Pilot Review: Prime Suspect

Prime Suspect (NBC)
Premiered September 22 at 10pm

What we have here is another instance of two very popular TV tropes these days: a cop show with a distinctive and quirky character in the lead, and a remake of a British show. The original Helen Mirren series was split into seventeen miniseries that aired over the course of sixteen years, and now someone has seen fit to bring the concept back with Maria Bello, who got her debut on TV with “ER” before moving on to movies like “The Cooler” and “A History of Violence,” as Detective Jane Timoney. We’ve seen any countless number of shows about women trying to break the glass ceiling and achieve some sort of respect and rank within the police force or another organization, and that on its own doesn’t delegitimize this show since it is unfortunately a real issue. What doesn’t fly quite as well, however, is the fact that this show is just like every other tired cop show with a boys’ club and disgruntled police officers and detectives moaning about their jobs despite their professed affinity for the work they do. Surrounding Bello, who goes for hard-nosed and achieves it, almost seeming as if she’s trying hard not to be liked, is a cast of familiar players, including Kirk Acevedo, Aidan Quinn, Kenneth Johnson, and Brian F. O’Byrne. After seeing just how great O’Byrne was on “Brotherhood,” it pains me to see him trapped in another one-note role here as Jane’s number one nemesis, especially after he was marooned in a dull part on “Flash Forward” two years ago. There’s some good to be found on this show, when Jane’s steely side makes itself useful as she manages to convince Matt’s ex-wife to let his son come visit after chewing her out. Otherwise, however, this show doesn’t offer much, and it’s hardly a good reason to disband NBC’s three-hour comedy block after just one short year.

How will it work as a series? It’s 10pm on NBC, which means that they want to push the limit – though hopefully not as far as “Southland” did. Having Jane get beat up in the first hour means that this show is determined to be gritty, but it’s still a New York police procedural on broadcast television, so expectations should be clear, with some spirited fighting from Jane every now and then.
How long will it last? The ratings were not inspiring, touted as NBC’s lowest-rated Thursday fall series premiere ever, though it did markedly better than “The Apprentice” in the same time slot last year. I’d say this one probably doesn’t make it to a second season, but I see no reason why NBC would give up on it so quickly.

Pilot grade: C