The Unusuals

Over the years audiences have been treated to gritty, dark cop shows but ABC's new show "The Unusuals" is something really different. There's a heavy emphasis on dark humor and eccentricities that gave me a few laughs, but there's something going on beneath the surface and only by watching these characters will we ever find out. True, there are the inevitable crimes of the week that viewers will be treated to but it's the well acted characters, witty and funny dialog as well as the "unusual" situations that keep things interesting and I for one was getting into this show. It's already starting to grow on me. Not a show for the kiddies as there are sexual innuendo and some thematic elements, but it's good, real good. Although I like serious shows but every once in a while I'd watch something that's light-hearted, doesn't take itself too seriously, and overall, fun for an entire hour.

The Unusuals caught my eye last night, and I was desperate for some decent TV fare (all I currently watch is The Office and Intervention, well, okayand The Millionaire Matchmaker, but I am just plain humiliated to admit that). I loved it immediately and then read the bad reviews after a search on the web. I was dumbfounded! Maybe the original media reviews were for the premiere episode, and I have seen only the last 2 episodes, episodes 3 and 4. This show is funny and smart and sad and real and crazy. My gosh, you've got how many millions of people watching Real Housewives or that hospital show based in Seattle where the impossibly attractive, and thus vapid, characters hang around posing like they are in an MTV video, and The Unusuals gets bad reviews? This show seems to have found the soul that Boomtown was searching for, and it doesn't take itself too seriously, which was Boomtown's downfall. Network TV--give me a reason to tune in, with shows like The Unusuals!

this show had it going, i saw the first couple of them and it was amusing enough to make you want more and more....great cast And even greater Script, though it started out as your Average Joe detective show , and it turned out to be much much more than just cops doing their work ,it can be predictable but it sure as hell funny , ..after i was watching it on a regular basis i discovered that the show had been canceled...What a waste to a great potential :(, well i hope that CBS or ABC or what ever , could bring it back...it has good ratings, great potential and everything required to make a show of the year, i just don't get it , anyways i say, enjoy the 10episodes to the fullest as u can,you never know when they might release a thing that good ever again!! :D .

So here is another one of those outstanding network TV shows canceled WAY before its time (after only 10 episodes?!? Can you say "Firefly"?). Around four months before Jeremy Renner's big breakthrough role starring in Kathryn Bigelow's award-winning "The Hurt Locker," I happened to be surfing TV channels one night and land on an unconventional cop show, written and created for ABC by Noah Hawley, who would proceed to make "Fargo" and "Legion" (two more brilliant cable TV series). While a plot synopsis doesn't promise that much to write home about: Amber Tamblyn plays a rookie detective thrown in head first to partner up with the more seasoned (and also somewhat resentful) cop Renner, given how long and hard he's worked to make detective, and whereupon equal parts danger and hilarity ensue (See what I mean about a plot synopsis?), it's the eccentric cast of characters who prove to have such compelling personalities (like that of the supporting actors Harold Perrineau and Adam Goldberg). I don't know why I should've been surprised that a major TV network would would premier a new series in April and ax it by June, but this show had vanished by the month before "The Hurt Locker" with Jeremy Renner premiered in theaters at the end of July 2009. And of course, Harold Perrineau would go on to be on ABC's "Lost," as all of the talented cast landed on their feet. But just like the rest of corporate America (and just like Fox with Firefly) nobody at ABC would or did admit that they'd had an interesting series with excellent writing and acting that they'd totally screwed up-right before its star became a major Hollywood force. Well, at least real-life super-hero Jeremy Renner has gone on to have lasting success/last laughs!

....That makes you want to find the executive (-s) responsible and slap them upside the head with a frozen tuna.

Seriously, this is one of the best cop shows made ever. Right out of the gate, you've got a show stuffed with well-written and well-rounded characters, absurd humor, sensitively written drama, tense action, and several subplots deserving of exploration.

Let's talk about the casting. Even at the time, when so many of these names and faces would go on to even more amazing roles, this was an amazing cast. Amber Tamblyn, Jeremy Renner, Harold Perrineau, Adam Goldberg, Terry Kinney, Monique Curnen. Even the guest stars: Miles Teller, Corey Stoll, Joanna Gleason (a national treasure btw), Chris Sarandon (same). And we can't forget the voice of the show, Marisa Vural as "Dispatch." There was so much talent here, it's almost criminal. (Har har har.)

Next we have the series writers, which included: Sarah Watson (whose credits include About a Boy, Parenthood, Pure Genius, and That's So Raven), Danny Zucker (The Arsenio Hall Show, Evening Shade, Roseanne, Grace Under Fire, Modern Family), Melissa Byer (Stargate: Atlantis, Crossing Jordan, Reaper, CSI, The Gifted), Robert De Laurentiis (St. Elsewhere, Providence, The O. C., The Umbrella Academy, Fargo). And let's not forget the series creator, Noah Hawley who wrote for Bones, Legion, and Fargo, while producing and directing episodes of the same (among other series). I mean, the man has won an Emmy, a Golden Globe, a Peabody Award, he's a novelist, screenwriter, series creator, showrunner, director, and producer. He's accurately named an auteur.

So with so much goodness wrapped around a show like this, why the hell was it cancelled? Well, it had disappointing numbers, ones that started out low and dropped even further as the weeks went on. Yet shows such as The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, All in the Family, M*A*S*H, Family Ties, Cheers, Seinfeld, and Homicide were the same and I think we know how they turned out. So, then, ultimately, why was The Unusuals cancelled? Was it cop show burnout? Was it insufficient advertising? Was it impatience with a more complex storyline and characters? I'm thinking all of the above, along with the standard issue of executive ignorance and - the worst possible reason - bad luck. So many shows succeeded when they should've failed because they dropped at the right time and caught the right audience. So many other shows failed when they should've succeeded because of the opposite - they never found their footing or the audience, advertiser, and executive support. Sadly, The Unusuals fell into this last category, joining a far too long list of other "Cancelled Too Soon" shows. But a show totally worthy of rewatching, if only to enjoy what was and mourn what could've been.