Cop This!
Cop This!
Homicide, Division 4 and Cop Shop paved the way for our modern day cops and crime shows. And it seems we can’t get enough of the stuff with our local production of such shows as strong as ever.
More good news is that all of these shows are rating very well for their respective networks, with most winning their timeslots and ranking in the top most watched shows for the night.
Currently on the box or slated to screen at some stage this year, are cop dramas (and or emergency services) in the form of City Homicide, Underbelly, Rush, Rescue; and crime reality shows in Customs, Border Security, Gangs of Oz, The Force, Crash Investigation Unit, Highway Patrol and Missing Person’s Unit. That’s 12 local productions with two new dramas set to be produced by Channel 7 and Channel 9.
The as yet unnamed Channel 7 drama will show the ugly face of the underworld from the police point of view, with production starting soon in Melbourne. The series will focus on the 1988 Walsh Street killings and recreate the events leading up to the ambush of the two young policemen – 20 year old Damian Eyre and Steven Tynan, 22. Word is the families of the slain men are said to be pleased that their lives and sacrifice will be honoured.
A Channel 7 source says this show will show the ‘real’ story of the underworld, and not the ‘glamourised’ version of events, as they say, of Channel 9’s show Underbelly.
That said, I have seen the first two episodes of Underbelly III The Golden Mile and they are mesmerising. It certainly does not glamourise the underworld – quite the opposite. It shows the players as ‘successful’ crims and corrupt cops for a while but ultimately deluded and in many cases dead. Fast paced and brilliantly shot it is set between 1988 and 1999 in Kings Cross. Newcomer, Firas Dirani is brilliant a as the charismatic John Ibrahim as is Sigrid Thornton as AFP cop Gerry Lloyd. However the entire ensemble cast with Peter O’Brien and Dieter Brummer are terrific. Its must see tv.
That said – will the show make it to air?
Like its previous series, Underbelly has come under fire before it has gone to air.
There had been speculation for ages – even before the first frame had been shot, that there could be legal trouble – given it is only in the ‘distant’ past and further suspicions were raised when all tv reviewers had to watch the show in the Channel 9 boardroom. Thankfully no strip searches were demanded.
Now former NSW police constable Wendy Hatfield, who lives in Victoria and has married, has launched legal action against Channel 9 and the production company Screentime claiming her reputation will be destroyed by the series if it were to air. (Given the series is based on the books of the same name, that have been published for years, it’s not a strong case) however it will be Justice Ian Harrison’s decision this Friday that will determine what unfolds. It could be a very costly mistake– both financially and ratings-wise-but I doubt given their past experience that Channel 9 would have left anything unturned.
Channel 9 are also producing another cop drama, simply called Cops. It is being filmed in Sydney with Kate Ritchie, former Home and Away lifer, reportedly signed on for one of the lead roles.
As far as international cop and crime shows go, Channel 10 screens NCIS (Tuesday 8.30pm) with NCIS LA (Tuesday 9.30pm). This show has done very well for Channel 10 and often ranks in the top most watched show for the night. Last night (Tuesday 9 March) was the 150th episode of NCIS. Titled Flesh and Blood the guest star was none other than Robert Wagner as Anthony DiNozzo senior, Tony’s Dad and strangely enough they looked like father and son.
(In the States, NCIS goes from strength to strength and earlier this year. An episode titled Jetlag, had an impressive figure of 20.15 million viewers up against American Idol which still rates very well.)
Also in Ten’s schedule is the (weaker) White Collar (Fridays 10pm) and the two quirky but very enjoyable shows in Burn Notice (Wednesday 10pm) and Life (which will return later this year).
Channel 9 screens Cold Case (Wednesdays 9.30pm), and the CSI franchise. The original remains the best for me, although with Gil Grissom (as played by William Peterson) having left the series my flame is beginning to wane. Only recently did
Channel 9 stop screening Without a Trace starring Aussies’ Anthony La Paglia and Poppy Montgomery because the show was not be renewed in the US. Channel 9 also slips the British version of Cold Case, – Waking the Dead – in and out of the schedule but you have to be quick to keep a track of it. Last year there was also Flashpoint – a drama based around a Canadian based rapid response unit – but with a gentler approach to crime, didn’t rate and has since been dispatched.
Meanwhile on Channel 7, the dark and getting darker Criminal Minds (Wednesdays 8.30pm) consistently rates as one of the night’s most watched shows. For me, this show has become too bleak and indeed that’s why lead actor Mandy Patinkin – who played Jason Gideon, left the series citing “creative differences”. He claimed he returned home each night after a day on the set depressed and distressed.
The show also rates very well in the US, so much so that there is now talk that a spinoff series with a pilot recently shot.
Channel 7 also screens Bones (Sundays 8.30pm) – which for my money is a poor copycat of CSI, yet it is rating well.
Our national broadcaster screens Silent Witness, The Bill, repeat of Life on Mars, Midsomer Murders and Blue Murder, whilst on SBS there is The Killing, The Fixer and Inspector Rex.
The latest cops and crime show out of the US sounds retro. A pilot being filmed in the US called The Cape stars Aussie David Lyons – last seen in Sea Patrol here in the lead role. He plays a cop who has been framed and dons a cap and mask to clear his name. I am not sure if and when we will see this, but for now, it certainly seems that crime does pay when it comes to our TV industry.
