"The Unusuals" (2009) TV series

Creator:

Noah Hawley

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

8 April 2009 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

Darkly comedic drama focusing on the dysfunctional cops and staff of an infamous NYPD precinct.

Plot Keywords:

New York City | Police Detective | Police

Cast

Amber Tamblyn	...	Detective Casey Shraeger (10 episodes, 2009)
Jeremy Renner	...	Detective Jason Walsh (10 episodes, 2009)
Harold Perrineau	...	Detective Leo Banks (10 episodes, 2009)
Joshua Close	...	Detective Henry Cole (10 episodes, 2009)
Monique Gabriela Curnen	...	Detective Allison Beaumont (10 episodes, 2009)
Kai Lennox	...	Detective Eddie Alvarez (10 episodes, 2009)
Terry Kinney	...	Sergeant Harvey Brown (10 episodes, 2009)
Adam Goldberg	...	Detective Eric Delahoy (10 episodes, 2009)
Ian Kahn	...	Davis Nixon (5 episodes, 2009)
Kat Foster	...	Nicole Brandt (5 episodes, 2009)

Runtime:

USA:60 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Totally Commercial Films

Goofs:

Factual errors: The unmarked detective cars have red and blue emergency lights on the dashboard. (New York) State Law prohibits the use of blue lights on the front of any "official" emergency vehicles, including police cars. Blue is used by volunteer firefighters on their personal cars, and can be put on the REAR of police cars, but never on the front.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Dancing with the Stars: Round Four: Results (#8.9)" (2009/I)

Ironically The Unusuals is incredibly plain.

THE UNUSUALS: THE PILOT.

The Unusuals is a cop show that belongs in a different decade. After NYPD Blues, Third Watch, The Shield, hell, even after the old Hill Street Blues there's just no room for a toothless show like this any more. The plot lines are trivial at best, or just plain stolen (pop quiz: in which other cop show does one of the lead character's mum call all the time?), and the whole show is presented in pretty, calm pictures that just underlines the plainness of the whole endeavor. I've seen more interesting cinematography in The Golden Girls. And don't get me started on the police station, the most unconvincing piece of art direction in recent memory.

The characters are also terrible! Amber Tamblyn is cute. She's suppose to be the young, beautiful rookie, who's just transferred in to this tough station. Unfortunately all her collages look like they're fifteen and wandered off the set of 90210. Her partner, played by Jeremy Renner is so beyond bland it hurts, apparently he has "a secret", and we're suppose to be intrigued. I'd go ahead and be dutifully intrigued if he could manage a single convincing emotion. Even solid folks like Harold Perrineau and Adam Goldberg look like they've watched The Thunderbirds for acting inspiration.

The most offending elements, however, are those comic relief moments. Oh look, the cops are looking for a cat killer. That's so funny! And there's a guy dressed as a hot dog! Hilarious. They even put on that "this-is-funny-and-quirky-just-so-you-know"-music which plagues shows like Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives or Ugly Betty, and make them completely unwatchable. They even have one character who talks about himself in the third person, and has a funny mustache. Really!? The pilot lines up the plot for the series... There's something rotten in this station. They're gonna need to clean it up! Which of course begs the obvious question: Why would you need to clean up a station which looks so squeaky clean it'll makes your dentist's office seem like a dump? I love Amber Tamblyn, but I can't bring myself to watch such a mediocre show just for her. There aren't enough hours in the day to justify that.