Good idea lost in the noise

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Although there may be some interest in this program for its subject matter I don't think anyone will view this as an accurate portrayal of the life (at work) of a couple of rookies and their Training Officer. There are some production values that have promise but the cast of characters (not the protagonists) are so clichéd that the presentation quickly becomes "boring". I love it when rookies solve the major crime at issue with a display of Sherlock Holmesian insight and street wise experience of Serpico!There seems little depth to most of the characters and the story line seems like it was developed to compress the 1990s into Tuesday night.There have been too many NYPD programs for anyone to suffer the illusion that the Gotham police work is anything but tedium mostly.Sorry this one needs help.

I heard many say this is a rip-off from Rookie Blue. While I love that show, I am not as territorial as others and wanted to give this a fair chance. The premise is the same, a bunch of fresh rookies finally get confronted with with the real world, and we see them struggle in their new role. It's a tried and true formula, which has been used in different ways and can result in compelling television. The Pilot is supposed to engage us, get us interested in the characters and kick off to a healthy start that sets the tone for the season. Did it do so successfully? To be honest with you: no. There are some nice things. The shots of New York aren't the flashy overused ones you see in most films and TV series. Here you get to see the city without its makeup and it reflects on everything. The police station is worn and stuffy, colleagues are gruff and etiquette is non existent. It's not a welcoming environment and it builds tension, because all the rookies stick out like a sore thumb. They are out of their comfort zone, even if they grew up in this city. Then, their journey begins. And this is where the show loses it's stride, in my opinion. The acting, for one, is a problem. LeeLee Sobieski for example, has terrible line delivery. There's a scene...------------------ *SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER* ...where a boy on the street calls her a 'fine looking bitch' and she returns, twists his hands and threatens to make his life hell if he doesn't respect her. The scene is obviously set up to show she's tough even though she's a thin blonde girl. The idea itself is pretty weak, but a strong actress could have pulled it off. LeeLee didn't. For one, the way she twists his hand is so amateur looking, you don't even have to be a martial artist to spot the difference. Secondly, the way she says it is cringe worthy and immediately put me off. I'm all for strong female characters, but not in this way. *END SPOILER* --------------------I know this seems like a small detail to fuss over, but things like this take me out of the experience, like spotting a microphone hanging in the air does. There are more instances like this, where mediocre writing becomes actrocious because an actor simply can't sell it. Judy Marte (Tonya Sanchez) sometimes comes across as too cold, with an expressionless face that wouldn't do bad on a mannequin in a clothing store. Then of course, there are the clichés. The black guy boasting he'd "hit it before the end of the day", the Afghan guy getting pestered with Kite Runner references, etc. It's annoying because it's stereotypical (and no I'm not going to use the racist card, as it's overused already). If they wanted to create friction in the group or set a tone, there are more subtle and more effective ways of doing it. The characters seem still too much of a cardboard to be real, and this feeling keeps nagging in the second episode. They don't seem like real people. That said, there are some good performances there, though most don't come from the main cast. Maybe this is the kind of show that needs to find it's footing first before it hits its stride, but for now it's lackluster. It seriously needs to up its game if it wants to make it beyond season 1.

I just finished watching the first episode and was pretty disappointed with what I saw. It's definitely not a Third Watch or Southland. Anyone who has spent any time working in law enforcement on either coast would likely agree that many of the situations just aren't very realistic. We all have to give television some liberties in order to tell their stories but the story line from episode one of NYC 22 was a little tough to swallow.The show follows six rookie cops fresh out of the academy who are all assigned to the same field training officer (FTO.) They are dropped on a street corner to patrol a foot beat while completely unsupervised. Unlike what would happen in real life, each rookie is partnered with another rookie rather than an FTO and instructed "don't get yourself hurt and don't hurt anyone else." Then the rookies are responsible for figuring out the rest of the job on their own. You can only imagine what kind of disasters these officers find themselves in as they manage to even get themselves kidnapped, surrender their weapons to the bad guys, and never once check in with dispatch to announce their location or call for back up.Rather than being radio dispatched to calls, they seem to chauffeured by their supervisor around mid town to handle certain tasks, such as detaining gang members to prevent those gangs from participating in a good old fashioned 1960's style rumble with chains, bottles, and knives. I'm really not making that up. (Sarcasm Alert!) Anyone who has spent any time working working anti-crime or gang enforcement in large cities such as NYC or LA knows that its chains and bottles that make these gangs so scary and not drive-by's with Uzies. Let us not forget either, it's always best to throw your rookies into gang detail on their first day to deal with these problems rather than waste their time teaching them how to fill out a speeding ticket.It's difficult to buy into the premise that rookies are assigned to assist elderly widows of NYPD officers with unclogging their toilets at home, yet you will see that in NYC 22. In fact, the writers would like us to believe that the rookie assigned to unclog the toilet was a former NBA superstar who blew out his knee while playing and now wears an NYPD shield. Apparently this seasons NBA lock out was much more difficult on the players than any of us even knew! Not only can these athletes not support themselves after their career is over, disability coverage to care for you after being injured in a game also doesn't pay squat. The good news for former NBA players, if you are on disability with a bad knee and can run anymore, the NYPD will take you!! Police crime dramas are different than other types of shows. With most shows when you depict a police officer the details are not important, but with crime dramas the viewers are trying emerge themselves in that life. Most of us want to see and feel what a cop sees and feels himself when he goes to work everyday. This makes the attention to detail extremely important not just for each and every character but for wardrobe and props as well. Even the most finite details such as bullet proof vests or the way an officer handles their weapon shouldn't be overlooked in a show like this. Third Watch and Southland have both been meticulous about this and I would really like to see NYC 22 make the same move.I'm not completely writing this show off just yet. Many shows have a rough start just like I believe that NYC 22 has had. I believe Robert De Nero is just an absolutely incredibly talented individual. I have a lot of faith in his ability as a producer to turn this show into something amazing. Hopefully, I'll be able to write a followup to this sometime in the short future to offer my praise. In the mean time, I still plan to watch a few more episodes to see where it goes.Good luck to NYC 22. I hope you make it because I do like a good old fashioned cops and robbers TV Show.

For years I have not seen on TV and a real good series about cops on the street. When I saw the pilot episode, I fell in love in the series. In this series there is no political correctness that has ruined many a series of police. The series follows a group of young officers who were suddenly thrown into the real world. Colleagues who do not like them, rough areas, each of the young police officers has a story that appears in the series. Although there are a couple of clichés, the series was really great refreshment on television.Message for writers and producers: - Proceed as in the first episode. - Do not turn this into a series of quasi-drama for the housewives - I do not want to go deeper into the love stories of police officers - We want to see their lives and work on the street - Display their private lives just to have as much to do with their work in the police.Good job, keep going!