Brooklyn South
Encyclopedia
Brooklyn South is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 ensemble
Ensemble cast
An ensemble cast is made up of cast members in which the principal actors and performers are assigned roughly equal amounts of importance and screen time in a dramatic production. This kind of casting became more popular in television series because it allows flexibility for writers to focus on...

 police drama series
Police procedural
The police procedural is a subgenre of detective fiction which attempts to convincingly depict the activities of a police force as they investigate crimes. While traditional detective novels usually concentrate on a single crime, police procedurals frequently depict investigations into several...

 that aired on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

 for only one season during the 1997-98 television season. The series was co-created by Steven Bochco
Steven Bochco
Steven Ronald Bochco is a US television producer and writer. He has developed a number of popular television hits including Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law, and NYPD Blue, as well as some notable flops such as Cop Rock....

, Bill Clark
Bill Clark
Clark joined the New York City Police Department in 1969. He worked a special undercover assignment for two years before entering the Police Academy. In 1972 he earned his gold detective shield. On December 31, 1994, Clark retired from the Queens Homicide Detective Squad as a First Grade...

, David Milch
David Milch
David S. Milch is an American writer and producer of television series. He has created several television shows, including NYPD Blue and Deadwood.-Biography:...

 and William M. Finkelstein
William M. Finkelstein
William M. Finkelstein is an American screenwriter, television producer, actor and television director. He has worked as a writer and producer on Law & Order, Brooklyn South, Murder One, L.A. Law, Cop Rock and NYPD Blue. He co-created Brooklyn South with frequent collaborators David Milch, Steven...

. Bochco is the creator of many well-known police dramas such as Hill Street Blues
Hill Street Blues
Hill Street Blues is an American serial police drama that was first aired on NBC in 1981 and ran for 146 episodes on primetime into 1987. Chronicling the lives of the staff of a single police precinct in an unnamed American city, the show received critical acclaim and its production innovations ...

and NYPD Blue
NYPD Blue
NYPD Blue is an American television police drama set in New York City, exploring the internal and external struggles of the fictional 15th precinct of Manhattan...

. Milch was Bochco's co-creator for NYPD Blue. Finkelstein and Clark both also worked on NYPD Blue.

The series attempted to create a setting of a gritty, realistic police station similar to that of NYPD Blue, but differed by focusing on the uniform
Uniform
A uniform is a set of standard clothing worn by members of an organization while participating in that organization's activity. Modern uniforms are worn by armed forces and paramilitary organizations such as police, emergency services, security guards, in some workplaces and schools and by inmates...

ed police officer
Police officer
A police officer is a warranted employee of a police force...

s rather than the detectives. The pilot
Television pilot
A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...

 of Brooklyn South was noted as the first TV-MA rated episode on broadcast television.

Synopsis

The focus for Brooklyn South was the 74th Precinct in southern Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...

, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

. Francis "Frank" Donovan (Jon Tenney) was the patrol sergeant who presided every day over the morning shift assignments he gave to the uniformed officers. Donovan was an informant for the hated Internal Affairs Bureau (IAB), and secretly reported to Lt. Stan Jonas (James B. Sikking
James Sikking
James Barrie Sikking is an American actor known for his role as Lt. Howard Hunter on the 1980s NBC TV series Hill Street Blues. He also starred on the ABC TV series Doogie Howser, M.D. as Dr. David Howser and on the short-lived 1997 CBS drama series Brooklyn South as Captain Stan Jonas...

), who, early in the series, transferred from being an IAB officer to the precinct captain after the officious Captain Lou Zerola (Bradford English
Bradford English
Bradford English Born in 1943, is a character actor who has starred in film and on movies. He is best known in the horror film community for his role in the 1995 horror movie Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers as John Strode...

) resigned in disgrace to avoid a public scandal. It was later revealed in the season that Donovan became an undercover informant 15 years earlier for IAB to protect his father, a retired cop living in Florida, from indictment for corruption.

