Brooklyn South is an American Police Drama that aired on CBS from September 1997 to April 1998. Created by Steven Bochco, it centered around New York City's 74th Precinct. Its pilot was the first episode of broadcast TV to receive a TV-MA rating due to an intense, violent cop killing in the opening sequence.
The main characters are:
- Patrol Sgt. Francis (Frank) X. Donovan (Jon Tenney)— Good guy and IAB mole.
- Sgt. Richard (Dickie) Santoro (Gary Basaraba)— Frank's close friend, a gentle (if snarky) giant
- Officer Jimmy Doyle (Dylan Walsh)— Well-liked and respected, and a fatherly figure to his two younger siblings, Terry and Kathleen
- Officer Terry Doyle (Patrick Mc Gaw)— Younger brother of Jimmy, a rookie cop who spends the majority of the season undercover
- Officer Phil Roussakoff (Michael DeLuise)— Somewhat dim; his most memorable storylines included dating the Doyles' sister Kathleen, and moonlighting at a mortuary
- Officer Jack Lowery (Titus Welliver)— Hotheaded, unhappily married and later widowed, begins an affair with Nona Valentine
- Officer Nona Valentine (Klea Scott)— Blandly likeable, involved in a love triangle with Jack and Clemmie
- Officer Clement (Clemmie) Johnson (Richard T. Jones)— Hates Jack, loves Nona, gets shot in a botched undercover operation
- Officer Hector Villa Nueva (Adam Rodriguez)— The fresh-faced rookie
- Officer Ann-Marie Kearsy (Yancy Butler)— Loses her fiance in the first episode, later gets into a relationship with Frank, gets promoted to detective after a botched undercover assignment (not the same one as when Clemmie gets shot— undercover operations don't tend to go well on this show)
- Officer Ray Mac Elwaine (John Finn)— Old-timer who comes in halfway through the series
- Captain Stan Jones (James B. Sikking)— The guy in charge
Partner pairings varied, but the most frequent were Jack/ Nona, Clemmie/ Hector, Phil/ Jimmy (early on), and Ray/ Jimmy (once Ray arrived).
Tropes used by the series:
- Badass Normal: Frank in "Fisticuffs," to clear Dickie's name.
- Big Applesauce
- Cartwright Curse: Jack's wife is killed in the fourth episode, and his Latvian girlfriend is murdered in episode 18. Good thing for Nona that the show got cancelled...
- Clueless Detective: Since the series focused mainly on beat cops, they were frequently portrayed as being smarter than the detectives. When Kearsy is eventually promoted to detective, many of her new co-workers continue to be portrayed as pretty moronic.
- Cop Killer: In the first episode a guy goes on a shooting spree and kills a bunch of cops right outside the precinct house, then is himself shot and dragged into the house. He dies while waiting for paramedics to show up, and his relatives sue the police force alleging that the cops purposely let him bleed to death in revenge.
- Dark Secret: Frank's been an IAB agent since the Academy to protect his corrupt father.
- Fair Cop: Many...
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: Frank and Dickie
- Internal Affairs: Nearly the whole precinct turns on Frank when they discover he's been an IAB rat since the Academy. He eventually uses his role to clear Dickie's name when another IAB officer tries to frame him.
- In the Blood: Frank's and the Doyles' fathers were cops, too.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Clemmie eventually gives Nona his blessing to be with Jack, since it makes her happy.
- Love Triangle: Jack/ Nona/ Clemmie
- New Meat: Hector, Terry
- Obsessively Organized: Dee spends one episode working as a receptionist at the precinct. In addition to a need for excessive cleanliness, she has a thing for the number four, including letting the phone ring four times before answering (not the best thing at a police station...) and repeating the last word of a sentence four times. She even calls herself Dee because D is the fourth letter of the alphabet, not because it's her initial.
- Stupid Crooks: The series had its fair share, but Jerri and her lover from "Fools Russian" probably take the prize...
- Surprise Pregnancy: Dickie's wife Vicky in the finale.
- Surprisingly Happy Ending: For a fairly gritty show, the series ended pretty happily with the party celebrating Dickie's promotion/ Ray's (non)retirement, and several couples reconnecting.
