O Ritmo de Memphis

I am not into watching shows sight-unseen, but I was kind of horns waggled into this one. I was putzing around upstairs and heard some really awesome blues echoing from downstairs. I just about tripped down the stairs to see what was making that beautiful music. To my astonishment those melodious notes were coming from the speakers in the tube and on the TV was 'Memphis Beat.' From the first time I watched this show, I was hooked. Is this the best show on TV? Nope, but it sure seems to be a keeper. The story lines are well written and well thought-out. There is no particular actor whose main job is to snuff the supporting cast or make them look totally inadequate. Sadly, many shows are so hung up on the main characters' hubris, that it chases me away. No snobs here or super medical examiners here, just cast members actually supporting each others' strengths

With the demise of In The Heat Of The Night we lost a southern based police series which has now been thankfully filled by Memphis Beat. The primary stars are a pair of detectives Jason Lee and Sam Hennings and it's Lee who the focus is on. Lee is one cop who's not just about law and order. The man has an abiding interest in the blues and jazz culture of Memphis shared by his mother played by Celia Weston. She also gives her input on cases and with some pretty good instinct.

If this show catches on and becomes a hit and I hope it does it will eventually develop like In The Heat Of The Night where we got to know the entire community of Sparta, Mississippi. Especially its police department, but not just that. And that is a trend that goes back to Gunsmoke where over 20 years a cast of recurring regulars who never got billing as cast members, but showed up every few episodes like the town banker or the owner of the livery stable. Memphis Beat if done right can have that same kind of familiarity.

I do love Alfre Woodard who admittedly is borrowing a great deal from S. Eptha Merkersson from Law And Order in her role as the head of the detective squad. But Woodard is bringing a certain southern charm that's all her own here.

Memphis hasn't done so well since Tom Cruise settled down to practice law there.

I never thought that Jason Lee would be a fit for a part like this but after a couple of episodes I can't imagine any one else. Who ever is involved in the music end of the show really knows what they are doing and has a lot of respect for Memphis music. I think they are letting the supporting actors grow on their own. I really believe this is a winner but who knows with corporate executives now a days. If you think back on all the top TV series almost none started strong. This show needs some time but not very much. The main supporting actors are all seasoned in their own right. I would also like to say that the editing is also well down.One thing that irritates me about shows today is the common theme of loud music for back ground and constant swearing. this to me means that the story is not strong enough to carry it's self and production is aware of it. this show has none of that and I hope they keep it that way.

So far, the show seems pretty good. I generally don't get hooked into shows right away, it sometimes takes years before I "discover" them. But with the case of Memphis Beat I was willing to give it a shot.

Jason Lee never seems to be out of place in anything he does, and so is the case here. He plays the sort of "against the grain" detective pretty well. He's harnessed a little bit of "Earl" and a little bit of "Brodie" from his roles in My Name is Earl, and Mallrats respectively. But he's also injected a little of something new.

The entire Elvis thing did not sound good at first, but the way the show handles it is pretty good. It's just sort of "out there" floating around the show and not an integral part.

The rest of the cast so far, quite honestly, is sort of forgettable. No disrespect to any of the actors, but no one really jumped out to me as a core part of the show. Maybe that will come with time, and a few more episodes.

The stories are so far pretty well done. The music score, has been excellent. This show has some of the best, most fitting music of anything on television. The music is part of the star power here, it really pulls the show around from place to place, and sets the moods perfectly.

I will keep watching...

The creators of 'Memphis Beat' have come up with a series that is loaded with a great southern country blues vibe resonating throughout each episode, which unfolds an earthy, honest feel to the lives of the characters. Jason Lee, as usual, brings his own unique perspective to the role of Police Detective Dwight Hendricks. This is not 'My Name is Earl' and that's o.k! In fact, this show has been unfavorably compared to 'Justified' by my critiquing compatriots on assorted websites, and I must strongly object. These two excellent programs are a paradoxical case of R&B, a bit of Jazz & the scent of Honeysuckle working rough things out all nice and sweet (Memphis Beat) over a gritty mix of gansta-twang toughness, dissected to the bone (Justified). It is a matter of cottonballs and baseballs, both are round and white, and quite useful, but not relative to one another.

The caliber of actors on 'Memphis Beat' is outstanding. Sam Hennings, is Det. White, Lee's partner, always ready to play bad cop by nature. In one episode, while being grilled, a suspect very thoughtfully quotes Ovid; not easily out-thunk, Det. White brusquely ripostes revelations routed from a song by Johnny Cash. Great stuff! Davey Sutton (D.J. Qualls), a member of the force, comes off at first sight as a Barney Fife bungler, yet he is not. Moreover, I see this officer as a skinny, rather homely, lean man of might, which keeps the viewer slightly off balance. The guys are all answerable to their female leader, Lt. Rice (Alfre Woodard), who hands them their heads one minute, yet, if you look deep enough the next, she exudes a vexation from the heart that speaks of a mother's concern toward her grown children. Another female who, along with Woodard, is the glue to this ensemble, is Celia Weston (Dwight's mother, Paula). Soft spoken with a calm demeanor, we never know what peculiarity Paula might feel a need to express.

Why watch 'Memphis Beat' over the other summertime cop shows on television? During these hot, lazy months my teens are home from school and we enjoy spending some time one evening a week watching this warmhearted, down to earth detective who is not willing to shoot first and ask questions later. He's just working it out creatively to keep it copacetic for these people he actually cares about in his colorful little county. This is a dramedy with music that kills. Check it out!