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Pilot View: ABC’s new drama ‘Detroit 1-8-7’

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Editor’s note: We offer you our first impressions of the original pilots for fall shows. Keep in mind that these are not reviews and that the networks may make significant changes to these shows before they air. We reserve the right to love them or hate them more later.

‘Detroit 1-8-7’ switches up the crime procedural by having a documentary crew roll with Detroit’s homicide division. We don’t know who is filming or why, but the cameras reveal the inner lives of these crime fighters. Solving murders are Det. Louis Fitch, a respected and misunderstood veteran; Det. Damon Washington, Fitch’s new partner who joins the division on the day his wife goes into labor with their first child; Det. Ariana Sanchez, a sexy rising star; John Stone, a narcotics undercover cop who is paired with Sanchez; Sgt. Jesse Longford, who is on the verge of retirement; Det. Aman Mahajan, the son of Indian immigrants; and Lt. Maureen Mason, a single mom trying to balance her home life with work.

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Who’s in it: Michael Imperioli (‘The Sopranos’) as Fitch; newcomer Jon Michael Hill as Washington; James McDaniel (‘NYPD Blue’) as Longford; Aisha Hinds (‘True Blood’) as Mason, Natalie Martinez (‘Saints and Sinners’) as Sanchez, D.J. Cotrona (‘Windfall’) as Stone; and Shaun Majumder (‘Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle’) as Mahajan.

Who made it: It was created by screenwriter Jason Richman.
Thumbs up: Great casting. Imperioli shines, and so does everyone around him. Hill is funny and engaging and a scene-stealer. Martinez also is someone to watch.

Thumbs down: Another cop show?
Verdict: ABC scored with a documentary-style comedy last season in ‘Modern Family,’ so why not give it a try when it comes to a procedural? So far, it works. It gets you invested in the characters, and you forget they are just another bunch of cops. We’ll keep watching.

[Update: 1:33 p.m.: This just in! ABC is eliminating the docu-style aspect of the series, which is one of the things we liked most about it. But because we like the characters, we’re keeping an open mind.]

-- Maria Elena Fernandez
twitter.com/writerchica

Video credit: ABC


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