Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

If ‘weird’ was the finish line, they ran through the tape and kept running.

How any woman could possibly vote for this smug smarmy piece of misogynistic crap is beyond understanding.

The arc of the moral universe does not bend itself. it is up to us to bend it.

The revolution will be supervised.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

I might just take the rest of the day off and do even more nothing than usual.

Stamping your little feets and demanding that they see how important you are? Not working anymore.

Marge, god is saying you’re stupid.

The press swings at every pitch, we don’t have to.

Dear media: perhaps we ought to let Donald Trump speak for himself!

If you don’t believe freedom is for everybody, then the thing you love isn’t freedom, it is privilege.

We are aware of all internet traditions.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

Let there be snark.

They want us to be overwhelmed and exhausted. Focus. Resist. Oppose.

You are so fucked. Still, I wish you the best of luck.

When we show up, we win.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

Since we are repeating ourselves, let me just say fuck that.

the 10% who apparently lack object permanence

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

The “burn-it-down” people are good with that until they become part of the kindling.

Sometimes the world just tells you your cat is here.

People are complicated. Love is not.

You are here: Home / TV & Movies / Television / Southland

Southland

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I’m really liking it so far, and I give it a thumbs up.

This is where a dozen of you armchair Eberts jam the comments with remarks that I have no taste, that so and so was a much better show and that it was first done in an obscure series that no one but someone really cool like you remembers, and that Southland really sucks.

Reader Interactions

91Comments

  1. 1.

    Ninerdave

    You have no taste, XXXXX so and so was a much better show and first done in an obscure series that you’re not cool enough to remember and Southland really sucks.

    *edited to match your edits*

  2. 2.

    grimc

    You have no taste, The Wire was a much better show, and compared to it, Southland really sucks.

  3. 3.

    Mike G

    I like it. Obviously being a network show they work within narrower parameters for storylines so it’s more ‘conventional’ than something you might find on HBO, but it’s the first network TV series in several years that I’ve gotten interested in following.

  5. 5.

    Martin

    You have no taste, Space Battleship Yamato was a much better show but none of you slackers would remember it, and Southland really sucks.

  6. 6.

    Old Gringo

    Cop shows on TV.

    When I studied criminal justice in the late ’80s the favorite cop show among actual cops was… Barney Miller. They felt it was the most realistic. But that was then and those guys have all put in their twenty or thirty and retired.

  7. 7.

    Joel

    Saw Southland. Didn’t like it.

    Didn’t like the Shield, either, FWIW.

    The Wire is awesome, however.

  8. 8.

    donovong

    I’m with you – good show. Kinda depressing to see the portrayal of what is the reality of those cops paddling upstream against the flood of shit everyday, but not a bad show all in all.

    Sucks to be the guy they killed off already.

  14. 14.

    asiangrrlMN

    You have no taste. TV sucks. There. I dare someone to say something more generic (and more widely-dismissive) than me.

    kid bitzer, I agree. She is grotesque and highly disturbing.

  15. 15.

    grimc

    @John Cole:

    Well, now I’m curious, if only to see what you mean by conventional TV dialogue. Pembleton’s interrogations alone was some of the best, freshest TV writing at the time. To me, anyway.

  16. 16.

    Ailuridae

    For network television Southland is the bee’s knees. No, its not as good as the first three seasons of The Wire but that’s a really high bar.

    Three or four weeks ago they did an entire episode without Cudlitz or McKenzie showing up in the episode. Pretty unconventional. Also, the work C Thomas Howell does as Dewey is pretty great.

    If the community can help me out – I didn’t DVR it tonight because I am a dope. When will that episode be available on Hulu, nbc.com etc.? Tomorrow morning?

  17. 17.

    Martin

    She is grotesque and highly disturbing.

    Yeah, the NSFWness doesn’t bother me, but the meat ad was considerably less disturbing. I do find it somewhat amusing that people are complaining about the appropriateness of the ad on a site where ‘skull-fucking kittens’ is considered polite conversation.

  18. 18.

    Dennis-SGMM

    Southland is a direct rip off of “Les Tres Romans du Flics” a French Chanel Blanc show starring Jean Paul Belmondo that aired in 1957-58.
    That said, haven’t watched it, probably won’t watch it. Re-reading Barbara Tuchman’s most commendable A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century. That book has more to impart about humanity than fifty TV shows.

  20. 20.

