The Unusuals – ABC’s New NYPD Series

ABC‘s website compares The Unusuals to MASH, and as odd as that may sound at first, it’s not a terrible comparison. The idea, apparently, is that this show has the same mix of the intensely serious and the wildly comedic. It probably isn’t far off to say that there is something of an homage to MASH in the very theory of dealing with things which cannot be dealt with by being a little crazy.

The pilot episode is quite a wild ride, and though MASH might be on the ABC page, I got the feeling we were definitely aiming to drift into a Hill Street Blues feel. After all, that show had its share of crazy too.

The show revolves (generally) around Casey Shraeger (Amber Tamblyn), who has just been moved up from vice to homicide. She immediately finds herself neck deep in… something, because she is thrown right into a murdered cop case. In fact, she gets assigned to the dead cop’s old partner. If that wasn’t uncomfortable enough for your first day on the job, said new partner, Detective Jason Walsh (Jeremy Renner) runs headlong into some rather shady activities.

Other officers around the squad include a Bert and Ernie-esque team who, thus far, provide most of the “zany” in the series. Eric Delahoy (Adam Goldberg) may be trying to get killed in the line of duty, but is in any event bizarrely adept at avoiding death. His partner, Leo Banks (Harold Perrineau) is ultra-cautious in every way. Apart from their struggles with each other, they get assigned to investigate a potential cat killer, much to the natural amusement of their fellow officers.

Also on the scene is Detective Eddie Alvarez, who says “Detective Eddie Alvarez” so often you’d think he was trying to start a new drinking game. He’s a bit of a goof, but promotes himself vigorously, and thinks he’s the star of homicide… whatever that may mean.

The general theory behind much of what we see is that Sgt. Brown brought Shraeger to homicide in order to clean house, because he has a cop corruption problem and she can’t be bribed or threatened. We throw that in, pilot style, with a lot of clues to corruption, and mix things together with a bunch of cops who are all more than a little odd. It does make for something that gives a MASHian idea, but it’s hard to tell at this point who’s Hawkeye and who’s Klinger.

On the other hand, the show has a nice pace, and though that may sound like faint praise, it’s an important facet to a show like this. Things are strange here, and chugging along at a fair clip works for the concept. It doesn’t let itself bog down, and that keeps things lively and interesting. It’s hard to say how long that interest will be sustained, especially with the odd circumstances of the pilot, but it’s worth a shot.

From the behind-the-scenes viewpoint, the show is created by Noah Hawley of Bones, which I can’t stand actually. But, it’s executive produced by Bob DeLaurentis (The OC) and Peter O’Fallon (The Riches), and Peter Tolan of Rescue Me is an executive consultant… whatever that means. All those shows have their strengths, and putting all these people together might work.

Of course, putting them all together might make for something unbearable as well. Speaking of putting people together, if the show has one glaring stumbling block to get past it’s the cast. They all work pretty well actually, but a lot of viewers might find it hard to “see” them. It’s got Joan of Arcadia (who comes across perhaps a tad young), that guy from Lost, and Adam Goldberg, who is the guy from too many things, though many may remember him as the crazy guy with the Goldfish cracker from Friends.

All in all, I have to give the show a passing grade… for now, but “mostly crazy” is my kind of gig. The long-term worry is that I’m not sure at this point how well the plot is going to transition into something with the stability to last through a decent run. Once we’ve milked this corruption storyline, will there be anywhere for this to go? I’m nervous on that score.