Cranky cops

from The Brainerd Dispatch TV Week January 18th 2015

by Brainerd Dispatch and Echo Journal

Late Laughs

Rainn Wilson returns to TV as a self-indulgent genius

By Meagan Sylvester TV Media

With more crime-solving dramas on TV than viewers can count, critics may be asking how writers plan to develop fresh, new ideas in terms of plot and setting — even debating if there’s space for another age-old tale of crime and corruption.

This very question is put to the test as Fox gears up for the crime dramedy “Backstrom,” starring Rainn Wilson (“The Office,” “My Super Ex-Girlfriend,” 2006) as Everett Backstrom, a self-indulgent but brilliant detective who is brought back from exile to run the Portland Police Bureau’s Special Crime Unit. Catch the series premiere Thursday, Jan. 22, on Fox.

Branching into an all-new genre for his second television debut, Wilson is widely known for his Emmy-nominated role as Dwight Schrute, the egotistical and powerhungry snitch on the American version of “The Office” alongside funnyman Steve Carell (“Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues,” 2013). But as the actor said in a 2013 interview with CNN, it was high time the hit mockumentary series came to an end, even if it proves hard for fans to separate Dwight from any upcoming careerdiversifying ventures.

“Maybe I’ll just always be known as Dwight and that’s great, I’m totally fine with that,” Wilson said. “But I’m a good actor and I know there’s a lot of other work out there for me. ... And that’s just how I’m feeling right now. Talk to me tomorrow and I could be pulling my hair out.”

It’s certainly possible “Backstrom” could be Wilson’s answer to stepping outside of Dwight, but it would be too much for the comedy guru to give up the genre all together — making the new series a seemingly perfect fit.

With some fans of the policeoriented genre following along since the days of “Starsky and Hutch” or “Miami Vice,” a niche seems to have formed for what’s now known as “dramedy,” a dynamic mix between both comedy and drama, which viewers might associate with the hit medical se- dark instincts villains and manipulate those around him, despite his xenophobic and out-of-date sensibilities, or lack thereof.

“You get a lot of humor in watching the most despicable, politically incorrect, spiteful, cynical, crass and self-destructive mess ... being the most brilliant detective you’ve ever seen work,” Wilson said in a behind-the-scenes preview this past May.

Hanson, whose resume includes creating another Fox hit series, “Bones,” as well as writing credits on “Road to Avonlea,” “Stargate SG-1” and “Judging Amy,” says the lead detective continues to stay at the top of his game due to his pessimistic and cynical view on life, when others tend to stray away from that kind of mentality. “The fact that he sees the worst in people gives him a little bit of an edge in a career where seeing the worst in people is probably the best way to be a good detective,” said Hanson in the same behind-thescenes interview.

Other characters include his dayto-day colleague Nicole Gravely (Genevieve Angelson, “House of Lies”), who sets out to counterbal- ance — without much success — Backstrom’s erratic and controversial attitude within the field. By her side is Det. Sgt. John Almond (Dennis Haysbert, “24,” “The Unit”), a hardened veteran of the bureau who, unlike his wicked colleague, tends to see the light in people; that is, until he meets Backstrom.

While the series is new to Fox, “Backstrom” is loosely based on the Swedish book series of the same name by Stockholm-based author Leif G.W. Persson, a former professor of criminology at the Swedish National Police Board. Like the show’s main character, Persson also faced professional defamation while on the job. Bouncing back from a scandal in the 1970s involving an alleged prostitution ring, Persson would go on to lecture at Stockholm University and win the Best Swedish Crime Novel Award on three separate occasions.

The hour-long series has been slated for 13 episodes, with the hopes of making a name for itself within the immensely popular crime-solving genre on prime-time television. Catch Rainn Wilson’s second television debut when “Backstrom” airs Thursday, Jan. 22, on Fox.