I've been a fan of Mary McCormack since I first saw her, when she played Howard Stern's wife in "Private Parts", and she had a terrific run in "The West Wing", playing a character not all that different from the one she plays here. As another poster has said, she makes the whole show work (as far as it does). She's smart, funny, sexy, has a great way with a line and is much more in control of her professional life than the train wreck that's her personal life. The premise of the show itself is interesting, but the main problem with the only episode I've seen so far--the pilot--is, as has been noted, that the story was weak and somewhat convoluted and, overall, tended to sink down into typical cop-show cliché. It doesn't seem to quite know if it wants to be a cop show with comedy or a comedy with cops, and that's something they need to figure out before the show goes much further. Also, IMO, she needs to get a new partner. The guy she has now seems to be more like an Abbott to her Costello except more glib and smarmy. Either he should tone down the cheap "seen-it-all" cynicism and wiseass attitude or they should just get someone else. His character really doesn't work. And I'm sorry, but Lesley Ann Warren just doesn't work as Mary's mother, either. She's too much of a caricature--not to mention yet another TV sitcom cliché, the ditzy yet sexy middle-aged mom--to be believable.
Mary McCormack is pretty much the only reason to watch it right now. With some tweaking--mainly in the writing and casting--it could be a really good show, on a level with USA's superb "Burn Notice". But it will need a fair amount of work, and Mary McCormack deserves better than what they've done with it so far.
Mary McCormack is pretty much the only reason to watch it right now. With some tweaking--mainly in the writing and casting--it could be a really good show, on a level with USA's superb "Burn Notice". But it will need a fair amount of work, and Mary McCormack deserves better than what they've done with it so far.