Robert P. Laurence

San Diego Television

A cop on Fox lives forever -- whether he wants to or not

And: a new Fox comedy aims low
By Robert P. Laurence
Posted on Feb 29 2008
Last updated Feb 29 2008

If you remember Mel Brooks' 2,000-year-old-man routine, you may also remember that when Carl Reiner asked if he knew Marie Antoinette, Mel said certainly he knew her. In fact, he dated her.

You'll hear variations on that line repeated now and again in the first two episodes of "New Amsterdam," Fox's new cop show with a twist. (9 p.m. Tuesday, March 4, following "American Idol," then Thursday, March 6, on XETV/Channel 6. Moving to its regular time at 9 p.m. Monday, March 10.)

The hero not only recalls that a particular Manhattan bar used to be a speakeasy during the 1920s, he hoisted a few there then. He not only remembers a certain artist who was popular in the 1930s, he dated her.

Yes, we're playing the old immortality gag. John Amsterdam, apparently in his early 30s, was a Dutch soldier back in 1642 when he saved the life of a young Indian woman. In gratitude, she laid a magic spell on him: "You will not grow old, you will not die, until you find the one and your souls are wed."

So now he's a few centuries old, still looking great, still looking for that perfect someone. Along the way he's found any number of someones who would do well enough for a decade or two and he's outlived countless generations of his own children.

At the moment, he's a New York cop with an unusually long memory and a penchant for dropping enigmatic hints about himself. "I look young for my age," he likes to say. Or: "All of it gets old, except me."

But what's really notable about this cop show with such an unusual premise is that somehow it works. One reason is that Amsterdam's memories lead to solutions of his cases; he remembers that a mural once decorated a hotel lobby, that it was painted over, and thus realizes it's connected to a new case. Another is that the scripts are unusually literate and witty compared to your average network cop show.

A thread of bitter irony weaves itself through the narrative. Amsterdam encounters a young woman who could be that one, and wants to find her again. “This is a good thing,” he says. “I’ve been waiting centuries for this.” The trouble with immortality, he’s found, is that it lasts forever, whether you want it to or not.

Not that I believed it, but the story was told with enough straight-faced confidence, and Danish newcomer Nikolaj Coster-Waldau acted the role of Amsterdam with enough unabashed commitment that I willingly went along for the ride.

"New Amsterdam" falls short, though, in its actual police cases. In both episodes sent to critics, the solution to the mystery was fairly obvious in the early going. The deliberate, scene-by-scene unwrapping of Amsterdam's life back through the decades and centuries kept interest up, but it can't carry the show forever.

We do get acquainted with his 67-year-old son, and we learn that some things never change. Do Amsterdam's great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandchildren ever visit? Do they ever call?

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Fox is trotting out four new series in the next few weeks, beginning Sunday with one produced by one of Hollywood's two pairs of director brothers.

Could it be Joel and Ethan Coen, who just won Oscars for "No Country For Old Men"?

No such luck.

It must be Bobby and Peter Farrelly, whose oeuvre boasts such masterpieces as "The Heartbreak Kid," "The Ringer" and "Stuck on You.”

And as John Amsterdam remains forever 30, the Farrellys' sense of humor remains forever in the sixth grade. They've never met a body-part joke or a fart joke they didn't like.

So "Unhitched" gets right down to business in the opening scene with a guy getting his bum bonked by a monkey. The second episode introduces a girl with a weird, shrimp-like growth sprouting from her back. Other than that, it's all quite tasteful, suave and sophisticated. Oh sure. (9:30 p.m. Sundays on XETV/Channel 6, starting March 2)

Anyway, "Unhitched" is about three recently divorced would-be wild and crazy guys in Boston and their best female pal, their divorce lawyer. You could call them unhinged. The guys meet women and go on dates and one of them heads off to Atlantic City with a hooker and is shocked and surprised to learn he's expected to pay for the experience. None of the dates go very well.

The second episode does provide an occasional laugh, though, including the dejected, out-of-work night club bouncer and the air guitar player who thinks he's a real rock star.

He could stand as a symbol for "Unhitched" itself, that air guitar guy. He sets a low goal for himself, and he doesn't reach it.

About the author: Robert P. Laurence was television critic at the San Diego Union-Tribune for 21 years. He previously wrote about politics, jazz, rock 'n' roll and all manner of news. He graduated in journalism from San Francisco State University, and earned an M.A. in political science at San Jose State. He's lived in San Diego since 1971.
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Comments

Posted by Ben Abba	March 1, 2008
I just found out about your blog post and found it quite interesting. I have another take on the subject of immortality. If you are serious about this subject, then you will be quite interested in my research and findings on this very topic. I have summarized what I have found on my main blog: www.Ben-Abba.com. Check out the post “Summary of the Facts” when you get a chance and then my follow up book “Secrets of an Immortal - An Eyewitness Account of 2,800 Years of History”.

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