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About the show
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According to NBC, Southland takes a "raw and authentic look" at Los Angeles and the lives of the LAPD officers who police it. The show's first season centers on the experiences and interactions of LAPD patrol officers and detectives, and is more a character-driven drama than a police procedural. Among the characters are rookie Officer Ben Sherman and his training officer, John Cooper; Detective Lydia Adams, who must balance work with responsibility for her mother; Officer Chickie Brown, who aspires to be the first woman on the elite SWAT Team; and Detective Sammy Bryant, whose home life interferes with his working life. Ultimately, it was the dark tone of the series, deemed inappropriate for 9:00 pm, that led NBC to shut down production and cancel the show after previewing the first six episodes of the second season. TNT began negotiating a move from NBC shortly after the show's cancellation, a process that took nearly a month. TNT's rebroadcast of the first season was less heavily censored, with only the more extreme profanity bleeped out.
Following the change of network, the second season, which premiered on TNT following the rebroadcast of the first season, de-emphasizes the ensemble cast and focuses more on the Adams and Sherman characters and their partners. Stories now center more on how crimes come together, with less-serialized storylines.
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Date of last review or update: March 14, 2012
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