Detroit 1-8-7

A Detroit-er I am not; a West Michigan-der, I am. Started watching this from episode three (missed the first two), and I am blown away.

Hallelujah Detroit AND Michigan. I'd heard only rumors all summer 2010 that Detroit was trying to ground a "Law n Order" cop series. Suddenly every MI actor had "stars" in their eyes, wanting to be part of it. Finally we have a NETWORK success.

Granted it doesn't have the full 'grit' the long-running LAO does, but who says it has to? This show stands on its own. The fine cast, the writing, the production... And I love the docu-style shooting (filming). Keeps the audience part of the action.

If this series keeps going as it is, what other TV successes could be in store for Detroit (AND Michigan!)

This show hits the mark. It kind of sneaked in on me as I don't recall any build ups for the show beforehand but it really caught my eye from the first minutes of the first episode. I couldn't wait for the next one. When it comes to reality this is the best cop show on TV. If you want stories, technology, and beautiful people that are nothing like policing then watch any of the others. Detroit 187 doesn't go all the way but it comes closer by far than anything else on the market. I hope it does well in the ratings and lasts a long time (like the old "law and order" show). The settings, the lighting, the camera angles, the story lines and the lives of the characters really project where its at considering each episode has to be presented (commercials include) in an hours time. They sure picked the right people to write, direct and produce this gem. I hope they stay on. Congratulations.

Seven years after this fine series was prematurely buried, I can only wonder dully what possessed the network to cancel it after only one season. Was it a lack of audience, i.e., too little generation of commercial income? It certainly couldn't be that the scripts or cast weren't acceptable! The screen writing was compelling, the cast was a finely-tuned orchestra, and in spite of the small holes in some of its incidental information, everything seemed to be in place for an exciting ride for its viewing audience. Whatever happened to "if at first you don't succeed ..."? Why not give it one more season to see if it could draw a well deserved audience? I don't know what I was watching seven years ago, to overlook this short lived gem, so I'm part of the problem. But this isn't the only potential success that was abandoned after only one season, so it seems to be a general network childishness in their attitudes of "add water and stir" mentality. Not every effort is an instant success, but I think a massive success was aborted by the powers at ABC. Shame on them! Having just watched this, I knew going in that I'd need to resist getting attached to any of the characters, but that didn't help at all. I was attached to the entire cast of characters, so I still felt stunned to know I was approaching its final episode far too soon. I wanted more. I was invested in these people despite my effort to remain detached. Seven years postmortem, I'm still glad that I watched it. I'm thinking once you board this bus, you're going to stay with it, knowing it won't take you to a satisfactory destination.

What a loss!

We all love Michael and always will. He's been working in films and TV for many, many years and has given his all.

The show is very entertaining and will probably get better as the characters grow.

Non-Detroiters would like the show to be grittier. I've heard some from Detroit say we need to see Detroit shine in this series. It's a drama and a cop show, we want to see the seedy side of Detroit. Make the good people good but keep the bad guys bad.

And, yes, it needs something to set it apart from other cop shows. Give us that, please. You're lucky enough to have Michael Imperioli; don't mess this up.

I love the character of Fitch. I want to know why he left New York. Michael Imperioli plays him with such quiet intensity...I think that I am falling in love with him. I love that he calls everyone when he has "feelings" -keeping his distance and making it less personal. It says things about technology, our culture, a cop's plight to compartmentalize his life as to not be touched by hatred and crime.

However, even though this character is strong, the whole ensemble is equally strong. The lieutenant played by Ms. Hinds is right on. Trying to juggle her teen and put in a day's work. I really want to walk a day in her shoes and find out how she got where she is.

I also love James McDaniel as Jesse Longford who lives half his life on the mean streets of Detroit and half in a Tuscan fantasy in a desperate attempt to cope with his wife's death and rigors of his job...always giving us his unique glimpse of a light at the end of the tunnel.

So many dramas these days revolve around one character and you only see the one side of it. The writers of this drama and the strong actors playing out the written characterization have created a world that is real in the sense that the drama is personal for everyone. I would love to see this show developed so that there is not one lead, but every episode shows us different aspects of all the characters. They are all so very interesting and not the kind of cookie cutter people you see portrayed in other dramas of this type.

I watch a lot of cop/crime dramas... and though everyone is saying that this replaces Law & Order, I believe this is something so much more. It is not impersonal the way that L&O can sometimes be. We have to go through it with the personalities -it affects them. It is easy to say that there is one way -that things are black and white, but with this series we find a structure imposed on a chaos that has good people trying to keep their sanity in any way possible. I think that is what makes it real.

As to the setting, I think that the show tries to keep some of the integrity of Detroit. You can hear it in the music selections. Detroit is rife with problems there is no doubt. What the show tells me is that even though there is crime and violence in the inter-city neighborhoods, there are still people living there that care about their city, e.g. I love Natalie Martinez's rendition of Ariana Sanchez who sets the detectives straight when they bad-mouth her neighborhood.

Mr. Richman please keep writing stuff like this -an ensemble where all the characters are important and matter. It is great programming.

Thank you.