Brooklyn South is a CBS network television police drama series created by Steven Bochco, Bill Clark, William M. Finkelstein & David Milch.
The series aired from September 22, 1997 to April 27, 1998, lasting for one season & 22 episods.
The pilot episode was noted as the first TV-MA rated episode on broadcast television (or rather, TV-M as the rating was displayed during the time), making it the first time that a show on CBS would receive a TV-MA rating.
Plot[]
The series centered on the lives of a group of close knit police officers and crime victims at a police station in Brooklyn, New York City.
Cast[]
Main
- Jon Tenney as Patrol Sergeant Francis "Frank" Xavier Donovan
- Michael DeLuise as Officer Phil Roussakoff
- Dylan Walsh as Officer Jimmy Doyle
- James B. Sikking as Lieutenant/Captain Stan Jonas
- Yancy Butler as Officer/Detective Anne-Marie Kersey
- Gary Basaraba as Sergeant/Lieutenant Richard "Dicky" Santoro
- Titus Welliver as Officer Jack Lowery
- Klea Scott as Officer Nona Valentine
- Richard T. Jones as Officer Clement "Clem" Johnson
- Adam Rodriguez as Officer Hector Villaneuva
- Patrick McGaw as Terry Doyle
Recurring Cast
- A. J. Langer as Kathleen Doyle
- Mark Kiely as Officer Kevin Patrick
- Star Jasper as Noreen Patrick
- Brigid Brannagh as Emmeline "Emily" Flannagan
- Bradford English as Captain Lou Zerola (1997)
- John Finn as Officer Ray MacElwaine (1998)
Reception\Cancellation[]
"Brooklyn South" was scheduled opposite ABC's "Monday Night Football" and NBC's "Dateline Monday" and struggled in the ratings, averaging 10.5 million viewers & ranking 74th for the season.
The series underwent retooling in an attempt to boost ratings, but despite the changes, it was canceled in May 1998 shortly after the first season wrapped.
According to his autobiography, Steven Bochco says personal issues kept him from inputting as much as usual into this show's production, and that this contributed to weak scripts after the first few episodes.
Then, Bochco took more control in the later episodes and ratings started to perk up, but CBS chairman Les Moonves cancelled the show anyway, a decision that Bochco adamantly disagreed with, and a season after extreme tinkering by CBS doomed his comedy series, "Public Morals" to a short two-episode run.