Rookie Blue

Rookie Blue
Genre Police drama
Created by Tassie Cameron
Morwyn Brebner
Ellen Vanstone
Starring Missy Peregrym
Gregory Smith
Travis Milne
Enuka Okuma
Charlotte Sullivan
Composer(s) Ron Sures
Country of origin Canada
Language(s) English
No. of seasons 2
No. of episodes 26 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s) David Wellington
John Morayniss
Noreen Halpern
Ilana Frank
Tassie Cameron
Producer(s) Kathy Avrich-Johnson
Linda Pope
Sherry White
Editor(s) Paul Day
Location(s) Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Cinematography David Perrault
Camera setup multiple-camera setup
Running time 44 minutes
Production company(s) Shaw Media
Thump Inc.
Distributor eOne Entertainment
Broadcast
Original channel Global (Canada)
ABC (U.S.)
Picture format HDTV
1080i (Canada)
720p (U.S.)
Original run June 24, 2010 (2010-06-24) – present
External links
Website

Rookie Blue (previously known as Copper)[1] is a Canadian police drama television series starring Missy Peregrym and Gregory Smith. It was created by Morwyn Brebner, Tassie Cameron, and Ellen Vanstone.[2] The police drama premiered on June 24, 2010 at 9:00 pm Eastern/8:00 pm Central,[3] and airs simultaneously on Global in Canada and on ABC in the United States.[1]

On July 12, 2010, the series was picked up for a second season after only three episodes had aired.[4] The second season of Rookie Blue premiered on Thursday, June 23, 2011 at a new time slot of 10:00 pm Eastern/9:00 pm Central on Global and ABC.[5][6] The final two episodes of season two were aired on September 8, 2011.

On July 13, 2011 Global and ABC announced that the show would be picked up for a third season, only three episodes into the second season.[7]

Contents

Plot

The series follows the lives of five rookie cops from 15 Division who have just graduated from the academy. They must learn not only to deal with their duties as police officers, but also deal with the problems and expectation of their families and friends. It has been described as Grey's Anatomy in the world of rookie cops.[8]

Setting

The series is set in Toronto[9] and, though similar to Flashpoint in that it does not make overt references,[10] it does use local street names, such as King Street, and Jameson Avenue in Parkdale was the location of a call-out in the pilot episode.[11]

Cast

Rookies

Old Guard

Production and development

The series is produced by E1 Entertainment, Canwest, and Thump, Inc. The pilot script was written by Ilana Frank.[8] In February 2009, Canwest ordered the show straight-to-series with a 13 episode order under the working title Copper.[8] ABC purchased the U.S. broadcast rights to the series in April 2009.[12]

The first role cast was Andy McNally, portrayed by Missy Peregrym, followed by Gregory Smith cast as Dov Epstein.[13][14] Additional casting was announced in early July.[15] Production began in Toronto, Ontario on 14 July 2009, and was expected to continue through November 2009.[16] Thirteen episodes were produced.[1]

On 21 June 2010 The Accessible Channel announced that Rookie Blue would be the first series to premiere with a simultaneous Described Video broadcast for people with vision impairments.[17]

Filming of the second season took place between 1 September 2010 and 25 January 2011.[18] Tassie Cameron serves as head writer and the series showrunner.

Reception

Ratings

The Canadian premiere drew an audience of 1.9 million viewers[19] with 712,000 in the 18–49 category,[20] placing first for the night and second for the week.[19] It is the highest rated premiere for a Canwest-commissioned drama series within the previous five years.[20]

In the U.S. the premiere drew 7.253 million viewers and an audience share in the 18–49 category of 2.0 out of 6.[21] Furthermore it improved upon the programming a year beforehand (20/20 special) by having +1.6 million viewers and +18% in the 18–49 age group. The premiere became the most successful scripted summer debut in over a year and in nearly six years for ABC.[22]

Season Timeslot Original airing Average viewers (millions)
Season Premiere Season Finale TV Season Canada U.S.
1 Thursday 9:00 p.m. 24 June 2010 (2010-06-24) 9 September 2010 (2010-09-09) 2010 1.597 6.123
2 Thursday 10:00 p.m. 23 June 2011 (2011-06-23)[6][23] 8 September 2011 (2011-09-08) 2011 1.351 4.995

