Bakersfield P.D.

I remember when good old Ch4 had an eye for the obscure, sometimes a winner, sometimes, not, but after watching the very first episode of this "quirky", absurd and very funny series, I was hooked (as were friends when told to watch it!). All the ingredients were there for a fantastic winner, sharp & very funny script, excellent acting from everyone (I can remember) brilliant comedic timing and to be "based" in a place that is really in the middle of nowhere, no wonder the locals were a bit troppo. When it ended on tv, I looked forward to the new series - but, I was truly upset and angry when I read that the whole series had been axed - when you see the dross that decorates our screens, and such a brilliant series axed, perhaps it was ahead of its time. I had hoped that Ch 4 would repeat it so I could tape the whole series, alas not to be .... a loss.

Bakersfield, P.D. really was one of the funniest, well-made comedies to ever hit the tube. Unfortunately, between lacking promotion, a then-struggling FOX network, stiff timeslot competition, and a script that was a bit too clever for the general public, the show dragged badly out the gate. It lasted for only one season, with the final episodes shown in June, 5 months after the cancellation was already decided.

While definitely a comedy, the show had no laugh track. It didn't play as a typical sitcom. It was a side-splitting comedy, placed in the environment of a "serious" cop show.

The characters were all quirky, yet strangely believable. From the wishy-washy captain on down, each character presented in Bakersfield, P.D. was unique and interesting. Even the guest characters exhibited a small-town charm that, while sometimes bordering on the ridiculous, always entertained.

Surprisingly, I found the show again on the TRIO network, which occasionally runs it. Check your local listings.

"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.

Paul Gigante, a successful D.C. police detective, has to leave town with his son for the middle of nowhere, i.e. Bakersfield. He joins the Bakersfield P.D., a loose organization of weirdos & imbeciles. His partner, Wade Preston, is a TV cop show fanatic and tries to act like the TV cops; the desk sergeant actually runs the department because the captain can't make any decisions; and a macho cop is teamed with a mildly effeminate partner.

Like "Frank's Place", another great TV comedy that bombed in one season, "Bakersfield P.D." had no laugh track; you have to find the jokes yourself. This misfit comedy was at least as funny as "WKRP in Cincinnati"! Why do so many really funny comedies bomb?

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.