In the pilot episode, a psychotic gunman went on a shooting rampage outside the police station, killing a number of policemen and innocent bystanders. He was wounded in the shootout and brought back into the station where he died from his gunshot wounds. It was later revealed that Ann-Marie Kersey (Yancy Butler
Yancy Butler
Yancy Victoria Butler is an American television and movie actress known for her roles as Natasha Binder in the 1993 John Woo film Hard Target and as Detective Sara Pezzini on the TNT supernatural drama Witchblade.-Early life:...

), a policewoman whose boyfriend was one of the victims of the shooting spree, slipped into the room where the wounded madman was being held and kicked him several times in his chest which caused his death. Because the shooter was black and all of his victims were white, the killer's black racist family pressured the city to launch an Internal Affairs investigation. Eventually, everyone was exonerated for the suspect's death, and Kersey completely got away with it, though her guilt over killing a critically wounded criminal would haunt her off-and-on for the duration of the series. Kersey then had a romantic affair with Donovan, but it did not last. Although Kersey and Donovan never got back together, they remained on fairly good terms. Later in the series, Kersey was designated to detective.

Also in the pilot episode, Phil Roussakoff (Michael DeLuise
Michael DeLuise
Michael Robert DeLuise is an American actor, film director, and film producer.-Early life and career:DeLuise was born in Los Angeles, the second son of actor and comedian Dom DeLuise and actress Carol Arthur, and the brother of actor, writer, director Peter DeLuise and actor David DeLuise.DeLuise...

), a burly officer, transferred to the 74th Precinct and was partnered with Jimmy Doyle (Dylan Walsh
Dylan Walsh
Dylan Walsh is an American actor. He is best known as Dr. Sean McNamara in the FX television series Nip/Tuck.-Early life:...

), a well liked and respected street cop whose younger brother, Terry (Patrick McGaw), was trying to become a police officer to follow in their late father's footsteps. Roussakoff was a beat cop who often used his fists or his big mouth to get out of a problem, but often regretted his actions. Terry left the police academy to take an undercover assignment to infiltrate an Irish street gang planning a bank robbery. Roussakoff briefly dated Jimmy and Terry's younger sister, Kathleen (A. J. Langer
A. J. Langer
Allison Joy Langer Courtenay, Lady Courtenay , credited as A. J. Langer, is an American actress best known for her role as Rayanne Graff on the television series My So-Called Life.-Career:...

), but was awkward and uncomfortable to dating. Terry helped foil the Irish gang's robbery, and he ended up joining the police vice squad anti-crime unit.

Jack Lowery (Titus Welliver
Titus Welliver
Titus Welliver is an American actor. He is best known for his recurring roles on the television shows Deadwood, Lost, Sons of Anarchy and The Good Wife...

) was a tough street cop coping with personal demons which included his selfish and nagging wife, Yvonne, who died early in the season. Lowery later started an affair with his female partner, Nona Valentine (Klea Scott
Klea Scott
Klea Scott is a Canadian actress. She is known for her role as Emma Hollis on the Fox television series Millennium. Her most notable films are Minority Report and Collateral.-Career:...

), which did not sit well with Clement Johnson (Richard T. Jones
Richard T. Jones
Richard Timothy Jones is an American film and television actor.Jones was born in Kobe, Japan and raised in Carson, California. He is the son of Lorene, a computer analyst, and Clarence Jones, a professional baseball player and the hitting instructor for the Cleveland Indians. He also has an older...

), Nona's former boyfriend and the station's traffic cop. Eventually Nona and Clem got back together, then broke up, and by the series end, Nona got back together again with Lowery. Hector Villaneuva (Adam Rodriguez
Adam Rodriguez
Adam Michael Rodríguez is an American actor and director. He is best known for his long running role as Eric Delko on CSI: Miami.-Life and career:...

) was a young rookie cop who was tutored by the rest of the officers how to do his job the best be could.

Richard Santoro (Gary Basaraba
Gary Basaraba
Gary Basaraba is a Canadian actor best known for playing American police officers. He appeared as Sergeant Richard Santoro on Steven Bochco's Brooklyn South and Officer Ray Heckler on Boomtown....

