Bakersfield P.D.

BAKERSFIELD P.D. was a thoroughly incredible show, one that ended far too quickly. With the quirkiness of shows like NORTHERN EXPOSURE or ALLY McBEAL, BPD showed us life among a very odd collection of cops in a small, slow town. This show had excellent visual gags, great writing, and beautiful oddness. (Who can forget when they found an arm, and kept it in a big pickle jar?) If you get a chance to see this 1-season show, watch it, tape it, and love it.

It was a crime that this show had no support and fell away.

I still laugh about Wade and his personal "soundtrack" and a few other stories I remember from it.

But the episode which ends with the mugging victim having the prisoners in the line up beating themselves up, that had me crying on the floor.

A true shame we didn't get more.

"Time" magazine declared "Bakersfield PD" one of the best television programs of 1993 and posted a full page review of the program that might still be available on-line. The program was rerun on the former Trio network. I was able to get a copy of all 17 episodes on DVD from the UK. Send me a message if you are interested in getting a copy. The program dealt with a Washington DC police office who had to move far away from DC for the sake of his son. The officer finds himself in a more rural and white area of Bakersfield, California. The problem does seem to borrow from the popular "Lethal Weapon" movies, except the white parent is not crazy, just kind and a bit naive. The humor is less like about cop comedy of the time "Sledge Hammer!" and more like "Brooklyn 99" or even "Barney Miller" Much of the humor come from the relationships between the characters and the less serious issues police encounter on the cop. The show was ahead of its time in that it did not use a laugh track. A program like "Bakersfield PD" would be well tonight on basic cable. I still watch it from time to time and the humor holds up well some 20 years since it was canceled.

I remember at the time of its showing in England that this series, for me at least, was the highlight of my TV week. It was one of the most quirky, hilarious and deadpan comedies I have had the pleasure of watching. Guancarlo Esposito was terrific as the new arrival at the Bakersfield P.D. station.His bewilderment at the events that occurred and the characters encountered was something that I'm sure any David Lynch fan would have thoroughly enjoyed. I cannot believe that it only ran for one series! Take consolation that little secrets like these are still out there waiting to be rediscovered.

I liked this show a lot - we got the first and only, it would appear, series in the UK on channel 4. The characterisation was right on the money - a bit like the Simpsons in that all the different facets of small town populace were represented.

There was no laughter track - I hadn't seen this on an American TV comedy at the time except for on Larry Sanders and it really worked well here, heightening the suggestion that these wacky cops were really like that, and not just hamming it up for the cameras.

All in all, a quirky little number that tickled me just right: I can't help but think that maybe it missed it's mark with certain audiences. I think it would have been a cult hit in the UK had it been shown at an acceptable hour.

I'll round this off with my standard comment: Where the hell can I get hold of this to watch it again? Any ideas?