Disbelief Not Suspended, Again

HRT, Croatian state-run television, has instituted new practice. While the successful American TV shows are being aired weekly, those deemed less successful – in other words, those cancelled in the middle of their first season – are aired every weekday, usually in time slots reserved for Latin American, German or Italian soap operas. So, Croatian viewers had to be very quick and very careful in order to watch Miss Match and Karen Sisco in their entirety.

These days same thing happened with Robbery Homicide Division. I managed to watch two episodes. Before that I had great hopes for the show. One of the show's creators and executive producers was Michael Mann of Miami Vice and Heat fame. The concept looked very much like the shows and films Mann likes to make. It is also very much like L.A. Takedown, failed 1989 TV-pilot which later served as basis for Heat.

Yet, when I watched those two episodes, I felt underwhelmed. Perhaps the standards and general quality of TV drama have improved since Miami Vice days. Or, which is simpler explanation, it is hard to suspend disbelief when the main protagonist – who is supposed to be someone audience could rely on in real life – just happens to be played by someone filling tabloid pages with stories of drug and girlfriend abuse.