Women with Guns: Lifetime's Cop Dramas

If you watch Lifetime for extended periods of time without flinching, I congratulate you. If you watch a Lifetime cop drama for extended periods of time, you deserve a medal. While we all realize the power of good, female-centered shows on cable, Lifetime seems to be recycling plots from broadcast programs and adding more love scenes. Last night, the network's newest show, Against the Wall, debuted to rather low numbers.
 Why is this? I have a few suspicions. The first one being that Against the Wall seems rather familiar. In the previews I've seen, it is about a female cop promoted to detective in Internal Affairs. This sounds good, but the only thing is that her father (Treat Williams) and her three brothers (Brandon Quinn, Steve Byers, and James Thomas) are all proud badge carriers, leery of the rat squad. Other than that, I can't say what's what. But the thing is as soon as I saw the preview, I thought of Blue Bloods. Blue Bloods premiered last year and I could barely make it to half an episode. Against the Wall is on cable and has less star power, so there's much more  risked in just airing the show.
 Also, Lifetime just debuted a new cop drama about a single mom living with her brother and sons called The Protector. I saw an episode and it was pretty good. But the thing is how many times can we watch a woman in a man's world fight the good fight with a gun? Where's the nuance?
 Two shows that feature women in prominent roles that work excellently are The Closer and Rizzoli and Isles which both happen to be on TNT. The Closer, currently in its last and seventh season is brilliant. Kyra Sedgwick's portrayal of Chief Brenda Lee Johnson is witty, vulnerable, determined, and headstrong. Not only does she have to deal with the typical departmental name-calling and backbiting but she also plays mother hen to her squad who at times seem to act juvenile and irresponsible.
 Rizzoli and Isles, in its second season are like the new age Cagney and Lacey (Wikipedia it if you don't know). However, neither are married or mothers. There chemistry is dependent on the opposites attract motif but it works. Seasoned actresses Angie Harmon and Sasha Alexander are funny, charming, and very smart together and the supporting cast accents the show.
  But back to Against the Wall. The star is a relative unknown, Rachael Carpani which could work. This could be a vehicle for her. But I think what Lifetime has to remember is that they cannot try to be another network. The audience is diverse but at the same time they expect a movie of the week. What Lifetime should have done was ask the viewership what they want instead of supplying what they thought was needed.

http://www.deadline.com/2011/08/new-lifetime-drama-against-the-wall-off-to-sluggish-start/

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/lifetimes-wall-is-a-new-217445