"Southland" premieres tonight (and is already available on Hulu) and The Unusuals started last night. Both are ensemble cop dramas that feature rich kid cops but other than that, they are pretty much the opposite of one another.

"Southland" takes place in LA which doesn't help it any. It's a gritty, documentary style production that seems like "The Shield" if it was written by Paul Haggis. The biggest issue for the pilot is that it follows three stories and there seems to be no real connection. It's like flipping through three different cop shows, one of which (the Shawn Hatosy story) features some almost laughable on-the-nose dialogue. Which is another issue. For a show that looks like a documentary, the dialogue is stilted and borderline preachy.

Still, this show could draw people in because it is subtle, dark, and more realistic than the average cop show. However, I think those qualities usually make up a cult hit which is hardly what NBC needs or could afford. I really can't see this show surviving for a second season, especially if it has to play at 9pm (since Leno owns the 10 o'clock hour). Like "Kings", NBC deserve some credit for trying something relatively new to network TV but they didn't pull it off.

As for "The Unusuals", it needs to figure out what it wants to be. There are moments when it is absurd and over-the-top and then a second later it will be a serious cop drama. They should take a look at St. Elsewhere if they want to keep up the jokes (they even use the St. Elsewhere gag of having the intercom spew jokes) but I think they'd be better off toning it down and using the absurd stuff to show how life as in the NYPD can be surreal at times.

The show was OK and I'm going to give it another shot but the premiere only got so-so ratings and it has a fairly high profile cast so I'm not sure if they can really afford to continue on unless they get more viewers.

In the end, I'd only recommend "Southland" to people who like documentary-style series and who think subtlety alone makes shows intriguing. People who like off-beat shows will probably go for "The Unusuals" but right now, I can't see either show having much crossover appeal. (Instead of Southland, I'll be checking out Harper's Island on CBS)