TV: The Unusuals

Dramedy is a word that makes me cringe. It reeks of desperation. I imagine it to be the word a pitch man uses when trying to convince a studio executive that dramas can be comedic or that a comedy can be dramatic. "You know... a damedy!" With a TV history that includes shows like M*A*S*H and Scrubs, it would seem that such a desperate word would be unneeded. Drama is often better with the lightening aspects of comedy, and comedy can be kept from being frivolous by the weight of drama. Unfortunately, "dramedy" is used and The Unusuals was stuck with the label.



Set in NYC, The Unusals presents a homicide division filled with ecentric characters that specializes in not-straight-forward cases. At the center is Detective Casey Shraeger (Amber Tamblyn, Joan of Arcadia), who is trying to shed her socialite past, and Detective Jason Walsh (Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker), a former baseball player and current diner owner. Other characters include a very Frank Burns-like "top" detective, a man who believes he will die before he turns 43, and other that has a brain tumor and may die in the near future.

The Unusuals premiered in April of 2009. ABC touted the show as the next M*A*S*H and had hopes of it being the next big crime drama. The first episode, like many pilots, is somewhat rough around the edges. It perhaps tries too hard to be funny given absurd situations. The performances are impressive though, especially Renner's. By the third episode, the show settles down. Audiences didn't give the show that long and it was quickly canceled.

All ten episodes of The Unusuals are currently available (as of 1/25/10) online at Hulu and Crackle.