Beverly Hills Cop
When we heard the news of Beverly Hills Cop coming to US TV, we weren’t hopeful for anything other than a cheap cash-in. As filming begins though, we’ve taken a second to sit down and fully take in the prospect in store and see if in actual fact, this crazy plan might just work after all.
The show, which is set to focus of Axel Foley’s son Aaron, now also a part of the LA police force has now started filming, with Shawn Ryan, who’s written the show’s upcoming pilot episode, tweeting the image you see above of new star Brandon T Jackson and the returning Eddie Murphy.
The first thing that’s got us hopeful is the involvement of Shawn Ryan, who was involved with the rather good but short lived Last Resort and was key in the utterly brilliant The Shield. His hand on the tiller should be enough to see the show have at least a shred of its old cinematic self about it.
Secondly, Brandon T Jackson is a fantastic piece of casting. Whenever he’s been given that chance to show off his stuff, he’s always excelled, outshining all but Tom Cruise and a particularly on form Robert Downey Jr in Tropic Thunder before being hamstrung with sub-par movie projects. With a bigger stage, we’re sure that he’ll more than step up to the plate.
Getting the old cast to return is another reason this whole thing might just work out after all. Not only is Eddie Murphy’s involvement crucial, but getting Judge Reinhold to also come back means that the show will really feel like the continuation of the franchise it’s being positioned as, rather than just a cheap knock off.
There are a couple of major concerns about this new TV series though that could only be answered by a full run of episodes.
The first one is the choice of network television.
While this is bound to make the viewing figures higher, it has a massive strangling effect on the show’s content and really limits the shows creative team. American network TV demands two things, a massive quantity of episodes and a rather heavy use of the censorship wand when it comes to language.
While you might think it’s the film’s violent gun battles might be the issues, it’s Axel’s blue language that’ll get the censors all hot and heavy. This is the oddity of the American rating boards. Jack Bauer killed dozens of people and seemed more than happy to come up with new and inventive ways of torturing folks, he was only ever allowed to say ‘Damn’.
The other major concern is that if commissioned for a full series, CBS will demand a massive slew of episodes, which always has a dampening effect on TV drama. A ‘mini-series’ of ten parts would be much more welcome news to us, as it means that we only get ten killer stories, not nearly two dozen alright ones.
We really do hope the show isn't too hamstrung by the constraints of network TV and can become more than just a regulation police procedural with a very famous guest star. The American cop show needs a fresh new face with a style all of its own, and if done right, this Beverly Hills Cop show could be just the ticket.
Although we'll let it all slide if Harold Faltermeyer comes back and does all the music again. Dang that's a catchy theme song.
Tagged in Eddie Murphy