) was the station's desk sergeant, a police veteran who seen it all, and was the voice of reason in the station house of keeping things calm. Santoro later stuck up for Donovan when he came out as an informant for Internal Affairs Bureau to save Santoro from a corrupt IAB officer who was trying to ruin Santoro's reputation. Ray MacElwaine (John Finn
John Finn
John Finn is an American actor known as one of the leads of the television programs Cold Case and EZ Streets. Finn has also had supporting roles in the films The Hunted , Catch Me If You Can , True Crime , Turbulence , Blown Away , The Pelican Brief , and Glory .TV series that Finn has...

) was a 50-year-old veteran police officer who transferred to the 74th Precinct late in the series and soon proved himself to everyone that despite his age, he could still "walk the beat" and take down criminals. MacElwaine also stuck up for Donovan after finding out Donovan's work with IAB. In the series final episode, MacElwaine decided to retire from the police force, and Santoro was promoted to Lieutenant. So, Captain Jonas threw a double-party for the entire police station in celebrating Santoro's promotion and MacElwaine's retirement. In his speech, MacElwaine changes his mind and decides not to retire, to great celebration.

Other secondary characters included Kevin Patrick (Mark Kiely
Mark Kiely
Mark Kiely is an American actor, probably best known for his recurring guest appearance as Gil Meyers in Beverly Hills, 90210.-Television:*Beverly Hills, 90210 *Tears and Laughter: The Joan and Melissa Rivers Story...

), a police officer wounded in the opening shooting spree in the pilot episode, which made him a paraplegic, and his wife Noreen (Star Jasper
Star Jasper
Star Jasper is an American actress born in Brooklyn. She studied acting at Richmond College in London and at Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in New York City. She Currently resides in Los Angeles.-Career:...

), both of whom were friends with Jimmy, Terry, and the Doyle family. Also, Emily Flannagan (Brigid Brannagh
Brigid Brannagh
Brigid Brannagh is an American actress. She has been credited as Brigid Brannagh, Brigid Walsh, and Brigid Conley Walsh.-Career:Born in San Francisco, California, Brannagh is of Irish ancestry...

) was a local barmaid and the daughter of Irish mobster Paddy Flannagan who was the leader of the small Irish gang that Terry had infiltrated. After Terry's undercover work was done, he and Emily got romantically together, but the series ended before their romance could go any further.

Cancellation

The series was scheduled opposite ABC's
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...

 Monday Night Football
Monday Night Football
Monday Night Football is a live broadcast of the National Football League on ESPN. From to it aired on ABC. Monday Night Football was, along with Hallmark Hall of Fame, and the Walt Disney anthology television series, one of the longest running prime time commercial network television series...

and NBC's Dateline Monday
Dateline NBC
Dateline NBC, or Dateline, is a U.S. weekly television newsmagazine broadcast by NBC. It previously was NBC's flagship news magazine, but now focuses on true crime stories. It airs Friday at 9 p.m. EST and after football season on Sunday at 7 p.m. EST.-History:Dateline is historically notable for...

, and struggled in the ratings, averaging 10.5 million viewers and ranking 74th for the season. The series underwent retooling in an attempt to boost ratings,but despite the changes, the series was canceled in May 1998 shortly after the first season wrapped.

Cast

Actor Role
Jon Tenney  Patrol Sgt. Francis 'Frank' Xavier Donovan
Michael DeLuise
Michael DeLuise
Michael Robert DeLuise is an American actor, film director, and film producer.-Early life and career:DeLuise was born in Los Angeles, the second son of actor and comedian Dom DeLuise and actress Carol Arthur, and the brother of actor, writer, director Peter DeLuise and actor David DeLuise.DeLuise...

 
Officer Phil Roussakoff
Dylan Walsh
Dylan Walsh
Dylan Walsh is an American actor. He is best known as Dr. Sean McNamara in the FX television series Nip/Tuck.-Early life:...

 
Officer Jimmy Doyle
James B. Sikking
James Sikking
James Barrie Sikking is an American actor known for his role as Lt. Howard Hunter on the 1980s NBC TV series Hill Street Blues. He also starred on the ABC TV series Doogie Howser, M.D. as Dr. David Howser and on the short-lived 1997 CBS drama series Brooklyn South as Captain Stan Jonas...

