Parks and Recreation isn’t the only show premiering tonight: Harper’s Island on CBS and Southland on NBC are both making their debuts tonight, too. To the breakdown!
Southland is an L.A.-set cop show from John Wells. Harper’s Island is about group of friends that gather on a remote island in the PacificNorthwest for a wedding. Instead of a party, though, they’re murderedone by one. Mystery!
Hey, you! I know you! Ben McKenzie will always be The OC‘s Ryan Atwood, but on Southland he’s a rookie cop. Other familiar faces include perennial Hey, It’s That Guy Michael Cudlitz, Regina King, and Tom Everett Scott. Christopher Gorham (Ugly Betty‘s Henry) and Harry Hamlin are Harper’s‘ two most familiar faces, but you’ve seen the rest of the cast elsewhere, too.
FTW The bleeped-out cursing on Southland, Arrested Development stizz, was kind of a surprise. Harper’s is set for a 13-episode run — and that’s it. Please, TVoverlords, make fully contained, short-run series a fo-reals optiondown the road.
WTF I liked Southland better when it was called Crash and Third Watch Had a Baby. And Harper’s is a little flabby — aren’t murder mysteries supposed to be intense?
Verdict I’m in for the first, oh, three episodes of both newcomers — and after that, if they can’t get it together, I won’t miss them.
Don’t forget the craptastic debut of ‘Parks & Recreation’. lol Skip it!
I watched the premiere of Southland on GMMR last week and enjoyed it enough to want to watch a few more eps. Although, I must admit, my fave scene was the brief reunion between Ben McKenzie and “Crazy Oliver” of The OC fame. Got a little chuckle out of that
i got southland on itunes for free this week and i love it. not your typical cop show. well i guess i don’t like cop shows but something about this one appeals to me.
I’M SO LOOKING FORWARD FOR SOUTHLAND TO COME ON.MY HUSBAND AND HIS FRIENDS ARE GOING TO BE ON THE SHOW…LOOK OUT FOR A SHORT,CHUBBY GUY…THAT’S MY BABY!!!!! YEP MY SUPERSTAR
Just finished watching Southland. It was really intense and was actually really surprised. I will definitely give it a few more watches.
What idiot decided that the world needs another LA cop show? Not interested.
Southland was aweful. Ok. Who wants a show when the “good” part is a teen doesn’t die when shot down in the middle of the street or they kill a bad guy who just shot a cop? Then the “bad” part was a little girl being abducted and killed by her neighbor. Blegggghhhh. No thanks. I get enough of that on the ten o’clock news.
Okay, my husband liked the show, but he said he found something wrong with their info; the blue 64 impala that they described as the get away car, well it was actually a ’63′ chevy impala! leave it to a man right?! Only he caught that!
I thought Southland was actually pretty good – the pilot of a show is always kind of “out there” to get your attention, so I think maybe as the show progresses, the characters develop more & it finds it’s groove, it will be even better. It had some clunky moments, but it also had some stellar ones, especially in the acting and depictions of real life L.A. I hope NBC finds a place for in in the Fall with that stpid “Leno Every Night” idea falling apart fast…no one under the age of 50 wants to see that every night of the week…I’d rather see a fast edged drama, thanks. Would like to see more of a “hub” like in ER – you can focus on characters but still have a “heart” to come back to for a reality check, and more officer-detective interaction would be good – how do you deal with all these “know it alls?” Still, good show – will watch again!
Incredible. As good “ER”. Finally, a gritty and real cop show about L.A. We loved it. These are the streets of L.A. with no holds barred. The gangs and the people of L.A. It’s real. This is a drama as real as “Rescue Me” is on the NYFD. Can’t wait for the next show.
Good show – will stick with it and hope NBC does too – good way to end the evening that was marred by PARKS
I chose “Harper’s Island” & DVRed “Southland”..It’s not a ‘great’ show but I will watch it every week…It’s perfect for the summer, like that book you take w/you to the beach…good reading in between people watching.
I watched Harpers, will catch Southland on Saturday’s re-air, and while I enjoyed Harpers, I can’t help but think that after meeting everyone, I might just blow it off until the end to see whodunnit.
My guess is the groom.
I love a good murder mystery. I watched Harpers Island and enjoyed it. I really needed a change in my TV watching. Too many reality shows and copycat cop shows on nowadays. I look forward to week 2 and will continue watching til the end
Loved the OC and Love Ben! I am just sad they have his character more of a bystander right now and not much dialogue. I hope that changes! Great show. Good to see him back.