Southland Information

Southland (stylized as SouthLAnd) is an American drama series created by writer Ann Biderman and produced by Warner Bros. Television. It premiered on NBC on April 9, 2009. On May 1, 2009, NBC announced that Southland had been renewed for a second season with an initial 13-episode order to begin airing on Friday, September 25, 2009 at 9:00 pm, one hour earlier than its original time slot. On August 27, 2009, shortly before its scheduled premiere, NBC moved the opening of its second season to October 23, 2009, citing the need to promote the show more fully. On October 8, 2009, NBC announced that the series had been canceled.

On November 2, 2009, TNT announced it had purchased the rights to Southlands original seven episodes, as well as six completed episodes from its second season. Southland began airing on TNT on January 12, 2010. On April 26, 2010, TNT announced it had picked up Southland for a ten-episode third season to begin airing on January 4, 2011. TNT's renewal of the show included a substantial budget cut and corresponding cast reduction. Southland was renewed for a ten-episode fourth season on March 22, 2011, which premiered on January 17, 2012.

The series was renewed for a ten-episode fifth season which began airing February 13, 2013.

Plot

Southland takes a "raw and authentic look" at Los Angeles and the lives of the LAPD officers who police it. The show's first season centers on the experiences and interactions of LAPD patrol officers and detectives, and is more a character-driven drama than a police procedural. Among the characters are rookie Officer Ben Sherman and his training officer, John Cooper (who, unknown to most of his colleagues is homosexual); Detective Lydia Adams, who must balance work with responsibility as a single mother; Officer Chickie Brown, who aspires to be the first woman on the LAPD's elite SWAT team; and Detective Sammy Bryant, whose home life interferes with his working life.

Cast

After its first season on NBC following the change of network to TNT, the second season, which premiered on TNT following the rebroadcast of the first season, de-emphasizes the ensemble cast and focuses more on the Adams and Sherman characters and their partners. Stories now center more on how crimes come together, with less-serialized storylines.

Main cast

Actor	Character	Rank	Notes
Michael Cudlitz	John Cooper	Police Officer III+1 (Season 1")	Hollywood Division, Officer Sherman's former FTO (Season 1"3), Officer Tang's former partner (Season 4), Officer Steele's FTO (Season 5). Senior Lead Officer.
Benjamin McKenzie	Ben Sherman	Police Officer I (Season 1"3) Police Officer II (Season 4")	Hollywood Division, Officer Cooper's former boot. (fictional) Alvarado Division, Officer Bryant's partner.
Regina King	Lydia Adams	Detective II (Season 1")	West Bureau Detectives.
Shawn Hatosy	Sammy Bryant	Detective II (Season 1"3) Police Officer III (Season 4")	Gangs & Narcotics Division, Detective Moretta's former partner. (fictional) Alvarado Division, Officer Sherman's partner.
C. Thomas Howell	Bill "Dewey" Dudek	Police Officer III (Season 5, Recurring 1"4)	Hollywood Division, Officer Brown's former partner.
Kevin Alejandro	Nate Moretta	Detective II (Season 1"3)	Gangs & Narcotics Division, Detective Bryant's former partner. Killed in Season 3 (EP04).
Arija Bareikis	Chickie Brown	Police Officer III (Season 1"3)	Hollywood Division, Officer Dudek's former partner. Transferred to Metro Division in Season 4.
Michael McGrady	Daniel "Sal" Salinger	Detective III (Season 1"3)	Gangs & Narcotics Division, Supervisor.
Tom Everett Scott	Russell Clarke	Detective II (Season 1, Recurring 2"3)	West Bureau Detectives, Detective Adams' former partner.

