Detroit 1-8-7

I have watched all of season 1 and have to say I absolutely LOVE this show! I am a big fan of crime-drama type TV (CSI, Law & Order) and this is my favorite of all of them. The filming style is so realistic and the characters are complex and multi-dimensional. I haven't seen a series this "real" since Hill Street Blues.

When we first meet the primary character, Fitch, it seems like he might spend the rest of the series as the weird, slightly off cop. I was worried the character would end up like Monk...a sort of savant with no social skills. As the episodes pass, we learn more about him and understand why he is so careful to avoid deeper connections with those around him. Layer after layer is revealed and we find an amazing example of a well-developed character.

All of the characters in this show are well crafted and all of the actors do a superb job with the roles. There are no trite plot developments...which is shocking considering how many crime drama episodes are already in existence.

I hope this series is renewed!

I'm thoroughly impressed with Detroit 1-8-7. This show is much more down to earth than any other cop show out there. The attention it brings to a true American ghetto like Detroit is astounding. It sounds ridiculous, but I truly believe that shows like this one that encourage people to take back their city can really make a difference. I've even heard that this show is really boosting Detroit's economy.

Coming from the Rust Belt myself (Milwaukee native), I love seeing a setting I can actually relate to, instead of flashy cities like New York, L. A., or Miami all the time. Plus, the Fitch character is freaking fantastic.

ABC better not cancel this show. It's awesome. I think it'll catch on for sure if they give it enough time.

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.

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!

I lived in the heart of the Detroit for 21yrs and I still live close by. This show has great potential! And I think that will show in the coming episodes that are shot completely in Detroit and surrounding communities(most of the pilot was shot in Atlanta). It's great to have a show that's set in a city like Detroit and not your typical NY, LA, SF, Chicago, or Miami. To let everyone know, from local news stories on the production of the show, the director is from Detroit and everything (since the pilot) is shot, and produced right here in Detroit. Yes there were a few minor "mistakes" in the pilot I seen people complain about, saying "soda" we call it "pop", and there is no bullet train, but these are very minor things that can't be faulted when all we've seen was the pilot episode. Minor fixes for what I honestly believe will be a great show that is TRUE TO DETROIT because it is being MADE IN DETROIT! Please give it the chance it deserves!