    Ash

    I used to intern at NBC, so I have a soft spot for all their programming. Yeah, since Friends ended they’ve sunk to the bottom of the barrel. But of the big 4 networks, I appreciate that they try to be a bit unconventional – sometimes.

    Also, @Dennis-SGMM: I do believe, sir, that you’ve singlehandedly met the pretentiousness quota for this post. :p

  21. 21.

    CatStaff

    @asiangrrlMN: I wanted to thank you for the heads-up on the “In Demand” video with Rickman from the other night’s movie discussion. I’ll never look at gas stations in quite the same way again, I assure you.

  22. 22.

    MikeJ

    Southland is a direct rip off of “Les Tres Romans du Flics” a French Chanel Blanc show starring Jean Paul Belmondo that aired in 1957-58.

    C’est vraiment dégueulasse.

  24. 24.

    asiangrrlMN

    @Martin: I agree. I don’t actually consider it NSFW because she’s not real. I mean, this would be NSFW.

    NSFW, peeps. Damn. My link didn’t show up blew. It was the second NSFW.

    CatStaff, no problem. I consider it my mission to spread the yummy goodness that is Alan Rickman wherever I can.

  26. 26.

    Comrade Jake

    Anyone remember Smith? I think it lasted all of about five episodes, because the network couldn’t afford it. But it was a pretty damn good show when it was on.

    I dig Southland. The season finale was pretty good. Of course, there probably won’t be a second season.

    All of this is beside the point though, because if you’re not watching Breaking Bad, you’re really missing out.

  28. 28.

    Ejoiner

    That said, haven’t watched it, probably won’t watch it. Re-reading Barbara Tuchman’s most commendable A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century. That book has more to impart about humanity than fifty TV shows.

    True of all of her work – how that woman could turn parliamentary debates into the most intense drama is beyond me. My love of history stems directly from many of her books.

  29. 29.

    eastriver

    You, JC, are a rocking chair Ebert. (Yes, that’s a jab at WV)

    Homicide: great.
    The Shield: very good.
    The Wire: yawn.

    Southland: my wife likes it. nuff said.

  30. 30.

    eastriver

    You, JC, are a rocking chair Ebert. (Yes, that’s a jab at WV)

    Homicide: great.
    The Shield: very good.
    The Wire: yawn.

    Southland: my wife likes it. nuff said.

  31. 31.

    Anne Laurie

    Southland ain’t bad, although I’ll admit I’ve watched more of it on Hulu than on NBC. It’s got the advantage of being produced by the ER guys (a 15-year winner for NBC) and playing in the ER slot, and has been renewed for next season already. Reminds me quite a lot of the LA cops in Joseph Wambaugh’s novels, although I’m sure people who actually know something about LA can pick all kinds of nits with that assessment.

    But I haz a sad about The Unusuals, which has been cancelled, although the last 4 episodes are supposed to start running next Wednesday. TU captured the New York City I grew up in better than any series I’ve ever seen — the mixture of low comedy, base cunning, high drama & incipient tragedy that is the true flavor of every Ankh-Morpork across all the multiverses. I guess I will have to add Ben Silverman’s name to the list of people, like Les Moomves, upon whom I intend to spit if we are ever in the same room. And hope that ABC will at least have the decency to release a proper DVD package.

  32. 32.

    The Very Reverend Battleaxe of Knowledge

    Seconding Old Gringo @ #6, The only cop show I’ve ever really liked was Barney Miller, and at the time I remember them interviewing a former police chief of some big city in the Midwest (StL? KC?) and he said it was the most realistic cop show on TV.

    And Dennis-SGGM is right: A Distant Mirror is awesome.

  36. 36.

    wasabi gasp

    I watched Southland 90210 for the first time this evening.

    If it wasn’t for Vincent D’Onofrio I’d probably never watch network television at all.

    And then there’s Lost: my girlfriend somehow got me to put my name in blood to a contract during my sleep committing to watch that thing every week. I don’t remember doing it, but it surely has been done. I’d take a bullet for my sweetie, so I figure, what the heck, I can up it up a little.

    My eyebrows don’t look anything like Andy Rooney’s.

  37. 37.

    Max

    For you Homicide / Wire people…. did you see that David Simon is doing a new series for HBO! Treme is the name based in NoLa.

    HBO has very good programming.