Recurring cast

Actor	Character	Rank	Notes
Denise Crosby	Susan Salinger	Captain I (Season 1"2)	Detective Salinger's wife.
Patrick Fischler	Kenny "No-Gun"	Detective I (Season 1"2)	Gangs & Narcotics Division.
Lex Medlin	Andy Williams	Detective I (Season 1"2)	Gangs & Narcotics Division.
L. Scott Caldwell	Enid Adams	"? (Season 1"5)	Detective Adams' mother.
Emily Bergl	Tammi Bryant	"? (Season 1")	Detective Bryant's ex-wife.
Yara Martinez	Mariella Moretta	"? (Season 1"3)	Detective Moretta's widow.
Hedy Burress	Laurie Cooper	"? (Season 1"3)	Officer Cooper's ex-wife.
Marty Ryan	Sgt. Wallace	Sergeant I (Season 1"2)	Hollywood Division, Supervisor.
Roxana Brusso	Alicia Fernandez	Detective III (Season 1"4)	West Bureau Detectives, Detective Adams' supervisor.
Amaury Nolasco	Rene Cordero	Detective I (Season 2)	West Bureau Detectives, Detective Adams' interim partner.
Laz Alonso	Gil Puente	Detective II (Season 2"3)	Gang Task Force Detective, with Detectives Bryant & Moretta.
Mario Cortez	Officer Munoz	Police Officer III (Season 2")	Division within West Bureau.
Jenny Gago	Josie Ochoa	Detective II (Season 3)	West Bureau Detectives, Detective Adams' former partner.
Bokeem Woodbine	Officer Jones	Police Officer III (Season 3"4)	(fictional) Alvarado Division.
Jamie McShane	Sgt. Hill	Sergeant I (Season 3")	Hollywood Division, Supervisor.
Lucy Liu	Jessica Tang	Police Officer III Sergeant I (Season 4)	Hollywood Division, Officer Cooper's former partner. West Los Angeles Division, Supervisor in Season 4(EP10).
Dorian Missick	Ruben Robinson	Detective I (Season 4")	West Bureau Detectives, Detective Adams' current partner.
Lou Diamond Phillips	Danny Ferguson	Police Officer III (Season 4)	(fictional) Alvarado Division.
Carl Lumbly	Joel Rucker	Captain I (Season 4)	(fictional) Alvarado Division, Commanding Officer.
Chad Michael Murray	Dave Mendoza	Police Officer II (Season 5)	New character.
Lesley Fera	Sgt. Waters	Sergeant I (Season 5)	New character. (fictional) Alvarado Division, Supervisor.
Derek Ray	Gary Steele	Police Officer I (Season 5)	New character. Hollywood Division, Officer Cooper's new boot.
Anthony Ruivivar	Hank Lucero	Police Officer III (Season 5)	New character. Hollywood Division
Yvette Saunders	Officer Mailer	Police Officer III (Season 5)	New character. (fictional) Alvarado Division. Credited as Cop #1 in Season 4 (EP03).

Crew

The series was created by Emmy Award-winning writer Ann Biderman, who began her television writing career on the first season of police drama NYPD Blue. The series' executive producers are Biderman, Christopher Chulack, and John Wells. Wells and Chulack, both also Emmy Award winners, had previously worked together on critically acclaimed medical drama ER and emergency services drama Third Watch. Many other crew members had previously worked with Wells and Chulack on these series. Wells and Biderman also write for the series and Chulack is a regular director. Biderman left her executive producer position after the second season but continued to write for the series' third season.

Ex-police officer Angela Amato Velez served as a consulting producer and writer for the first season; she had previously worked for the executive producers on Third Watch. Dee Johnson also served as a consulting producer and writer for the first season; she had previously worked with Wells and Chulack on ER. Emmy Award-winning writing team Mitchell Burgess & Robin Green were hired as executive consultants and writers for the second and third seasons; they had previously worked together as executive producers on The Sopranos. Diana Son served as a consulting producer and writer for the second season; she had previously worked on the crime drama Law & Order: Criminal Intent.

David Graziano became a co-executive producer for the second season. Andrew Stearn was a producer for the first two seasons and was promoted to co-executive producer for the third season; he had previously worked on Third Watch. Jonathan Lisco was hired as a co-executive producer for the third season; he is a former lawyer and created the New Orleans police drama K-Ville. Jason Horwitch, creator of AMC's Rubicon, joined the show as consulting producer for the fourth season.

