Battle Creek

I don't know why in the Genre it doesn't say Comedy ,

with a cast like Josh Duhamel, Dean Winters, Kal Penn and Grapevine !! they're all amazingly funny.

The storyline is amazing ,, the tension between "Special Agent Milton" and "Detective Russ Agnew" is hilarious ,, one with this perfect life ,,FBI .. and the the other just lives in "Battle Creek" and trying to prove that his methods of dealing with people are better that the fancy ones by the Bureau.

The Pilot was really good,, the crime writing was also unexpectedly good,, i hope it stays on that track..

P.S : CBS last year was done with "How i met your mother" and "two and a half men" along with the cancellation of many comedy shows like "The McCarthys, The Millers and The Crazy Ones for Robin Williams "they have "Scorpion" running with good ratings where the have the Thriller factor and some comedy,, but still this show is a nice step up in the comedy bits ,, i think it might get it's place on CBS even better than "Scorpion",, who knows ! ;).

"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.

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.

The pilot shows a lot of promise. There are 2 likable leads and a good mix of unexpected comedy. A big city FBI agent played by Josh Duhamel who seems to do all the right things, joins a small town Michigan police department and partners with a slightly down trodden bitter detective there (Dean Winters). Sweet looking Aubrey Dollar has a supporting role. Janet McTeer seems a little out of place as Chief. It's funny to see the FBI technology and advances versus small town cop methods.

A couple of Breaking Bad references Vince Gilligan fans will notice. It feels more procedural and less intense.

Worth watching. High quality television.