  38. 38.

    grimc

    @The Very Reverend Battleaxe of Knowledge:

    Shouldn’t real “PO-lice” approval of Barney Miller as the most realistic be a little worrying? I mean, I was just a kid, but IIRC Barney Miller was basically a bunch of guys sitting around and cracking jokes (often about bad coffee), occasionally learning an Important Moral Lesson.

    Or maybe it should be reassuring?

  39. 39.

    JGabriel

    @grimc: If the reality of being a cop is truly more comic than tragic, then yeah, that’s kind of reassuring.

    .

  40. 40.

    Old Gringo

    Anne Laurie: Reminds me quite a lot of the LA cops in Joseph Wambaugh’s novels, although I’m sure people who actually know something about LA can pick all kinds of nits with that assessment.

    This speaks well of Southland then. Wambaugh’s novels are the real deal.

    @grimc

    You have to understand that many cops never draw their weapons in 20 years on the force. Most of their job is dull routine and paperwork. Hours and days and weeks of dull boring routine, punctuated by a few seconds of sheer terror from time to time.

  41. 41.

    Dennis-SGMM

    @Ejoiner:
    Tuchman, as well as Civil War historian Shelby Foote, had a way of portraying historical figures as people with all of their strengths and weaknesses. Both are a gift in what is otherwise sometimes a dry country.

  42. 42.

    Wile E. Quixote

    I started watching True Blood (Link to Amazon. Buy shit there. Give John money because Tunch needs food!) last night. Normally I’m not really big on vampire fiction, the only series that I’ve liked were the first three Anne Rice books and Fred Saberhagen’s Count Dracula stories but I’ve really liked the Charlaine Harris novels the series is based upon and the show is faithful to the books. Plus there’s lots of scenes where Anna Paquin is wearing tight t-shirts or sundresses.

  43. 43.

    Bad Horse's Filly

    There’s the John I know and love.

    If you like Joss Whedon in any form, I’ll forgive you any and all TV/Movie sins.

    And Pam Anderson is terribly disturbing. Do guys really like boobs that look like that, fake or otherwise? I’m a respectable 36C, so it’s not like I’m intimidated or anything. I just kinda think they’re gross.

  44. 44.

    grimc

    @old gringo & jgabriel

    Reassuring it is, then.

    @max

    For you Homicide / Wire people…. did you see that David Simon is doing a new series for HBO! Treme is the name based in NoLa.

    HBO has very good programming.

    If you like David Simon, you’ll love George Pelecanos. Novelist, wrote some episodes of The Wire. I suggest “King Suckerman”.

    And HBO can #()$*&^ my )(#$*!@. They start great series (Oz, Carnivale, Deadwood, Rome, et al.) and cut them off too early or too cheaply. 6 Feet and The Wire are the only ones they’ve ended properly. Plus, they don’t offer HD On Demand because they don’t want to pay for it.

    Still, I subscribe.

  46. 46.

    JR

    I’m also enjoying the series immensely, though it would be worth watching if only for Regina King’s performance. She’s been outstanding so far.

  47. 47.

    Tom

    no one’s pointed out the redundant redundancy in “armchair Ebert” yet, so…. yeah. consider it pointed out.

  48. 48.

    Justin

    @Ash:

    I used to intern at NBC, so I have a soft spot for all their programming. Yeah, since Friends ended they’ve sunk to the bottom of the barrel. But of the big 4 networks, I appreciate that they try to be a bit unconventional – sometimes.

    Fuck NBC. They cancelled Life. Damian Lewis iswas the best cop on TV in years.

  49. 49.

    Wayne

    When I first saw the title, I thought you were talking about Southland Tales. In that case, I would have said you had very good taste.

  51. 51.

    Martin

    Do guys really like boobs that look like that, fake or otherwise? I’m a respectable 36C, so it’s not like I’m intimidated or anything. I just kinda think they’re gross.

    Some do. Honestly, there’s someone for everyone. But I think it’s less common than people think. I’d say among the guys I know well enough to know this kind of thing about them, 36C would be pretty well received, and smaller would probably be more popular than larger.

    Honestly, I don’t know a guy whose biggest turn on isn’t a happy girl who genuinely wants to be with him. Everything else is details after that.

  52. 52.

    Dennis-SGMM

    @Bad Horse’s Filly:
    Speaking as a sailor; only chumps get distracted by the superstructure, it’s the engine room that counts.
    Edit: When I was with the 7th Fleet the common wisdom was “More than a mouthful is wasted anyway”.

  54. 54.