ER and Third Watch veteran Nelson McCormick is also a regular director for Southland. Steadicam expert J. Michael Muro serves as a regular cinematographer and occasional director for the series. Dana Gonzales is the other regular director of photography.

Critical reception

Southland has received positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the first season received an average score of 69, based on 22 reviews and the second season received an average score of 77, based on 12 reviews both indicating "Generally favorable reviews". Upon returning for its third and fourth season the series received wide critical acclaim, receiving an average score of 81, based on 9 reviews for the third season and an average score of 87, based on 7 reviews for the fourth season both indicating "Universal acclaim". Season 5 has a rating of 86/100 based on 8 reviews.

Alessandra Stanley for The New York Times compared Southland favorably to series like The Shield, Rescue Me and The Wire in citing the series debut as "one of the most gripping opening episodes of any network crime series". Noting the show's "bold, contemporary tone", Stanley concluded that "Southland is commendably stinting and cold, a series that doesn't aim to please, and is all the more pleasurable for it." In a second review a year later, Mike Hale was less effusive in his praise. While commending the series for fine performances from its cast"?in particular Cudlitz, McKenzie and Hatosy"?and its combination of straightforward immediate plots and long-range storytelling, Hale criticized the "heavyhandedness" he saw in some of the writing, noting especially the "sententious lectures about the nature of police work" delivered to Sherman by Cooper in the pilot episode. He finds the show "worthy" but in need of work to qualify as a classic.

Dorothy Rabinowitz of The Wall Street Journal says "Prattle is, in any case, a minor note compared with the crackling pace of the first script, its evocative mood of menace at every turn, each police car racing to destinations that will reveal who knows what tragedy or unspeakable sight." The Kansas City Star stated the show in even a more positive light saying "Southland is built to be bigger, and in that sense it succeeds immediately, thanks to excellent casting (especially Michael Cudlitz and Regina King as a cop and a detective), gritty location shooting around L.A. and storytelling that doesn't hold the viewer's hand."

DVD release

Shortly before its TNT premiere, Warner Home Video released the first season on DVD in an uncensored version, with the profanities intact.

In May 2011, they also released the second season in a similarly uncensored version. This title is currently only available through the studio's manufacture-on-demand (MOD) program.

On February 5, 2013, a box set titled Southland: The Complete Second, Third, and Fourth Seasons is coming to DVD; it will include over an hour of bonus features.

The studio is not currently considering Blu-ray releases for any of the show's three seasons.

DVD Name	Region 1 Release Date	Region 2 Release Date	Region 4 Release Date	Ep #	Discs	Additional Information
Season 1	January 26, 2010	-	TBA	7	2	Southland: Redefining the Cop Drama. Available in HD from iTunes
Season 2	May 24, 2011	-	TBA	6	2	This DVD is made available through the Warner Bros. Made on Demand DVD Program at WBShop.com, Amazon.com, Walmart.com, and Target.com. Available in HD on iTunes.
Seasons 1 and 2	TBA	September 26, 2011	TBA	13	3	Southland: Redefining the Cop Drama Southland: Crime Tour Pods
Season 2,3, and 4	February 5, 2013	TBA	TBA	26	6	Available in HD on iTunes and Amazon

International broadcasting

Country	Network	Series Premiere
	Space	June 10, 2010
	GEM Foxtel	November, 2010
(French)	RTBF	April, 2012
	SBT Space	March 14, 2011
	PRO.BG	January, 2010
(English)  (French)	CTV Super Channel [[Séries+]]	April 9, 2009 (season 1) March 15, 2010 June 5, 2010
	MTV3	February 23, 2011
	Orange CinéChoc	January 10, 2010
	kabel eins	August 28, 2012
	Viasat3	June 2, 2011
	Stöð 2	April 6, 2010
	3e	June 6, 2010
	HOT Zone	October 23, 2012
	AXN	January, 2010
	TV1	March, 2011
	TV1	November, 2011
	TVNorge	September 28, 2009
	Fox Portugal	November 30, 2009
	M-Net Action	May 2010
	Kanal A	September 2011
	TV3	October 7, 2009
	DiziMax	January 2010
	More4	July 1, 2010