. Cause now and then I think about this series..and wonder how the heck it could get canceled? Really..it's a mystery beyond anyone. Can ANYONE tell me why? Please? I need to know! This series was a lot of fun...I've never seen a series quite like this ever again. It had its own strange quirky humor which still is unique to this day I think. I miss it over 10 years later (!!??!?!)

WHY DID YOU CANCEL THIS!? It's just not right.... I can only hope someone picks up this thread somewhere along the way again. I really wish I could some day talk to the guy who axed this series. What where you thinking?!

It was a crime that this show had no support and fell away.

I still laugh about Wade and his personal "soundtrack" and a few other stories I remember from it.

But the episode which ends with the mugging victim having the prisoners in the line up beating themselves up, that had me crying on the floor.

A true shame we didn't get more.

"Time" magazine declared "Bakersfield PD" one of the best television programs of 1993 and posted a full page review of the program that might still be available on-line. The program was rerun on the former Trio network. I was able to get a copy of all 17 episodes on DVD from the UK. Send me a message if you are interested in getting a copy. The program dealt with a Washington DC police office who had to move far away from DC for the sake of his son. The officer finds himself in a more rural and white area of Bakersfield, California. The problem does seem to borrow from the popular "Lethal Weapon" movies, except the white parent is not crazy, just kind and a bit naive. The humor is less like about cop comedy of the time "Sledge Hammer!" and more like "Brooklyn 99" or even "Barney Miller" Much of the humor come from the relationships between the characters and the less serious issues police encounter on the cop. The show was ahead of its time in that it did not use a laugh track. A program like "Bakersfield PD" would be well tonight on basic cable. I still watch it from time to time and the humor holds up well some 20 years since it was canceled.

BAKERSFIELD P.D. was a thoroughly incredible show, one that ended far too quickly. With the quirkiness of shows like NORTHERN EXPOSURE or ALLY McBEAL, BPD showed us life among a very odd collection of cops in a small, slow town. This show had excellent visual gags, great writing, and beautiful oddness. (Who can forget when they found an arm, and kept it in a big pickle jar?) If you get a chance to see this 1-season show, watch it, tape it, and love it.

I saw the whole series on Channel 4 - without a doubt one of the funniest TV shows I've ever seen. Why did it finish after 1 series? I just hope it will be repeated some time so I can tape it!