    Ash

    @Justin: I agree that Life was great. I was there the season it got picked up and it was definitely my most favorite of the pilots. But of course its the ratings (money) that talk. They can only keep so many barely-above-water shows at a time, and if they had to choose one, I’m glad it’s Friday Night Lights.

  55. 55.

    wasabi gasp

    Do guys really like boobs that look like that, fake or otherwise?

    That’s a touchy question.

  58. 58.

    wasabi gasp

    @asiangrrlMN: No, not at all. But what came to mind is answering that question could easily make someone feel uncomfortable about themselves. Then, my wisenheimer generator kicked in.

  60. 60.

    Comrade Kevin

    I made the mistake of watching, first, the Oakland A’s, and then, later, the San Francisco Giants. That was a full evening of suck.

  61. 61.

    Ash

    @Wile E. Quixote: If they had never canceled Star Trek the show, the new movie never would have been made. And then I would for sure have no new-and-improved (figuratively)-and-hot Kirk and Spock in my life. And that would be really upsetting.

  63. 63.

    Mr Furious

    Homicide was the best show ever to air on network television—cop or otherwise. I don’t have HBO, so I’ve never seen The Wire, but I trust I’d enjoy it.

    I entered Southland extremely skeptically. The promos and the pilot seemed over the top, but it has really found its footing. I like it. A lot. We actually watched a couple TiVo’d episodes before tonite’s episode, so I’m really in the moment. I enjoy a good ensemble cast that can each be strong enough to carry an episode.

    Probably the best police drama to come around since Boomtown.

    By the way, It took me like three or four episodes before I recognized that alcoholic cop as C Thomas Howell.

  64. 64.

    Geoff

    I’ve watched all shows except last week when my tv died..but yeah man, Southland is the sheet.

  65. 65.

    Martin

    So I’m (not) screwed, then?

    Certainly not. I mean, Pam wouldn’t have been as popular as she was if there weren’t some guys that liked big fake boobs, and a lot of pretty hot actresses are pretty small – Cameron Diaz, Charlize Theron, Kate Hudson, Jessica Alba, Qi Shu, Alicia Keys, Keira Knightly. Runs the whole spectrum if you think about it.

    Like I said, every guy is different.

  67. 67.

    Gravenstone

    Not being privvy to much of what passes for contemporary Teevee programmes, I can’t comment on Southland (or any of the myriad of cops shows named – other than Barney Miller). But I can’t be the only one to step into the wayback machine and just adore Hill Street Blues? Can I? Definite destination TV when I was in college.

    Pam Anderson is a sad, sad state of affairs. When she first came down from Canada, she was stunningly, drop dead gorgeous. The very definition of “dewey eyed, fresh faced, wholesome beauty”. Then the Californication began in earnest – implants, then bigger implants, then face jobs, nips, tucks, ad nauseum – until she became the living parody she is today. ’tis a shame.

  69. 69.

    Colette

    @Dennis-SGMM:
    Ben, s’il y aurait une chose qui me dégueulasse, ça serait ces ces espèces de crétins qui veur me faire parler français … langue des singes, je crache.

  70. 70.

    DarrenG

    +1, Gravenstone. Bochco probably should have hung up the gloves after Hill Street. I cringe at the thought of what he’ll do to his new big-budget show.

    Southland is…OK. Would have been great in the early 90s, but after what Homicide and The Wire did for cop shows, it just seems pre-dated.

    Seriously, though, can the networks do a new drama that’s not about cops, lawyers, or doctors? Please?

  71. 71.

    Mike

    I like Southland OK. However, The Unusuals, ABC’s NYC version of rich-kid-becomes-cop show, was far superior. Too bad it’s already canceled.

  74. 74.

    Bill Belichick

    I’m glad I’m not the only who’s losing meals everytime I come here and have to look at that hideous blonde skank ad.

    As far as entertaining teevee programs nothing beats ‘Super Bowl XXXVI’ by NFL films. Those slo-mos of Adam Viniteiri kicking in the snow are works of art. Troy Brown slicing through guys in black and gold in the mud at Heinz are to swoon for. The blocked FG, the recovery, the lateral! for the TEEDEE! ? It doesn’t get any better than this.

  75. 75.

    Dennis-SGMM

    @Colette:
    This has been fun for me because I don’t speak French. My second language is German. I just winged every post.

  76. 76.

    The Other Steve

    I thought Southland was boring.

