Exclusive AfterElton Scoop! NBC's "Southland" includes a gay cop

would be a dream come true and make me watch that show passionately. :-))))

Here I am hoping for loads of shirtless scenes. But wait, you said it's a cop drama, so I guess that's not going to happen. :-(

The character played by Tom Everett Scott.  His character description says he's an unhappily married father of three.  So maybe that's why he's unhappy.  Besides, if he's gay, it provides years of story drama.  His coming out, breaking up his marriage, fighting to see his kids but being denied the right to do so, so on and so forth.  There's very little character detail about the rest of the cast so I could be completely off base.

Ben McKenzie is the lead of the show so I doubt it's him.   And I don't think it's his superior either.  The rest of the cast there isn't much about them yet that I've seen.

Oh and I love Regina King.  It's good to see her working again.

I must say that as much as I love B&S and Ugly Betty and soapier shows, I'm a huge fan of cop shows and legal dramas. So to see gays appearing in shows like that really excites me. 

What Frank said. Do you even have to ask who we want it to be? I would do cartwheels if Ben played gay. Here or anywhere. Love him.

since Joey Gian played Officer Rick Silardi on the dramedy Hooperman.

(Gian is standing directly behind John Ritter)

It's hard to believe it's taken 20 years for another out gay cop to show up on a series (unless you count Bobby Cannavale's Vince on Will & Grace.) Officer Silardi was also one of the very few regular gay characters in a series set in San Francisco.

Shawn Hatosy excels at playing conflicted gay and bi characters.  Apparenty, his character was brought in by the producers as an afterthought.  Look for him to take out his sexual rage on trannies and coke addicts.  Come to think of it, this could get pretty ugly--like Shield.   

"The mountain has wings."

And a big shout-out to Ann Biderman. Ann it's been EONS! Trust all's well.

 Judging from the main photo, he's the show's figurehead character, and no network is quite that bold just yet. I hope it's not Tom Everett Scott, as he looks like just about the least macho guy ever seen in a cop show, and I'd rather our new gay cop weren't a milquetoast stereotype. I'll be happy if it's Hatosy, who is a pretty fearless actor. I'll be delighted if it's Alejandro, because he is a stunningly beautiful man, and having a gay Latino guy in primetime would be interesting.

 Now this show is going out in ER's slot, I'm starting to worry about NBC's other gay-inclusive new show, Kings, which has been bumped to Sundays. 

http://www.nbc.com/Primetime/southland/

According to the official site,Ann Biderman is the creator,so I assume she wrote the pilot?I looked her up and sadly I haven`t seen any of her previous work before.But since she won an emmy for writing an episode of NYPD Blue,I think she should be all right.

PS:just found this.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0656405/quotes

It`s from the episode that Ann wrote.Now I`m definitely having more faith in the show! :P

I'd like to see a cop who is comfortable with who he is...yet maybe dealing with career politics.

From Emmy Award winners John Wells, Ann Biderman and Chris Chulack comes a raw and authentic look at the police unit in Los Angeles. From the beaches of Malibu to the streets of East Los Angeles, "Southland" is a fast-moving drama that will take viewers inside the lives of cops, criminals, victims and their families. Michael Cudlitz ("A River Runs Through It") plays John Cooper a seasoned Los Angeles cop assigned to train young rookie Ben Sherman (Benjamin McKenzie, "The O.C."). Cooper's honest, no-nonsense approach to the job leaves Sherman questioning whether or not he has what it takes to become a police officer. Cudlitz and McKenzie are joined by other cast members including Regina King ("Ray," "Jerry Maguire") who plays Detective Lydia Adams. Adams lives with and is the primary caregiver of her mother. Her partner, Detective Russell Clarke (Tom Everett Scott, "Boiler Room") is an unhappily married father of three. Michael McGrady ("The Thin Red Line") plays Detective Daniel "Sal" Salinger. Sal oversees fellow gang detectives Nate Moretta (Kevin Alejandro, "Drive," "Ugly Betty") and Sammy Bryant (Shawn Hatosy, "Alpha Dog"). Arija Bareikis ("Crossing Jordan") plays as patrol officer Chickie Brown, a single mom who dreams of being the first woman accepted into SWAT.

I hope it's not some closet boy coming to terms with his sexuality and his mistakes.

