The Mysteries of Laura

My initial review was on the pilot and I said this has the makings of a decent show. It has a great cast, great location, limitless crime stories to take from real life and fictionalize.

I still stand by my "pilot episode" review in which I said it was irritating. I don't care if a cop has kids and a soon to be ex husband, that's fine. But the kids were so cartoony and cliché it was just painful to watch.

The characters in the police part are great, but NBC needs to either cut the kids part in the show to a bare minimum, or stop with the ridiculous behavior that they are trying to pretend people's kids get up to. I mean, everyone's kids are naughty at times, but these kids were so OTT I wanted to turn it off.

Well, since the initial pilot episode this show has improved weekly, to become a pretty strong police procedural type show. Debra Messing is a good actress and the rest of the cast has grown on me since the pretty poor first episode.

Maybe NBC has some people watch the first few episodes and give feedback as it seems the kids are featured much less, and that is how it should be - they are too young to be of any great use in the plots of a detective show anyway.

I'm going to see how this show goes for the rest of the season run - I have upped my rating to 7.

My only real peeve is PLEASE stop her from wearing the baseball cap backwards - I don't know when that became passé but for someone her age, it was a LONG LONG LONG time ago!

7 out of 10 - probably the most improved show from a pilot - doesn't usually work this way, usually they go more downhill!

Great job NBC, Debra Messing, cast and crew!! In this genre of homicide detectives in New York City, it is REFRESHING, to get done with a long day and have a new cop drama that has the humor and simplicity to include the realities of how most of us try to get by. It isn't meant to be another deep, dark, and serious everyone pull out their guns kind of drama with all the characters in the show going through some kind of mental breakdown each new season. In the pilot and the second episode, it wasn't at all easy to figure out the mystery, so it is also fun to see where the story does lead. So, I say give this show a chance, catch up on it, and sit back for some laughs.

I will add the disclaimer that I have always loved Debra Messing. She has a comedic energy that for me, is reminiscent of Lucille Ball and Debbie Reynolds. Cop shows are usually dark and melodramatic, so I find the slightly comedic tone of "Mysteries of Laura" to be refreshing.

The series is certainly not meant to be realistic, which seems to be something critics take issue with. It's also not a screwball comedy like "Brooklyn Nine Nine." Mysteries is somewhere in between a comedy and a serious cop drama. In that way it reminds me of certain comic books.

Debra Messing brings her charming, quirky attitude to this show and I don't think anyone could pull this character off like her. I love Laura and the idea of a "super mom" trying to save the day and keep her family together. It's a great metaphor for single moms trying to provide for their family and have the career they love. With a little ass kicking on the side.

In one sentence: It's not a show you will hate, but unless you are a hardcore Debra Messing's fan you won't like it either.

It's an action comedy (supposedly), about a soon to be divorced police woman with two rebellious little kids, who is tough, and tries to balance her professional life with her personal ordeals.

There is a crime to solve, and the criminal is very elusive, but you won't feel any actual mystery. It is overwhelmed by the little gags and the little personal dramas of the protagonist.

The show it's not really funny either.

Messing is presented as a tough, like Dirty Harry tough, police woman who wears a ...raincoat and doesn't give a crap about police procedures. She drinks alcohol on duty, she eats over the dead bodies at the morgue, and... well...you get it. There aren't any scripted jokes in the show so far. No one-liners or catch phrases. If you think that the awkward smile of Messing after she returns an ...$385 bathing suit she just used in a swim-pool party is funny, than you may like this show. For others I think it's a waste of time. And it's a long time! Each episode lasts 42 minutes (I was expecting a 21 minutes show).

Overall: Not to be hated, but I think it's time wasted.

First of all, this show is a comedy. Some reviewers don't seem to realize that.

Those who criticized the performance of the kids in the pilot have a point. They were over the top. But that is a very small part of the show; in the second episode, the kids barely show up.

But Debra Messing is very enjoyable in this show. Imagine Kate Beckett without Castle. It's the same type of light comedy mixed with real crime mysteries. Even when Laura is mixing it up with suspects, she is adorkable and fun to watch.

She wants to get her soon-to-be ex out of her life, but they work together, so she must endure his personality on a daily basis. This seems somewhat trite, but they pull it off. Her other coworkers are quirky, so the tone remains light. I enjoy it.

Update 10/31/14: Now that we have seen a few episodes of this new show, it is consistent in its humor, while presenting actual crime solutions. But this is not "Elementary", so don't expect much more than light fare. Robert Klein just appeared as Laura's father--a great casting coup!