SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

filippaberry84 I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Ortiz Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Fleur Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Bokononist1917 Brooklyn South was an innovative and Gritty show when it hit the air. Focusing on street cops in uniform over detectives, and making a thorough commitment to realism, it was unlike most anything else on TV. The writing and acting was top notch, and the show is able to serve up verbal confrontations just as vicious as the physical ones.Still, it hasn't aged well. Given the time period and the fact that it aired on CBS, Brooklyn South is relatively tame by today's standards. This isn't necessarily bad, such as in most classic Victorian literature, where the author invents a way to refer to sex and violence much more entertaining than a straight description. The problem is that Brooklyn South presents itself as gritty and revealing, (which it was for the time) and the actual content of the show ends up being a let down, rather than a delicious metaphor. Many of the issues that Brooklyn South is obviously trying to tackle, such as abuse of power, the slippery slope of committing evil deeds in the name of good, and what constitutes morality when your paid to use violence, it can only hint at. Thus the watcher is slowly drawn into these issues, only to be let down when the show switches subjects just before truly exposing them.Given this I'd recommend Brooklyn South to hardcore fans of the crime genre, because even after aging it's still entertaining, and for it's historical importance as one of the first cop shows to focus on realism and morally ambiguous characters. Beyond that it's safe to say that HBO's The Wire is everything Brooklyn South wanted to be, and better done to boot.

Jaybird248 I was a Brooklyn South superfan back in the day (one reason...I was about to move to Brooklyn) and I own the DVD set now. With some perspective, I think the first episodes were the best, filmed on location, not in L.A., as they did later, and dealing with real situations street cops might meet. Ratings were not bad, but after Bochco's earlier hits (btw, he went to high school with me), CBS expected much and probably paid top dollar.When the show didn't go off the charts immediately, pressure from the network must have been intense, and the writers went off into spasms of incredulity, anything to try to get an audience. Suddenly these ordinary beat cops were uncovering all manner of big league crimes on a weekly basis, this week an international terrorist plot, that week a nest of bombers. The show became so unbelievable even I got turned off to it. They also added more and more characters, calling on beauty queens (Elana Elaniak) and popular actors from NYPD Blue. More characters is one thing it didn't need.Still, the acting was great and most of the cast have gone on to bigger things. Dylan Walsh on Nip n Tuck, Adam Rodriguez to CSI: Miami, etc. I just saw Gary Basaraba on the HBO Special "Recount".If they'd stuck to realistic plots, dealing with believable human drama (COPS finds plenty of it on the beat.), and CBS had given it a chance, we'd be watching Brooklyn South today. Instead, Bochco is still searching for the next big police thing. Hey, Steve, how about a show on cops on the beat...

tadloml This is the best cop show to come on TV since Law & Order. I don't why they took it off the air, I did not no it was on in 1997-98. It has one if not the best shot out scenes at the start of the series of any show that has ever came on TV. The main characters of the show are all excellent and I had never seen most of them in movies before. The Desk sergeant who they call boss is so good that he must have had some great acting lessons or been a real cop. I have watch a lot of police shows and movies in my time and this one is equal if not better than most of them, I still can not believe they took it off the air after only one year but they did the same thing to the Blue Knight and look how great that TV show was and still is, there is no accounting for taste in this world some people do not no what they are missing in good shows!

Piper12 I have to disagree with the others who have posted in praise of "Brooklyn South." As a die-hard fan of "Hill Street Blues," I have to say that "Brooklyn South" didn't come close to matching the earlier series in quality and watchability.Don't get me wrong: I WANTED to like this series very much. It just didn't hold my interest, perhaps because so many of the situations seemed so incredibly far-fetched: One character's shrewish wife - who is even prepared to frame him for a murder - is conveniently killed off in a car accident; the first precinct captain was so cartoonishly clueless as to be laughable; the Terry Doyle character was so annoying I was actually HOPING he'd be killed off.Actually, for me, the only character I cared about and who really came to life for me was Gary Besaraba's Sgt. Santoro. His scene in one of the early episodes with his son's grade-school teacher - who is copping a superior attitude to the sarge and his wife - was great. I also had a sneaking respect for Jim Sikking's character, a career Internal Affairs investigator with ice-water in his veins.A good try, but no cigar.