Sun 24 May 2020
A TV Episode Review: THE GLADES “Pilot†(2010).
Posted by Steve under Reviews , TV mysteries[10] Comments
THE GLADES “Pilot.†A&E, 11 July 2010. Matt Passmore (Jim Longworth), Kiele Sanchez, (Callie Cargill). Creator & screenwriter: Clifton Campbell. Director: Peter O’Fallon.
I was obviously busy doing other things back in 2010 and the four years following. This series passed beneath my radar altogether, and based on this first episode, it’s a show that really should at least have known about. Not all of the fun mystery series that were on cable back then were on the USA network.
Matt Passmore plays a former homicide detective who is trying for an easier life but working at the same kind of job in a small town in Florida. (It seems he was kicked out of Chicago for sleeping with his boss’s wife, but he claims he was the only one who was not sleeping with her.) He’s a cocky sort of guy who borders on being obnoxious about it. For the most part he stays on the right side of overly brash, unlike the fellow who played the lead role in Psych. (My opinion.)
Based on this, the first episode, the other major player will be a nurse (played by Callie Cargill) who helps him get a “female perspective†on a case. There seems to be a romantic attraction between them, but she’s married with a young son and (as an interesting change of pace) a husband in prison. I don’t know where that is going to go.
Found dead in this pilot episode is a woman found ina swamp with no head. She has been in the water to be easily identified, and most of Longworth’s time is spent on trying to find out who she is, much less find her killer. There’s a nice twist in the tale toward the end, but most of the appeal to this show seems to suggest that its appeal will be with the characters, with the detective work coming in a reasonably close second.
May 24th, 2020 at 8:51 pm
This series lasted four years and ended with a cliffhanger. The showrunner/creator answered a question about the cancellation and what happened next. The internet is a wonderful thing.
https://www.post-gazette.com/ae/tv-radio/2014/10/19/TV-Q-A-Who-shot-Jim-Longworth-on-The-Glades/stories/201410190022
May 24th, 2020 at 9:12 pm
Thanks for the link, Michael It will take me a long time to get to the end of the fourth season (if ever), but I’ll do my best to remember you posted it here, when the time comes.
May 25th, 2020 at 7:09 am
I had never heard of this series either, till around a year ago.
My library had DVDs, so watched a lot of them.
The basic premise sounds like my cup of tea: “Hero solves mysteries in photogenic Florida locale.” But a lot of the actual episodes seemed minor.
PSYCH reminds one of old Bob Hope movies, where Bob would constantly wisecrack while everyone around him would be serious. The series can be over the top and not always work.
Still, it had a lot of good episodes with good mysteries, IMHO.
May 25th, 2020 at 8:04 am
I agree with everything you said about this and PSYCH. Jackie was a much bigger fan of this than I was, but we both enjoyed it. The cliffhanger end, followed by the sudden cancellation, was a bad blow and a mistake. Passmore is an Aussie whose accent was a little variable at first, but who did a good job overall.
A lot of episodes followed the same pattern. There was a murder and Jim Longworth quickly settled on an obvious suspect that he decided was guilty, accused the person without proof (or, often, any evidence), then went on to other suspects. His first pick was wrong most of the time, as I remember it, though I couldn’t give a percentage after all these years. Yes, he and the nurse (who later decided to become a doctor) were planning to marry the day he was shot.
Too bad. It was a fun show, if not a classic.
May 25th, 2020 at 12:49 pm
I liked this well enough to keep watching. On the other hand I have well over a dozen that I’m trying to do the same with, and I seem to have only 1 or 2 hours a day to indulge. That isn’t getting me very far into any of them!
May 25th, 2020 at 4:31 pm
What I enjoyed most about that link I left in comment one was how the creator went behind the scenes from how the original format for the series changed and why, then naming names and reasons for the cancellation.
A&E has always tried to find a successful hit fiction series and in this case turning THE GLADES into a copy of the (at the time) successful USA shows (such as BURN NOTICE and WHITE COLLAR) then tried to copy AMC.
May 25th, 2020 at 7:22 pm
I thought A&E had switched to all reality programming after the cancelled NERO WOLFE. They’ve been a non-fator for me ever since.
May 25th, 2020 at 8:34 pm
A&E has always wanted a fictional hit but never really committed to more than one or two scripted series at a time, remaining true to what its viewers wanted – reality TV.
Cable networks are in real trouble as the major companies that own the networks (broadcast and cable) own streaming services. USA owned by Comcast (NBC Universal) top show is pro wrestling. DARE ME was cancelled and I am guessing BRAIRPATCH will not see another seasons. Neither reached a million viewers for any episode. Add that Comcast (NBC et al) is about to start its own streaming service Peacock. Scripted originals will be on streaming services. What that leaves for future cable is anyone’s guess.
May 26th, 2020 at 6:24 am
Maybe if they made better shows? I couldn’t get through one episode of BRIARPATCH and gave up on DARE ME after a few.
May 26th, 2020 at 11:13 am
Jeff the problem is not a lack of quality scripted programs. The problem is cable ratings are dominated by news and reality programs.
A&E had GLADES but they could reach more viewers with less cost with reality programs.
FX one of the most critically acclaimed cable networks but not a rating success. It is now owned by Disney. Disney owns Hulu and while FX remains on cable there is now FX on Hulu.
Comcast is not going to put its best scripted programs on USA, not when NBC and Peacock will make them more money.