 
Lt. / Capt. Stan Jonas
Yancy Butler
Yancy Butler
Yancy Victoria Butler is an American television and movie actress known for her roles as Natasha Binder in the 1993 John Woo film Hard Target and as Detective Sara Pezzini on the TNT supernatural drama Witchblade.-Early life:...

 
Officer / Detective Anne-Marie Kersey
Gary Basaraba
Gary Basaraba
Gary Basaraba is a Canadian actor best known for playing American police officers. He appeared as Sergeant Richard Santoro on Steven Bochco's Brooklyn South and Officer Ray Heckler on Boomtown....

 
Sgt. / Lt. Richard 'Dicky' Santoro
Titus Welliver
Titus Welliver
Titus Welliver is an American actor. He is best known for his recurring roles on the television shows Deadwood, Lost, Sons of Anarchy and The Good Wife...

 
Officer Jack Lowery
Klea Scott
Klea Scott
Klea Scott is a Canadian actress. She is known for her role as Emma Hollis on the Fox television series Millennium. Her most notable films are Minority Report and Collateral.-Career:...

 
Officer Nona Valentine
Richard T. Jones
Richard T. Jones
Richard Timothy Jones is an American film and television actor.Jones was born in Kobe, Japan and raised in Carson, California. He is the son of Lorene, a computer analyst, and Clarence Jones, a professional baseball player and the hitting instructor for the Cleveland Indians. He also has an older...

 
Officer Clement 'Clem' Johnson
Adam Rodriguez
Adam Rodriguez
Adam Michael Rodríguez is an American actor and director. He is best known for his long running role as Eric Delko on CSI: Miami.-Life and career:...

 
Officer Hector Villaneuva
Patrick McGaw  Terry Doyle
A. J. Langer
A. J. Langer
Allison Joy Langer Courtenay, Lady Courtenay , credited as A. J. Langer, is an American actress best known for her role as Rayanne Graff on the television series My So-Called Life.-Career:...

 
Kathleen Doyle (9 episodes)
Mark Kiely
Mark Kiely
Mark Kiely is an American actor, probably best known for his recurring guest appearance as Gil Meyers in Beverly Hills, 90210.-Television:*Beverly Hills, 90210 *Tears and Laughter: The Joan and Melissa Rivers Story...

 
Officer Kevin Patrick (5 episodes)
Star Jasper
Star Jasper
Star Jasper is an American actress born in Brooklyn. She studied acting at Richmond College in London and at Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in New York City. She Currently resides in Los Angeles.-Career:...

 
Noreen Patrick (5 episodes)
Brigid Brannagh
Brigid Brannagh
Brigid Brannagh is an American actress. She has been credited as Brigid Brannagh, Brigid Walsh, and Brigid Conley Walsh.-Career:Born in San Francisco, California, Brannagh is of Irish ancestry...

 
Emmeline 'Emily' Flannagan (4 episodes)
Bradford English
Bradford English
Bradford English Born in 1943, is a character actor who has starred in film and on movies. He is best known in the horror film community for his role in the 1995 horror movie Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers as John Strode...

 
Capt. Lou Zerola (6 episodes; all in 1997)
John Finn
John Finn
John Finn is an American actor known as one of the leads of the television programs Cold Case and EZ Streets. Finn has also had supporting roles in the films The Hunted , Catch Me If You Can , True Crime , Turbulence , Blown Away , The Pelican Brief , and Glory .TV series that Finn has...

 
Officer Ray MacElwaine (8 episodes; all in 1998)

Crew

The series was created by Steven Bochco
Steven Bochco
Steven Ronald Bochco is a US television producer and writer. He has developed a number of popular television hits including Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law, and NYPD Blue, as well as some notable flops such as Cop Rock....

, Bill Clark
Bill Clark
Clark joined the New York City Police Department in 1969. He worked a special undercover assignment for two years before entering the Police Academy. In 1972 he earned his gold detective shield. On December 31, 1994, Clark retired from the Queens Homicide Detective Squad as a First Grade...

, William M. