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Battle Creek |OT| buddy cop drama from Vince Gilligan and David Shore - Sun 10/9c.

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W

WarrenMax007

Member
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About:
BATTLE CREEK stars Josh Duhamel and Dean Winters in a drama about two mismatched law enforcement officers whose polar opposite views of the world and crime-solving breed frustration, disdain, humor and possibly a grudging respect as they clean up the hardscrabble streets of Battle Creek, Mich.
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Cast:

Josh Duhamel as Special Agent Milton Chamberlain
Dean Winters as Detective Russ Agnew
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Janet McTeer as Commander Guziewicz
Kal Penn as Detective Fontanelle White
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Aubrey Dollar as Holly Dale
Edward Fordham, Jr. as Aaron Funkhauser
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- Trailer

Reviews:

Variety
While Battle Creek hews relatively close to CBS’ procedural comfort zone, the series also exhibits the wry, slightly jaundiced view of the world that has always characterized Gilligan’s work.
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Hitfix
If you go in looking for another "Breaking Bad," you'll be sorely disappointed--even if the second episode contains several visual nods to the work of Heisenberg--but if you're looking for a snappy cop show, you should do okay.
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The New York TImes
It helps that Mr. Winters and Mr. Duhamel give performances that add some glints of complexity to their surface charm, and that the writers avoid many of the usual clichés. This is an engaging series about a likable bunch of co-workers that isn’t too sweet or predictable.
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Washington Post
Judging only the pilot episode, the banter between them (Dean Winters and Josh Duhamel) can be fun and Gilligan’s influence lends a nice, creepy sheen to the notion that menace lurks anywhere, even (or especially?) in the upper Midwest.
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Boston Globe
While it by no means reinvents the concept, it is an entertaining-enough diversion that has sufficient fresh--or freshly recycled--elements to differentiate it from its ubiquitous procedural brethren.
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Entertainment Weekly
In the aftermath of Breaking Bad, which revolutionized the crime drama, Battle Creek still feels today like a procedural from 2002.
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J

jred2k

Member
For Winters, Penn, and Gilligan I'll give it a few episodes. I just don't know if I could live with myself if I become someone that enjoys a CBS procedural.
 
B

Bandit1

Member
Looking forward to this. I loved Breaking Bad and House, and it should be fun to see Mayhem in another role.
 
X

Xiaoki

Member
Go over to Battle Creek like every other week.

Good shopping and Chinese buffet.

A friend's dad is the Undersheriff of Battle Creek and has been on the Battle Creek police force for over 20 years, I wonder if they talked to him. Will have to ask my friend tomorrow.
 
Y

yami4ct

Member
Xiaoki said:
Go over to Battle Creek like every other week.

Good shopping and Chinese buffet.

A friend's dad is the Undersheriff of Battle Creek and has been on the Battle Creek police force for over 20 years, I wonder if they talked to him. Will have to ask my friend tomorrow.
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I get over there about every week and being from the area is kind of the only reason I'm half interested in it. Wish the local news wouldn't talk about it every 5 minutes, haha.

It seems clear that Gilligan's involvement is minor at best, so there's no really hope of this truly being a Breaking Bad successor. It's got a great cast, though, so here's hoping they pull off a new cop series that's actually interesting. Given CBS' usual fair, I don't hold out much hope, but the preview make it look different from their usual crap.
 
T

Tagg9

Member
Sounds decent enough for a cop show, but by gum what was Gilligan thinking about when he came up with this? Seems rather dull and lacking ambition.
 
K

Keyser Soze

Member
Usually CBS is a no-no, but the network seems happy to let Person of Interest go crazy outside the usual CBS template, so maybe it is worth a go. This show seems more Shore than Gilligan though - and even though I liked Breaking Bad I never liked House.

Two pros/cons, so I guess this show could be anything.
 
M

maquiladora

Member
I don't get it. After Breaking Bad, Vince basically has a blank check to do whatever he wants in television and he opts for....a CBS police procedural.

-_-
 
T

TrumanBurbank

Member
maquiladora said:
I don't get it. After Breaking Bad, Vince basically has a blank check to do whatever he wants in television and he opts for....a CBS police procedural.

-_-
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Seems like this is just something that has Vince Gilligan's name on it. He has only co-written the pilot.

You know how Spielberg puts his name on all kinds of shit to print money while doing no work? This seems like something like that.
 
J

jesu

Member
maquiladora said:
I don't get it. After Breaking Bad, Vince basically has a blank check to do whatever he wants in television and he opts for....a CBS police procedural.

-_-
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It was something he wrote years ago, before Breaking Bad, that no one wanted.
I guess CBS picked up because of Breaking Bad's success.
 
M

MoeDabs

Member
Xiaoki said:
Go over to Battle Creek like every other week.

Good shopping and Chinese buffet.

A friend's dad is the Undersheriff of Battle Creek and has been on the Battle Creek police force for over 20 years, I wonder if they talked to him. Will have to ask my friend tomorrow.
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I'm from BC. Shopping sucks and the Chinese buffets are all bad-mediocre. I still work in BC as a DJ, but living in Kalamazoo is so much better.
 
J

Jason Frost

Member
So how many police procedurals (or crimes related) are airing or will on CBS?

Battle Creek
Blue Bloods
Criminal Minds
CSI
CSI: Cyber
Elementary
Hawaii Five-0
The Mentalist
NCIS
NCIS: LA
NCIS: New Orleans
Person of Interest
Stalker

Any others?
 
S

SillyEskimo

Member
It would be cool if they had subplots and episodes centered around some of our actual groups and people in the city.

Our roller derby team is ready for primetime!

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They held the primere here in BC in Kellogg Arena. It had a great turn out considering it was below zero outside. The actors had a special video made thanking the city for helping out.

There wasn't a whole lot of actual Battle Creek in the show, of course, but little things like street names and props from local schools are all little touches that went a long way with the home crowd.

I hope the show does well!
 
N

Ninja Scooter

Member
CBS (and networks in general) are really bleeding this Odd Couple-esque pairing thing dry.

"Look one guys is scruffy and looks annoyed, the other guy is clean cut and drinks tea instead of coffee! I wonder what wacky adventures they'll get themselves into"
 
N

NotTheGuyYouKill

Member
CBS is currently airing the best procedural shows on television with Person of Interest and The Good Wife. You better pray it's at least half as good as either of those shows, cause they are fucking top tier across the entire television spectrum.
 
W

WarrenMax007

Member
NotTheGuyYouKill said:
CBS is currently airing the best procedural shows on television with Person of Interest and The Good Wife. You better pray it's at least half as good as either of those shows, cause they are fucking top tier across the entire television spectrum.
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I want to watch both of them, but 5+ seasons of 22 episodes of procedural cases will be hard.
 
R

Rafa=FedKilla

Banned
NotTheGuyYouKill said:
CBS is currently airing the best procedural shows on television with Person of Interest and The Good Wife. You better pray it's at least half as good as either of those shows, cause they are fucking top tier across the entire television spectrum.
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You're missing </scorpion> and Madame Secretary....
 
I

ivysaur12

Banned
A few notes about this show:

No, this is not "what Vince is doing next why CBS ugh". Vince wrote this pilot back in 2003 (and it's very funny). After Breaking Bad success, it was "refound" and ordered straight to series based off of the success of Breaking Bad. At this point, David Shore, who created House, came on board to showrun. He and Vince did a rewrite of the original pilot to make it slightly more modern/other changes that you'd need for a show from 2003 to 2015.

That doesn't mean it's sort of a throw away by Vince -- he's actually mentioned a few times in interviews before this all went down that Battle Creek was a "show that got away" and a script that he was very proud of.

So, you don't need to watch it complete your canon of Vince Gilligan-ness. That being said, it's getting very good reviews, and it being a CBS procedural can mean diddly squat in terms of quality. The Good Wife is one of the best shows on television, and it's a serio-procedural on CBS.
 
Shrennin

Shrennin

Didn't get the memo regarding the 14th Amendment
ivysaur12 said:
A few notes about this show:

No, this is not "what Vince is doing next why CBS ugh". Vince wrote this pilot back in 2003 (and it's very funny). After Breaking Bad success, it was "refound" and ordered straight to series based off of the success of Breaking Bad. At this point, David Shore, who created House, came on board to showrun. He and Vince did a rewrite of the original pilot to make it slightly more modern/other changes that you'd need for a show from 2003 to 2015.

That doesn't mean it's sort of a throw away by Vince -- he's actually mentioned a few times in interviews before this all went down that Battle Creek was a "show that got away" and a script that he was very proud of.

So, you don't need to watch it complete your canon of Vince Gilligan-ness. That being said, it's getting very good reviews, and it being a CBS procedural can mean diddly squat in terms of quality. The Good Wife is one of the best shows on television, and it's a serio-procedural on CBS.
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So is Vince Gilligan's involvement going to be anything more than the initial concept/written pilot? I was excited for this show because of his involvement, and I'll still definitely give it a try regardless, but I wasn't sure the extent to which he was involved with the realized incarnation of the show. I would hope though, that his next dedicated work (outside the Breaking Bad universe) would be something on a channel that provides a bit more freedom creatively. I would love to see him tackle a Netflix series.
 
I

ivysaur12

Banned
Shrinnan said:
So is Vince Gilligan's involvement going to be anything more than the initial concept/written pilot? I was excited for this show because of his involvement, and I'll still definitely give it a try regardless, but I wasn't sure the extent to which he was involved with the realized incarnation of the show. I would hope though, that his next dedicated work (outside the Breaking Bad universe) would be something on a channel that provides a bit more freedom creatively. I would love to see him tackle a Netflix series.
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His new show in Better Call Saul. Who knows what he'll do after.


My guess is that he's involved, just not day to day. It's David Shore's show now. But, he clearly has an affinity for the project and I can't imagine him having no involvement.
 
W

WarrenMax007

Member
Series premiere tonight
The Battle Creek Way
The jaded Det. Russ Agnew reluctantly partners with charming FBI agent Milt Chamberlain to solve a drug-related double homicide in the premiere of this drama, which follows their rocky relationship as they employ very different tactics when solving crimes in the down-and-out-streets of Battle Creek, Mich.
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Wiktor

Wiktor

Member
NotTheGuyYouKill said:
CBS is currently airing the best procedural shows on television with Person of Interest and The Good Wife. You better pray it's at least half as good as either of those shows, cause they are fucking top tier across the entire television spectrum.
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Best procedurals? Those two are among best shows on air, procedural or not, network or not.
 
S

Sloane

Banned
Crud said:
Not even once. Can't stand CBS.
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Guess you're missing out on The Good Wife and Person of Interest then?

So, anyway, is this show anything like The Good Guys? Haven't seen the pilot yet, but it sounds similar and I really liked TGG after a few episodes.
 
K

KarmaCow

Member
There's something so stilted about Beeper King's delivery. Just the way he talks makes it seem like he's reading off a cue card even if you can see the emotion in his face.
 
T

TripOpt55

Member
I thought it was kind of funny and a bit forgettable. I may try another ep or I may just wait for impressions of how it shapes up... not sure. There is a lot of TV these days. Hard to keep up with it all.
 
E

Extra Sauce

Member
Tagg9 said:
Sounds decent enough for a cop show, but by gum what was Gilligan thinking about when he came up with this? Seems rather dull and lacking ambition.
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He wrote the pilot many years ago and CBS is only picking it up now that Gilligan's name has some heat. Sounds like Gilligan's involvement past that consists strictly of collecting dat co-creator/executive producer money. Good for him.

People should not expect the next Breaking Bad out of this, at best you'll be getting the next House.
 
styl3s

styl3s

Member
NotTheGuyYouKill said:
lol, has everyone stopped watching this? There was a new episode last night!
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I really enjoyed the first 2 episodes but i will probably stop until it gets renewed/cancelled because i can't stand getting into a show only to have it cancelled.

Not like this is a show where if it didn't get renewed you wouldn't get any closure.
 
M

MoeDabs

Member
Fun Fact about episode 2: There are no dispensaries in Battle Creek anymore. They all got shut down awhile ago. The closest one is about 45 minutes away.
 
F

Finalow

Member
this OT is so dead, lol.

I'm pretty sure that no one is expecting another Breaking out of this. still, I'm enjoying it. second episode was pretty fun.
 
S

Sloane

Banned
Yeah, show is alright so far, it definitely has its moments -- but I also really liked The Good Guys, so maybe this kind of show is my thing or whatever. Ratings seem to be pretty bad so far.
 
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