If you like retro cop shows -- ones where the gumshoes wear fedoras and still carry revolvers -- there's a promising new one hitting the mean streets of TNT today.
Public Morals debuts at 9 p.m. It's the last major premiere of the summer before the fall season arrives in about a month. It's rated TV-MA for lots of graphic violence and adult language, so be forewarned. TNT may be basic cable, but this one is not for the kiddies.
Public Morals is a labor of love 18 years in the making for actor/writer/director Edward Burns (Saving Private Ryan, The Brothers McMullen, Mob City). It's totally his baby. He created the series and writes, directs and stars in it. The series is executive produced by Burns, along with Steven Spielberg.
The police drama promises "to take viewers to the seedy, gritty streets and the bright, seductive lights of 1960s New York."
Burns doesn't re-invent the police procedural wheel here, but he does manage to pay homage to his hometown by turning New York into a memorable canvas upon which he paints a compelling tale of two families -- the cops Muldoons and the robbers Pattons.
Bottom line: It's the NYPD vs. the Irish mob.
"The best co-star any actor could have is a street corner in New York City," Burns told CBS' Sunday Morning recently.
Operating in this memorable environment is Officer Terry Muldoon (Burns) head of a plainclothes vice squad.
The 47-year-old Burns, who grew up in a large Irish Catholic family in the Long Island suburbs just east of Queens, N.Y., comes by his police experience through osmosis.
"My father was a cop," Burns said. "My uncle was a cop. A lot of my cousins became cops. I was always fascinated by their stories."
(Burns' retired father, Edward J. Burns, is a consultant on the series, and elements of the relationship between Muldoon and his son on the show are autobiographical.)
Being set in the '60s, Public Morals illustrates how things weren't always black and white on the force. The cops are walking a fine gray line between vice and virtue, and there are plenty of temptations. They range from accepting the, um, gratitude of prostitutes, to accepting hefty bribes to look the other way.
And why not? Gambling and prostitution have been around as long as the city itself, and the cops do what they've always done in New York -- manage all this vice and sin for the city. They see it as a win/win situation.
As Muldoon says, "Everybody makes money and nobody gets hurt."
Although he is, as one critic put it, "morally casual," Muldoon is well aware of the thin line and is determined to raise his three kids to be honest and hardworking.
Things head south when Muldoon has to deal with a growing war between two factions of the Irish mob. The conflict turns Muldoon's beloved Hell's Kitchen into a hellhole.
Muldoon finds no respite at home because his strong-willed wife, Christine (Elizabeth Masucci, The Americans, Inside Amy Schumer), demands they pack up and leave the increasingly violent neighborhood.
Muldoon's plainclothes partner is veteran Charlie Bullman, played with expected tough cop gruffness by Michael Rapaport (Justified, Prison Break). Charlie is a dedicated family man, but when he decides to take high-end call girl Fortune (Katrina Bowden) under his wing, things get messy.
The rest of the cast:
Ruben Santiago-Hudson (Castle, Low Winter Sun) plays Lt. Lonnie King. He moonlights as the leader of a group of vigilante cops.
Wass Stevens (House of Cards) is cocky Officer Vince Latucci. He enjoys all the vice perks just a little too much.
Keith Nobbs (Phone Booth) is ex-con Pat Duffy, now Muldoon's stool pigeon.
Austin Stowell (Whiplash) portrays Sean O'Bannon, Muldoon's hunky hot-headed cousin who also enjoys the vice perks, especially all the attention from the ladies.
Brian Wiles (Person of Interest) plays young Jimmy Shea, the clean-cut newest member of the team who hasn't quite yet fit in.
The guest star list is a who's who of Hollywood veterans: Timothy Hutton (Ordinary People, Leverage); Brian Dennehy (Death of a Salesman, Presumed Innocent); Neal McDonough (Justified, Mob City); and Robert Knepper (Prison Break, Mob City).
Dennehy is outstandingly sinister as Joe "Big Red" Patton, the head of the west side Irish mob. McDonough plays Joe's power-mad son, Rusty. McDonough has made a career playing that sort of ice-eyed megalomaniac.
Hutton portrays Mr. O., a smooth Irish numbers runner, and Knepper plays Inspector Flynn, a veteran approaching retirement.
For those who don't mind waiting a day and like to binge, TNT is making the first four (out of 10) episodes available through video on demand and online at tntdrama.com beginning Wednesday.
The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Email:
mstorey@arkansasonline.com
Style on 08/25/2015