Battle Creek

The last episode is not really a finale but it does clear up the main question everyone was wondering all along. At least it won't leave you mad like some one season shows. I watched one a while back that ended with a cop facing an impossible moral decision and the screen goes to black and you hear a gun shot.

I always liked Dean Winters with his wise cracking attitude and he was the best thing about this show. It is worth the time to watch. They don't overdo the comedy angle. It's not a comedy show about cops; it's a cop show with some pretty funny moments at times. It also limits the blood and gore to fairly brief shots.

There are so many networks producing original programming that even decent shows like this one gets pulled at the first sign of a ratings drop. In the days when there were just 3 and 4 networks they would consider the quality of the program before canceling. A lot of the greatest classic series had poor ratings in the beginning. Now they think a season is 13 or even 10 episodes. They will kill the show without even airing episodes they have already taped. Or else they burn them off Saturday evening two at a time when most other channels are showing sports.

I have seen other cop shows about the same quality last several years. Too many series that have real potential like this are not given a chance.

"Battle Creek" is a new show starring Josh Duhamel and Dean Winters. Duhamel plays an FBI agent who becomes part of a police department in Battle Creek, Michigan, where the methods are a little old-fashioned. His bitter partner (Winters) resents Duhamel's perfection and popularity with the ladies.

So far the plots have been very imaginative and funny. In the first show, a baby monitor had to be used to pick up a conversation. In the second, the guys went after a maple syrup cartel after someone drowned in maple syrup. Discussing the sting operation, one of the guys said, "I'll get a bottle of Log Cabin. We can use those as tasting samplers and then just deliver water." When they deliver the syrup (which Duhamel insists be pure and the best on the market), the tasting -- using a crepe - was like a scene out of Breaking Bad, except with syrup instead of meth.

As far as this show taking place in Battle Creek, if a show took place in my home town and wasn't filmed there, I'd be unhappy too; also, it's presented as a back woods place, which I'm sure isn't true. Hollywood does this all the time -- Boston Legal, Provincetown - and it's just to make the locale different from L.A. or NY. Meanwhile, there's no indication at all that the characters really live and work in that city.

I hope it lasts. A nice cast, including Janet McTeer and Aubrey Dollar.

I enjoyed the show recently on Netflix. Halfway through the episodes I realized it was only one season. So disappointed, I almost stopped watching the rest of the episodes because I knew I won't be able to see what will happen in the lives of the characters. I loved the subtle humor and the personality of Russ. The two main characters played off each other well. It wasn't always realistic, but that's not what the show was going for. It was supposed to be entertaining and I think they nailed it.

Though all the initial episodes were fine, they were not special by any means. With each episode, as we get to know the characters, the show seems to be growing on me. The friction between the two main characters has been played out well and with each episode dealing with past secrets or personal lives, the show gets interesting and promises to be special. The supporting characters have not yet been fully involved and some of them seem promising enough. The performances of most of the cast is fine. But, Dean Winters and Josh Duhamel have been very good along with the girl who plays Holly. I like the way the show does not limit itself to being only a comedy or drama.

I just finished watching all of the far, far, far too few episodes of Battle Creek. I don't bother to write many reviews on things, but in this case I decided that I should alert people to how good this series actually was.

Don't be put off by the fact that it only was around for one season: Battle Creek is excellent. In fact, it is just about as good as I have ever seen TV get.

Great premise, great writing, great characters, great acting. Did I mention it was hilarious too?

What an terrible shame this show didn't get more than the all-too brief run it did.

Unfortunately, I didn't see it on TV: Instead I watched the series on Netflix. I say that is unfortunate because I would have made a point of watching this, even on regular TV with commercials. One of those shows that I would have happily supported.

Longmire and The Killing had some extra episodes done by Netflix after they got cancelled on regular network TV. I hope that the same happens to Battle Creek.

I highly, highly recommend watching Battle Creek.