Critical reception

Metacritic summarizes the response as "mixed or average reviews".[24] One of the more favorable reviews came from Alessandra Stanley of The New York Times, saying "it's not a groundbreaking police drama, nor is it divertingly cheesy. It's well made and well meaning."[25] Robert Lloyd from the Los Angeles Times was also favorable with the show, and agreed with Stanley describing it as nothing new to television, but he rather enjoyed it and saying "Rookie Blue doesn't oversell itself. It is modest and plain in a way that makes even its less likely moments feel credible enough."[26] Rob Salem of the Toronto Star favourably compared the series to Grey's Anatomy. "Call it Blues Anatomy (or Gray's Academy, take your pick)." Salem found the show "slickly produced and engagingly acted" and had a particular fondness for Missy Peregrym's character, which he described as "the Meredith surrogate".[27] The Globe and Mail's television critic, John Doyle, described Rookie Blue as "a good cop show with a terrible title." Doyle went on to say "it's a very slick, glossy melodrama, all handsome actors and admirably sharp storylines. Yet it's true to its Toronto roots."[28]

Among the more negative reviewers was Rob Owen of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Owen calls the show "Grey's Anatomy in a police station." He did however hope to see some interaction between religion and police through one of the characters but stated "Given the generally bland nature of Rookie Blue, that's probably too much to ask."[29] Paige Wiser from the Chicago Sun-Times describes the show as overly generic and claims that the rookies look more like puppies than police officers. She said "if you're looking for a new cop drama to serve and protect your entertainment interests, leave the rookies alone to ripen, and go for a ride-along with Jason Lee's Dwight."[30] Randee Dawn from The Hollywood Reporter was much harsher, calling the writing lazy and describing the motivation of the rookies as selfish, saying that they are there to make themselves feel good and not to protect the city. Dawn said "at its core, Rookie is a terrible show."[31] Alex Strachan of Montreal's The Gazette was unimpressed, stating that "The acting is uneven, the writing and directing aren't particularly stylish or inspired, and you've seen it countless times before." Strachan went on to say that Rookie Blue is "a harmless enough diversion on another wise (sic) lazy summer TV night."[32]

Awards and nominations

Year Presenter Award Work Result
2011 Gemini Awards Best Writing in a Dramatic Series Rookie Blue Nominated
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Supporting Role in a Dramatic Series Matt Gordon Nominated
Noam Jenkins Nominated
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Supporting Role in a Dramatic Series Melanie Nicholls-King Nominated
Enuka Okuma Nominated

International distribution

Rookie Blue is distributed by E1 Entertainment. NBC Universal Global Networks (also known as Universal Networks International) purchased broadcast rights in all markets except Canada, France, Germany, and the United States.[33]

Country Channel Premiere date
 Argentina Universal Channel 3 September 2010[34]
 Australia Universal Channel (Australia) 12 September 2010[35]
 Austria ORF eins 2012[36]
 Belgium Vijftv 7 March 2011[37]
 Bosnia and Herzegovina BHT 1 29 October 2011
 Brazil Universal Channel 3 September 2010[38]
 Bulgaria Diva Universal 3 October 2010
 Canada Global 24 June 2010
 Chile Universal Channel 3 September 2010[34]
 Colombia Universal Channel 3 September 2010[34]
 Ecuador Universal Channel 3 September 2010[34]
 Czech Republic Universal Channel 3 September 2010[39]
 Finland TV Viisi 4 September 2010[40]
 France 13eme rue Universal 15 November 2010[41]
 Germany 13th Street 1 January 2011[42]
 Hungary Universal Channel 3 September 2010[43]
 Ireland RTE Two 13 May 2011
 Italy Steel 18 September 2010[44]
 Japan Universal Channel 2 September 2010[45]
 Malaysia Diva Universal (Asia) September 2010[46]
 Mexico Universal Channel 3 October 2010
8 August 2011
 Netherlands 13th Street
NET 5
7 October 2010[47]
16 May 2011
 New Zealand TV2 26 September 2011
 Norway TVNorge 8 November 2010
 Philippines Diva Universal (Philippines) September 19, 2010
 Poland 13th Street 13 September 2010[48]
 Republic of Korea Fox (Korea) 4 February 2011
 Romania Diva Universal 3 October 2010[49]
 Russia Diva Universal 19 September 2010[50]
 Serbia Universal Channel 3 September 2010
 Slovakia Universal Channel 3 September 2010[39]
 Slovenia TV 3 23 April 2011[51]
 South Africa Universal Channel 17 September 2010[52]
 Spain 13th Street 22 September 2010[53]
 Switzerland 3 + 8 January 2011[54]
 United Kingdom Universal Channel 27 February 2011[55]
 United States ABC 24 June 2010
 Venezuela Universal Channel 3 September 2010[34]

Home video release

On 31 May 2011, Entertainment One released the first season on DVD and Blu-ray in Region 1.[56] The Canadian releases contain an additional French audio track and the Canadian Blu-ray release is three discs instead of four, which is what all the other releases in other regions are.[57][58]

