As it has been recommended to me as a modern Cagney & Lacey (i.e. a cop buddy/buddy show with the buddies in question being two women, and the show's emotional centre being their friendship), I watched the first season of Rizzoli & Isles on dvd and have come to the conclusion that it's the tv equivalent of comfort food. The cases our heroines deal with a straight out of the cliché book for cop shows, and it's not sophisticated tv, but the female friendship is indeed central as advertised and fun to watch, and the rest of the ensemble (consisting mainly of Jane Rizzoli's family as well as her old and her new partner, both male, but neither of whom she has, in a stunning turn of events, UST with) are a likeable bunch as well. You can tell in the first season that the writers haven't completely worked out everyone's characterisation yet; for example, Maura Isles' social skills change, in that she's a Dexter Morgan in s1 level lab geek (minus the secret serial killing) except in episodes where she sets up Jane for dates which is where she suddenly is smooth like that. But still, fun, and for all that the cases of the week are eminently predictable, the set up of the show in terms of characterisation often avoids clichés. I already mentioned that Jane hasn't got any UST with her old and new male partner, though she's good friends with both and they care deeply for her. Jane also didn't become a cop because her dad was one; her father is a plumber. Much as I love Christine Cagney, Kate Lockley and Deb Morgan, this is refreshing. (Instead, Jane's younger brother Frankie became a cop because he looks up to her.)

One shallow observation: sadly, a key difference of Rizzoli & Isles to Cagney & Lacey is that both leading actresses and all the female guest stars with speaking roles except for Jane's mother (who is played by Lorraine Bracco of Dr. Melfi in Sopranos fame) are frighteningly thin. I realise this is standard for American tv these days, but it's still frustrating to think that actresses have to starve themselves like that and we don't get body types like Mary Beth Lacy's and Christine Cagney's in leading roles any time soon. Which also reminds me of Rose Byrne looking healthy and normal in Casanova (RTD version), somewhat more slender but still not starved in the first season of Damages, and suddenly frighteningly thin in the second. (Thankfully in the third she had put on some weight again.) (Also in terms of Ellen's state of mind and emotion in s2 it works for the character, but still, it made me afraid for the actress.)

And one question from the foreigner: I'm terrible with accents, and what I know of Boston ones is mostly derived from tv and the movies, so basically in my mind Kennedys = rich Boston, The Departed = Cop and Criminal Boston, and John Adams = Historical Boston. Now maybe I'm mishearing, but I thought nobody on Rizzoli & Isles sounds anything like any of the three versions?


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July is approaching, and with July the fifth season of Breaking Bad. This is great but also cause of fannish anxiety on my part, because this will be the first season I watch in real time, and back when I was marathoning the dvds, being able to watch the next episode right away was very much sanity preserving. It's that kind of a show. Then again, watching in real time means being able to discuss and speculate with fellow watchers, so there's that. Speaking of fannish discussions, some people on my flist hated and some loved Prometheus, but it isn't released in Germany until August, so I can't judge and read anyone's review either way. Snowwhite and the Huntsman, otoh, is already out but not shown in the original English version anywhere near me, and I've read in the review by my local paper that the dubbing for this film is terrible. As evidence, the reviewer says that the huntsman is called "Huntsman" in English in the German version, as if that was his name as opposed to the term for his job, instead of being referred to as Jäger, which does sound pretty ridiculous. So I suppose it will be renting the dvd with that one for me.