Kevin Bacon plays a bent FBI agent, Jackie Rohr, who teams up with an African-American District Attorney, Decourcy Ward (Aldis Hodge), to solve a series of armored car robberies. If this has the look and feel of Homicide: Life on the Street, the explanation is the show-runner for City on a Hill is Tom Fontana–the guy who created Homicide: Life on the Street. Fontana grew up in Buffalo so there’s a local connection. Although it’s supposed to be set in Boston in 1993, City on a Hill is shot in Brooklyn with scenes from Boston weaved in. I like the roguish demeanor of Keven Bacon’s character. I like the earnestness of Aldis Hodge’s character as a rising star in a racist bureaucracy. Plenty of cop shows reside on cable and the Networks, but I’ve found after just a couple of episodes City On a Hill is a cut above the rest. GRADE: B+
I’ve liked the first two episodes. Most of the cop shows on right now are on CBS,NBC, and ABC. And they aren’t very good. Like Bluebloods and NCIS.
Steve, I was a big fan of HILL STREET BLUES long ago. I’ve pretty much avoided cop shows because they seemed inauthentic and cartoonish. CITY ON A HILL is much better than average.
I loved Homicide, The Wire and Southland which all seemed authentic.
Steve, like you I prefer cop shows with a realistic look and feel.
I’ve had Showtime for years and it mostly just sits there unwatched as part of a Comcast package that gives me all the so-called premium channels. The only series I’ve actually watched that I can remember at all are “Homeland” and “Penny Dreadful”. Showtime series frequently start well, then fade after a couple of seasons, but go on forever. I may give this a look, but with all the stuff now available it’s really not likely. And if I decide it’s worth watching years from now it’ll still be sitting there On Demand.
Michael, you would enjoy CITY ON A HILL. Excellent cast and intelligent writing. I’m also planning to watch the new series about Roger Ailes and Fox News, THE LOUDEST VOICE, that premieres tonight on SHOWTIME.
George, thanks for this recommendation!
Though I can’t watch this in Europe (yet) I’ve already told friends about this “Faux News” series. 🙂
Wonder what their reaction will be …
Wolf, Fox News has brainwashed millions of Americans. It’s really a propaganda arm of the Republican Party.
I’m recording this for Jackie, but unless she raves about it, I won’t be watching. I am not interested in the premise. Maybe to see if I recognize Brooklyn, but otherwise, not really. There is not enough money to make me watch a series about Roger AIles and Fox News.
Her favorite Showtime show is BILLIONS.
I plan to watch BILLIONS before our free 6-month SHOWTIME subscription runs out. Russell Crowe looks amazing as Roger Ailes!
Jackie has been saying for years that you would love BILLIONS. We’ll see.
Jeff, I like the cast of BILLIONS. We have a house full of people to entertain next week–Diane’s sister Carol, Patrick, Katie, Elise our niece from Vegas–so there won’t be much TV watching or reading for the next seven days. Many trips to the Airport…
I like the cast of BILLIONS a Lot. The scripts, in which every character is an arrested adolescent, not as much,
Don’t have SHOWTIME. Every time we have it, nothing is on it. And as soon as I cancel it, here comes something good. But I do have NETFLIX, AMAZON, HULU, HBO and CRITERION. You would think that was enough.
Patti, we only have SHOWTIME now free for six months because our cable TV provider SPECTRUM (aka, Time Warner Cable) lost a law suit with New York State for services they promised to provide…but didn’t. The settlement provided SPECTRUM subscribers a choice of 3 months of HBO for free or 6 months of SHOWTIME for free. We went with SHOWTIME.
George, don’t miss Showtime’s OUR CARTOON PRESIDENT. I suspect you’ll enjoy it.
THE LOUDEST VOICE starts OK; CITY ON A HILL, with Fontana and Barry Levinson as producers, is definitely an heir of HOMICIDE. And Bacon’s character has Charlene Almarvez’s character for a mistress, Jill Hennessy’s character as his wife, and Sarah Shahi’s character as a friendly colleague. Some (even if fictional) people are simply fortunate in certain ways.
Amusingly, HBO’s EUPHORIA started the same evening, and just after, CITY, and is produced by Levinson;’s son, Sam.
I don’t know how you all find the time to watch so much television.
Rick, I don’t watch much TV. I watch LEGION on Monday, nothing on Tuesday, SAMANTHA BEE on Wednesday, nothing on Thursday, WASHINGTON WEEK and AGENTS OF SHIELD on Friday, nothing on Saturday, and CITY ON A HILL and THE LOUDEST VOICE on Sunday. That’s five hours of TV per week right now.
When you are retired and live alone in an apartment you have plenty of time to watch tv or read.
Steve and Rick, when you’re married and your kids come home for the Fourth of July and your wife’s sister decides to visit, too, and your niece from Vegas is also coming to stay because she’s in a local wedding you have ZERO time to watch TV or read. Things will get back to Normal next week when everyone departs.