Even if you can’t take one more police procedural this summer, you should give TNT’s terrific new cop show, “Rizzoli & Isles,” at least one chance.
Why? Because it is your mother’s cop show.
A throw-back to ye olde “Cagney & Lacey” days, “R&I” is about two women in the crime-busting biz. They’re friends. They’re smart. They’re textbook opposites.
Jane Rizzoli is a homicide detective in a mostly male Boston station. She’s tough, butch and she can beat her brother at basketball with her eyes closed. The fact that she’s trapped in Angie Harmon’s body is almost besides the point.
Chances are better than good we won’t be seeing her get undressed to go undercover. In fact, in tonight’s premiere, Jane happily turns down a handsome FBI agent (Billy Burke) when he offers her dinner (“no”) and/or a sleepover (“no, no and no”).
Then, there’s Maura Isles (Sasha Alexander), the medical examiner with a heart of gold — as in pendant. She also has gold earrings, a Kelly bag, designer clothes and spike heels. That doesn’t mean she’s not tough, it just means she likes a good sale.
Rizzoli and Isles are as different from each other as imaginable — but together they are still believable. Every woman will relate.
The shocker is that Rizzoli’s over-protective mother is played by — are you ready? — Dr. Melfi, aka Lorraine Bracco! And, best of all, mother and daughter aren’t played as moronic house pets just because they are Italian-Americans.
This fun series (based on the best-selling “Rizzoli & Isles” mystery books by Tess Gerritsen) kicks off with Jane tracking a déjà vu-all-over-again serial killer.
Seems that years earlier she caught (and was almost killed by) serial killer Warren Hoyt, who liked to tie up husbands while he raped their wives before brutally murdering both of them.
Now, even though Hoyt is locked away in prison, the same type of crimes are happening again.
What I particularly like about this show (aside from the good chemistry between the leads) is that the women solve crimes the old-fashioned way. Most female cops on these kinds of shows have to dress like a Victoria’s Secret model while possessing the geek skills of Steve Jobs. But the writers here let the stories play out and drop clues that we can work with. Nice.
And the dialogue is crisp without being condescending or too expository.
For example, when one male cop tells Jane, “You look like you slept on an overpass,” she snipes back, “How are you still single?”
OK, I’m in for at least a few more.