"Rookie Blue" - the cop version of "Grey's Anatomy"

And yes, it's just what you'd expect. I ended up kind of hating this show by the end. The tone of it was off, the characters were off, and it felt like "Grey's Anatomy" and "Southland" crashed into each other and this freak came crawling out of the rubble.

First, this may just be me, but I don't find Missy Peregrym, who plays Andy McNally, all that appealing. She reminds me of a slighty more tolerable Genevieve Cortese. I didn't like her in her short stint on "Heroes" and I was only lukewarm regarding her character on the short-lived "Reaper." The show also stars Gregory Smith, who I know only as "that guy from 'Everwood,'" a show I never watched. The only other person I recognize is Eric Johnson, who "Smallville" fans know as Whitney. He's been around since then, most notably as a demon on "Supernatural," but I'm glad he's trying to get a steady role in something. I think he's very likeable and he's grown up well since his days of courting Lana Lang.

The tone of this show is really odd. I'm a big fan of "Southland," which I think is the best recent portrayal of police life. This show is like an ABC soap version of a cop drama, but it ends up with emotional moments that don't resonate and funny moments that are more cutesy and cringe-inducing. The life of a cop is very different from the life of a doctor, and "Southland" best captures the grittiness of reality. I know reality isn't high on the list of things you look for in a TV show, but I feel like this show didn't intend to be as soapy as it came off.

There were so many cliches in the pilot of "Rookie Blue" that I wish I had been playing a drinking game. You've got the rookie cop with a parent who was a respected veteran and now the rookie has a lot to prove ("Grey's Anatomy" - Meredith and her genius surgeon mom Ellis Grey; "Southland" - Ben coming from a wealthy upbringing, has a lot to prove; "Dexter" - Debra Morgan trying to live up to her father's distinguished legacy). You've got the respected veteran cop who is now a mere shadow of what he once was ("Grey's Anatomy" - Ellis Grey's alzheimers). You've got the senior cop romantically involved with a rookie cop ("Grey's Anatomy" - Meredith and Derek, Christina and Burke). You've got the requisite shot of some guy taking off his shirt to reveal rippling muscles underneath (way too many shows to count, but ABC is a prime offender). You've got the storyline of the rookie screwing something up early in the game only to redeem herself later in the episode (once again, way too many examples to pick from). You've got the bitter, jaded old veterans who need the newbies with their pluck and enthusiasm to remind them why they became a cop in the first place many years ago.

Other random thoughts:

• The music on this show really bothered me. It was bubbly and upbeat when it was trying to tell us a scene was supposed to be funny. It was the kind of music the Walker family drinks wine and gossips to on "Brothers & Sisters." And there were too many moments where they play some hip song while the characters bond meaningfully or encounter new situations. It came off as a desperate attempt to fill time after the episode came up short in running time or as a desperate attempt to create a poignant moment.


• Does every profession and every workplace have a bar they all retreat to at the end of the day or is that a complete creation of the TV world out of necessity for a gathering place for the characters? Is it always just one bar that was established as "the watering hole"?


• If two characters make out in a closet at the station, I'm out of here.


• If Missy Peregrym's character and Eric Johnson's character get it on, I'm out of here (not that I'd blame her).


• Can ABC do any other sort of character drama without making it sexual relationship drama?


• From the moment one of the rookies said "I love all these guys so much" in the bar in the opening, I knew it would be an uphill battle to win my affection. I was hoping they'd pull it off as a moment where the guy was really drunk, but instead they made it into a touching moment that wasn't so touching.


• I liked seeing "police service" on the sign outside the station instead of "police force." It reminded me of the scene in "Hot Fuzz" where Nicholas Angel says official police guidelines state that "force" shouldn't be used anymore as it sounds too aggressive.


• The voiceover better go away fast. The show doesn't need it. It was used so poorly for expository purposes when the exposition wasn't even needed. It was another early strike against watching this show.


• The talk about the rookies not knowing anything and that there is "no training that prepares you for life on the street" also feels completely lifted from "Grey's Anatomy." See: Chief Webber's speech to the interns about the program in the pilot. Also see: Bailey's speech to the interns in the pilot.


• You get the veteran cops coaching the younger cops, but it feels more like babysitting than tough love like John teaching Ben survival skills in "Southland."


• The best part of the show was the trailer for the new Christopher Nolan movie "Inception." Leo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Cillian Murphy all in one movie directed by the man behind the new Batman movies? I'm so there. The trailer for "Salt" is still baffling to me though. I know people love Angelina Jolie, and maybe it's because I'm a girl that I don't get her mass appeal, but isn't the Russian spy storyline a little outdated?

I might watch the next episode in a week if I have absolutely nothing else to do, just to see if this show is headed where I think it's headed. I'm not holding out hope though.