Suspect n°1 New York

With all sorts of shows coming out this year featuring a strong female lead, this one by far has the strongest. She's head-strong, unrelenting, ambitious, driven, willful and carries a duffle bag full of vices which brings a depth to her character rarely seen in cop shows, but makes her very likable as well as human.

The show is gritty and feels a bit more realistic than most of the high-tech, ultra-forensic one- man cop shows that seem to come and go every season. It takes a team to catch the bad guys and suspects don't always willingly confess to murder (who would really?) There's tension and rivals among the police and detectives, as well as sexism you'd expect to see in a male dominate New York police force.

All in all, this show is very well done with a great cast and believable plot lines. I hope it can find its audience to gather momentum and keep going.

Maria Bello can do no wrong in my eyes. This is an Uber American take on the Mirren classic that misses the mark a bit in early episodes but comes into its own around epi five. With a stellar cast, energetic rocker soundtrack and great city energy, I think it's a solid show. The tension of being a fast talking badass female in a male dominant mysogynistic station tracks well to those of us who live through it every day. She's gorgeous, smart, unapologetically assertive and sets the world on fire with a single blond hair flip behind her shoulder. I love this show and I'll always support anything Bello does.

I think the new Prime Suspect is watchable and has some believable aspects. Maria Bello is very good in the role -- except for the hat. (I hate the hat. Way too trendy and cliché.) But comparing this series or disliking it because it wasn't like the Helen Mirren gem does a bit of disservice to the new show and to Maria Bello. Let the new one develop it's own way. As police dramas go this one is not bad.. . I've watched many detective & police dramas: Brit, Canadian, American. Outside of Homicide: Life on the Street (and I won't even mention "The Wire") very few American police dramas have any credibility other than just pure entertainment and distraction or just for looking at pretty people with guns. I've seen four episodes of Prime Suspect so far and though I think Jane's detective counterparts are a bit over the top sexist wise since it is 2011 and I think more respect is given to women these days, that's an area that needs to be developed better. It makes the male cops look really stupid. And homicide cops are anything but. There must be more subtle ways of demonstrating sexism. Use irony instead of sarcasm & meatball comments.

I was skeptical about yet another cop show, but I decided to give the pilot a try. The cast looked interesting, at the very least. It wasn't an easy decision since it's been a busy season for new shows and there is a lot of competition for my DVR's time. I watched the pilot and knew that this was not only on my list for the season, but was possibly going on my favorites list. I really don't want to see it canceled.

Even though the episodes deal with serious issues, there's this great, twisted sense of humor and camaraderie between the detectives that makes this fun to watch. And right from the beginning I couldn't help but root for Maria Bello's Jane Timoney. I want her to succeed because she's tough, passionate about her job and not afraid of getting dirty. I enjoy the other characters, too, which may be as much about the quality of the actors as the writing. They are a good fit.

It's certainly worth checking out.

First up, I'm a UK Viewer. Secondly, this is an adaption so don't worry about what they'll do with the old material. It's whole new take and Maria Bello excels in the lead role of Jane Timoney, a slight alteration on the name but no-less a strong female lead.

It's a very special cast as well, Kirk Acevedo (Fringe), Brian F. O'Byrne (Mildred Pierce), Aiden Quinn (Legends of the Fall) and many more work wonderfully as an ensemble cast. This challenges a lot of other cop shows out there at the moment, offering something fresh and intriguing.

You may not like everyone to start with but stick with it, surely that's more interesting than liking everyone straight away and agreeing with the quick viewpoints, slick camera work and so forth. In the days of CSI and all those similar, this is refreshing, gritty, real and I really hope the US - or other countries - start to take to more and give it a bigger chance because at least it's taking risks.

It's also quite brutal in places and makes you question all parts of every character. Well worth your time if you want something intelligent and original. Even if it's another part of La Plante's legacy.