References

  1. ^ a b c Vlessing, Etan (April 7, 2010). "ABC sets "Rookie Blue" premiere". The Hollywood Reporter. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/abc-sets-rookie-blue-premiere-22378. Retrieved 4 December 2010. 
  2. ^ "Canwest and ABC join forces with E1 Entertainment on original series, Copper". The Futon Critic. April 22, 2009. http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news/2009/04/22/canwest-and-abc-join-forces-with-e1-entertainment-on-original-series-copper/20090422e101. Retrieved June 24, 2010. 
  3. ^ "ABC Announces 2010 Summer Schedule" (Press release). ABC Television Network. 7 April 2010. http://www.abcmedianet.com/web/dnr/dispDNR.aspx?id=040710_03. 
  4. ^ Hibberd, James (July 12, 2010). "ABC renews summer series 'Rookie Blue'". The Hollywood Reporter. http://livefeed.hollywoodreporter.com/2010/07/abc-renews-summer-series-rookie-blue.html. Retrieved July 12, 2010. 
  5. ^ "Rookie Blue - GlobalTV.com: Global Television Official Site". Global. http://www.globaltv.com/rookieblue/index.html. Retrieved 27 May 2011. 
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  9. ^ Salem, Robert (June 20, 2010). "Young series veterans sing Rookie Blues". Toronto Star. http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/television/article/826024--young-series-veterans-sing-rookie-blues. Retrieved June 25, 2010. 
  10. ^ Ryan, Andrew (June 24, 2010). "Rookie Blue: Our latest export to the U.S.". The Globe and Mail (Toronto). http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/television/andrew-ryan/rookie-blue-our-latest-export-to-the-us/article1615221/. Retrieved June 25, 2010. 
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  25. ^ Stanley, Alessandra (June 23, 2010 (2010-06-23)). "Newbie, Nubile Cops Learning a Sober Beat". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/24/arts/television/24rookie.html. Retrieved 28 June 2010 (2010-06-28). 
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  27. ^ Salem, Rob (9 June 2010 (2010-06-09)). "Salem: I Know What You’ll Watch This Summer". Toronto Star. http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/television/article/821237--salem-i-know-what-you-ll-watch-this-summer. Retrieved 3 July 2010 (2010-07-03). 
  28. ^ Doyle, John (7 June 2010 (2010-06-07)). "Some home truths about Canadian TV". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on 3 July 2010 (2010-07-03). http://www.webcitation.org/5qx4YRK1X. Retrieved 3 July 2010 (2010-07-03). 
  29. ^ Owen, Rob (24 June 2010 (2010-06-24)). "'Rookie Blue' proves too vanilla". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10175/1067799-67.stm. Retrieved 28 June 2010 (2010-06-28). 
  30. ^ Wiser, Paige (24 June 2010 (2010-06-24)). "TV reviews: ABC's 'Rookie Blue,' TNT's 'Memphis Beat'". Chicago Sun-Times. http://blogs.suntimes.com/tv/2010/06/tv_reviews_abcs_rookie_blue_tn.html. Retrieved 28 June 2010 (2010-06-28). 
  31. ^ Dawn, Randee (21 June 2010 (2010-06-21)). "Rookie Blue -- TV Review". The Hollywood Reporter. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/tv-reviews/rookie-blue-tv-review-1004099491.story. Retrieved 28 June 2010 (2010-06-28). 
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  42. ^ "13th Street zeigt neue Cop-Serie "Rookie Blue"". Wunschliste. http://www.wunschliste.de/tvnews/9871. Retrieved 9. November 2010. 
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  46. ^ "DIVA takes over Hallmark". The Malay Mail. 12 August 2010. http://www.mmail.com.my/content/46227-diva-takes-over-hallmark. Retrieved 22 August 2010. 
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  55. ^ "Hallmark UK to become Universal". C21media.net. 2010-09-02. http://www.c21media.net/news/detail.asp?area=1&article=57139. Retrieved 2010-09-02. 
  56. ^ Lambert, David (7 February 2011). "Rookie Blue - Blu-ray and DVD Package Art, Specs, Extras for The Complete 1st Season". TVShowsOnDVD.com. http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Rookie-Blue-Season-1/14994. 
  57. ^ Lacey, Gord (28 June 2011). "Rookie Blue - The Complete 1st Season (CAN) Review". TVShowsOnDVD.com. http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/reviews/Rookie-Blue-Complete-1st-Season/11328. Retrieved 10 July 2011. 
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External links