 

 

Garon Grigsby

 

I think it could be Shawn Hatosy but I`m actually OK with any of these six guys,just as long as they give us some solid material and treat the gay character fairly.I have never been a cop show/crime show fan and the closet thing that I`ve ever watched(and enjoyed) are Oz and Dexter.This might be the first cop show for me.I really hope they won`t let us down.

Also after Will & Grace ends its run,NBC`s gay visibility record wasn`t that impressive.For this show,I`m giving them one more chance.Please don`t screw it up!

confidence that it would be handled well. She really seemed to know her gay stuff and was very thoughtful. I'll be very annoyed if it's Grigsby as I pressed about it being a main character. As I said, I have my hunch, but I'll have to keep it to myself for now!

pick but my choice would be Ben McKenzie as he does appear to be set up as the break out star of the show and it would be great to have the gay cop be the "star" so to speak. My second choice would be Alejandro as there are so few gay men of color on network TV but honestly I'll be happy as long as the gay cop isn't A) a cliche or B) lost in the background.

He played a Gay Cop before actually, in "Wanted".

"In spite of language, in spite of intelligence and intuition and sympathy, one can never really communicate anything to anybody"-Aldous Huxley

.. 'cus he seems like he'd bring a side of gayness to TV that's underrepresented, the average-Joe, youngish gay guy. (and I'm kind of expecting it to be the Tom Everett Scott guy in the suit, as he has more of a paper-pushing, wont-actually-be-doing-physical-things-so-he-can-be-gay look.. tho I hope I'm wrong!)

I hope it's either Kevin Alejandro or Ben McKenzie who turns out to be the hot gay cop. That would just be amazing!

 

...the thought of Ben McKenzie playing gay just did wonders to my brain.

Thanks for the mental image!

I may be straight, but I'm not narrow.

 

I too have known Ms. Biderman and think whatever the outcome she will do the role justice.  I am going to place my bet on Benjamin McKenzie for a number of reasons.  The primary reason is that while he has had a choice of many roles, that might have made him wealthy he has chosen instead to focus on the work and not the cash rewards.  I have seen him perform live and he is an actor's actor taking risky roles and holding out for good material.  For him to tackle the first functioning opnly gay lead of a network series would seem in line with his career choices. Afterall, this is not a guy who went from being a teen hearthrob on TV to a series of lame teen comedies or James Dean wannabees but instead took the role of the conflicted husband opposite Amy Adams in the claimed indepenent feature, JUNEBUG.

That's all I am saying... 

INSIDEGUY

Why does the character have to be male???

I think Regina King's character sounds like the one......

 

I just think that the network would be most comfortable with it being a woman.

I know it's a bit of a cop out (no pun intended) on their part, but it's something.

And Benjamin McKenzie can wear a cop uniform at my house whenever he wants.

 

I'm the guy who blogs at http://IAmATVJunkie.com, and I would love for you to visit.

Wondering what's going to be under their shirts?  Armor of course! :)  Check out the below article for details:

ARMOR EXPRESS MAKES DEBUT
ON NEW NBC TV SERIES “SOUTHLAND”

Armor Express body armor and carriers will be the products of choice in a new NBC police television series, “Southland,” which premiers Thursday, April 9th.

The prime time show slated to replace “ER” will have their actors clad in Armor Express equipment, according to Adam Spinniken, AE Art Director/Marketing Coordinator.

“CEO Matt Davis was contacted by the show’s property manager earlier this year, inquiring if they could use some of our vests,” explained Adam.  “Since then, our customer service team has gotten behind the project and provided vests and carriers for the series’ actors. “

Emmy Award winning television producers John Wells, Ann Biderman and Chris Chulack are behind “Southland,” a raw and authentic police unit in Los Angeles.  According to pre-show TV promos and publicity releases, the show will offer a fast-moving drama of life from the beaches of Malibu to the streets of East Los Angeles.  It will take viewers inside the lives of cops, criminals, victims and their families.

An all-star cast of movie and television actors will play key roles in the series.

For more information, ref. www.nbc.com/Primetime/southland

Armor Express Website (recommend it to your police friends!)

http://www.armorexpress.com

 

Michael Cudlitz!

If anyone watched the pilot, he was at a bar called the Irish Stout having a Corona chit-chatting with another guy. (Whom looks like one of the characters from the movie "Kids") Anyways, the bar scene was nothing but men... He's got that sexy daddy look to him which is hot. Although, it would have been interesting to see Kevin Alejandro play the gay cop instead... He's hott and Latin! But, I am not complaining one bit. Good show by the way... I wish them luck. 

 

-Instant Fan