I suppose there will always be a New York City police drama on TV, of one flavour or another, not even counting the next 50 years of Law & Order.
The Closer and Life may make a good case for the local variety, but nothing says urban social breakdown like what goes on in an imaginary Manhattan precinct house.
As its name portends, The Unusuals runs more to the fanciful than to the faithful - closer to Barney Miller than to, say, Kojak, though not as good as either.
Populated by a cast of mostly eccentric characters who are nevertheless capable of getting the job done, the show sets its tone with a series of voice-over bulletins that dot Wednesday night's episode like the loudspeaker announcements in MASH:
"Be on the lookout for a man in a hot dog costume last seen running west on Houston St. Suspect may or may not be wielding a samurai sword," and so on.
It's the sort of affair that might have starred George Segal 30 or 40 years ago, possibly wearing a moustache - an accoutrement much in evidence here.
Created by Noah Hawley (Bones), with Peter Tolan (Rescue Me) on board as an "executive consultant", the show has as its most newsworthy aspect the starring presence of Amber Tamblyn, the eponymous former Joan of Arcadia.
Tamblyn plays Detective Casey Shraeger, transferred in the show's opening scene from vice to homicide, where she is made the new partner of Detective Jason Walsh (Jeremy Renner), whose old partner has just turned up dead.
Possibly, you have never seen a police drama that begins with a detective getting a new partner, but more likely you have never seen one that doesn't.
Casey's secret - close your eyes now, reader, should you wish not to know - is that she comes from Upper East Side money.
Having a secret only means she fits right in with her new colleagues: Says a superior officer (Terry Kinney), "Nothing in this world is what it seems."
One detective has an untreated brain tumour, the knowledge of which makes him reckless with his life, while his partner (Harold Perrineau), inconveniently, has a superstitious fear of early death - he never takes off his Kevlar vest.
Another (Josh Close), who thumps a Bible a trifle too vigorously, has a past that includes "wanton acts of teenagery" and possibly something worse.
Kai Lennox plays the Dwight Schrute of the piece, an arrogant idiot who refers to himself in the third person, while the detective played by Monique Gabriela Curnen has as her distinguishing characteristic an apparent lack of distinguishing characteristics.
The cast is excellent, and there's potential here, even though Wednesday night's opening episode, as pilots will, tries a little too hard.
Wisecracks fall flat (references to chlamydia, juvenile cross-dressing and sluttiness); a secondary story line about a cat killer is weak and unpleasant; and the craziness is somewhat over-stressed.
That may be why Renner registers so well - he gets to play a relatively normal guy, and there is a melancholic undertone to his performance that keeps the show tethered to Earth as we know it.
- Los Angeles Times
• The Unusuals premieres on Wednesday at 11.30pm on TV3.
