TV Jots

Preview the Newbie a Week Early

Tonight marks the series finale of NBC’s outgoing 15-seasons-old medical drama ER. Next week, the gritty crime drama Southland moves into the staple’s former Thursdays at 10pm ET time slot, but NBC is letting everyone check out the pilot episode, “Unknown Trouble,” online as of today.

Southland has been getting a bit of buzz due to its main star, The O.C. alum Benjamin McKenzie. However, I’m personally more excited about having 227 veteran Regina King back on the tube regularly, even if just for Southland’s abbreviated midseason run of seven episodes.

Brought to us by the team of John Wells, Ann Biderman, and Christopher Chulack — Emmy Award winners for The West Wing, NYPD Blue, and ER, respectively — the Los Angeles-set series follows the members of a police unit, as well as the criminals and victims they encounter.

Familiar face Michael Cudlitz (Life, Standoff) plays longtime police officer John Cooper, who’s tasked with training McKenzie’s rookie cop Ben Sherman. Thanks to Cooper’s straightforwardness about what the job entails, Sherman eventually starts to question if he has the right stuff to last.

Southland’s principal cast consists of (from left to right in the photo above) Arija Bareikis (Crossing Jordan) as single mom, patrol officer, and aspiring first female SWAT member Chickie Brown; Michael McGrady (Day Break) as gang unit supervisor Detective Daniel “Sal” Salinger; Tom Everett Scott (Cashmere Mafia) as Detective Russell Clarke, an unhappily married father of three; McKenzie as rookie officer Ben Sherman; King as Clarke’s partner Detective Lydia Adams, the sole caretaker of her mother; Cudlitz as Sherman’s trainer and partner John Cooper; Shawn Hatosy (Alpha Dog) as gang detective Sammy Bryant; and Kevin Alejandro (Ugly Betty) as gang detective Nate Moretta.

True, Southland’s premise sounds standard for a cop show, but the promos I’ve seen look promising. I plan to take a look at the premiere episode online before the show’s April 9th TV debut just because NBC is letting us. You can do the same at the network’s full-episode website for Southland, the Hulu website for the series, and even in the Hulu video below.