Robbery in LA (again)

Really feeling the re-runs of the Michael Mann produced series Robbery Homicide Division. If your a fan of Mann films like "Heat" or "Collateral" then you would probably enjoy this show which is somewhere between "The Shield," "The Wire" and a Mann movie. I remember enjoying the show when it originally aired but what's interesting looking back is how it's dark one minute, shining and gleaming the next. The show's super stylized look is very Mann-like though he isn't directing. It's a far more realistic LA than we are often shown. The show also makes clever use of music. Without a doubt a show above the normal cop genre. Oh and you wouldn't think Tom Sizemore could pull off a whole show as the lead character but he does well on RHD because the supporting cast is equally quirky, unique and ethnically diverse. One would think this would be the kind of show that HBO or Showtime would get behind but they turned it down ! Reruns are on the Sleuth network nightly until the 18th.



Some facts about the show
* The show was originally broadcast in 2002
* Robbery Homicide Division was originally titled "Metro," then renamed "RHD/LA," then RHD
* The show was partially created by Law & Order's Executive producer Barry Schindel who left the show after the first episode.
* Here's a list of RHD cast members who worked for Michael Mann before or after the series (and what Mann film they appeared in)
Tom Sizemore - Heat
Michael Paul Chan - Thief, The Insider
Barry Shabaka Henley - Ali, Collateral, Miami Vice
Mario Van Peebles- Ali
Klea Scott - Collateral
David Cubitt - Ali
Emilio Rivera - Collateral
* The show featured a real life LAPD SWAT team negotiator as a frequent guest star and a LAPD detective as technical advisor.
* Paul Michael Glaser (aka Starsky) directed three episodes, Michael Mann's daughter directed one.
* The shows soundtrack theme was "Deltron 3030 (Instrumental)" by Deltron 3030 - the show also featured music from acts like DJ Shadow and Coldplay.
* They originally broadcast 10 episodes - 3 additional episodes were shown later and are being shown in the current re-broadcast.
* The show was one of the first shot on High definition video - often guerilla style. It owes at least part of it's look to the HDV medium.
* Mann sold Sizemore on the show by telling him "I'm gonna make the greatest cop drama ever -wanna try with me?"
* Describing the show to EW before it's first airing Mann said ''There's no dumbing down here. I'm not trying to tell stories on television cinematically -quite the opposite. I want to use the immediacy, the fluidity and quickness of television."
* In December 2002, days after lead actor Tom Sizemore was arrested for battery the show was pulled from the TV schedule.



Here as a bonus is another bit of Michael Mann from 2002 - his high budget advert for Mercedes Benz starring Benicio Del Toro - don't you wish all advertising was this good ?