    List of canceled shows…

    * NBC: “My Name Is Earl” (theoretically another network could pick the show up), “Life,” “Kath & Kim,” “Lipstick Jungle,” “Kings”
    * ABC: “Samantha Who?,” “Cupid,” “The Unusuals,” “According to Jim” (finally!)
    * CBS: “The Unit,” “Without a Trace,” “Eleventh Hour,” “Worst Week”
    * CW: “Privileged,” “Reaper,” “Everybody Hates Chris” and “The Game.” “Gossip Girl” is coming back but regarding the proposed “Gossip Girl” ’80s spinoff — Thursday update here: The “GG” spinoff is not officially dead — it may emerge at mid-season on the CW.
    * Fox: “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles,” “Sit Down, Shut Up”

    I’m pretty pissed off about Kings. It was a good show. NBC screwed the pooch with that one.

  77. 77.

    john b

    i like southland. it doesn’t compare to the wire but it’s starting to get a little grittier (haven’t seen this week’s episode yet)

  79. 79.

    ET

    I don’t know much about this show but I do know NBC is bucking to be the first of the 3 stations to go to dead air 3 hours during week. Five hours of Leno in primetime a week? Two hours of the Biggest Looser every Monday? GAG. They canceled Medium (which moved to CBS thank goodness) and they canceled Life. I am going to be watching absolute no NBC shows at all for the 2009/2010 season.

  81. 81.

    buggy ding dong

    Anything will Bull Randeman in a leading role has got my viewing attention.

  82. 82.

    scav

    @Dennis-SGMM: Bah, Belmondo – il faut examiner l’œuvre de Depardieu, at least the film noire stuff. I think I saw him die in a black and white gutter in every housing estate in la belle France. I’ve forgotten everything else, but he certainly has the staggering and dying part down to a faretheewell. Oh, and crouching in deserted bistros during gunfights the glassware exploding – dying man in his arms an extra.

  83. 83.

    Mr Furious

    Just looked up the Bull Randeman reference and in Cudlitz’s credits noticed a bit of trivia…

    Somebody at Southland gets mad props for titling one of the last couple episodes “Sally in the Alley”

    Robert Palmer’s “Sneaking Sally Through the Alley” was the best almost-Little Feat album ever.

  84. 84.

    LD50

    When I studied criminal justice in the late ‘80s the favorite cop show among actual cops was… Barney Miller. They felt it was the most realistic.

    When I was a kid in the 70s, I remember hearing that Adam 12 held that honor.

  85. 85.

    Notorious P.A.T.

    Do guys really like boobs that look like that, fake or otherwise?

    Some men just like silicone, I guess. To me, it’s like standing on a box and saying “look how tall I am!” No, you’re not, you’re standing on a box.

  86. 86.

    LD50

    Do guys really like boobs that look like that, fake or otherwise?

    To me, silicone boobs look like a deformity.

  87. 87.

    Geeno

    The sad thing is I remember when Pamela Anderson first appeared in Playboy with her original equipment, and she was a sweet little biscuit, but soon her boobs began to grow. I don’t know how many implants she had done over the years, but they just keep getting bigger and bigger. It’s freakish. She looked so nice back in the day. disappointed sigh

  88. 88.

    BruceFromOhio

    @Bad Horse’s Filly:

    Do guys really like boobs that look like that, fake or otherwise? I’m a respectable 36C, so it’s not like I’m intimidated or anything. I just kinda think they’re gross.

    As do I – can’t speak for all guys, of course, as we do not think or act as a monolithic group when it comes to such tastes. It is disturbing what people are willing to do to themselves in the pursuit of … whatever it is being pursued.

    Nature is at her best when left alone.

  89. 89.

    BruceFromOhio

    @Justin:

    They cancelled Life. Damian Lewis was the best cop on TV in years.

    I liked it, my wife liked it, my friends liked it, so naturally it sucked in the ratings – I guess we all were the only ones watching it?

    A good show like that gets canned right out of the gate, and yet insipid crap like “Friends” just goes on and on and on …

  90. 90.

    Dennis-SGMM

    @scav:
    That and his hapless attempts at channeling Bogart. I’ll take Eddie Constantine over Belmondo for hard-boiled perfection.

  91. 91.

    HyperIon

    @BruceFromOhio:

    yet insipid crap like “Friends” just goes on and on and on

    thanks.
    i NEVER understood its appeal.
    there is NO accounting for taste.

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