USA’s Common Law bites the dust

Boy, oh boy. I owe you folks an apology for posting this week’s Clacking in Color two days late. With the day job keeping me busy, I haven’t had a lot of time to really write … but at least my bills are getting paid. Sadly, it seems that the bills of one of my favorite actors may be going overdue for a while. The USA Network just announced that Common Law, the quirky cop show that premiered this past summer, has been canceled and I’m not quite sure how I feel about that.

I mean, let’s be honest — it wasn’t exactly appointment television. The show aired on Fridays for crying out loud. However, it did feature a talented person of color in a lead role — Michael Ealy — and that’s always a good thing for increasing diversity on the airwaves, right? I thought Ealy made a damn good detective, and to be honest, I enjoyed his chemistry with Warren Cole, but I guess others didn’t. According to The Times-Picayune, a newspaper published in New Orleans, the city where the show was shot, the latter half of the series averaged just 1.8 million viewers. I guess the writing was on the wall. Still, I had hope. Earlier this year, I asked readers who their favorite buddy cop duo was and featured Ealy and Cole as the focus of that particular column. As far as I’m concerned, I did my part.

So, was Common Law a bad show?

Eh, I don’t think so. However, as it progressed, I did feel as though it was missing that certain USA magic … that quintessential fluff that seems to be the unquestionable DNA of all of the network’s programming. Royal Pains has it. Burn Notice has it. And Necessary Roughness has it … as long as they keep my boy Mehcad Brooks on there. He’s awesome. The shows on USA are fun, carefree and seem to have a systematic flow to them. While Common Law was definitely fun, it seemed a little off. I can’t describe it but something was missing. Perhaps it could have been retooled in a second season.

Pardon my bluntness — but that ain’t happening. With that being said, let’s focus on the positive … the show survived a full season. Some programs don’t even live to see four whole episodes. After several impressive roles in film, it was pretty cool seeing Ealy as a leading man on television. While Common Law might have benefited from some more ethnic diversity, I feel that Ealy held down the fort in a show that tried to be clever. I certainly didn’t have fault with Common Law’s creative premise. I liked the idea of two heterosexual dudes being forced to work out their issues in couple’s therapy. That’s some funny stuff. Maybe I’ll keep that in mind and store it in my head for later to use as a launching pad for a play I may write. Oh, wait … that would be plagiarism, wouldn’t it? Oh, well. Hollywood heavyweights copy each other all the time. It isn’t a rarity.

On the contrary, it seems to be a common law.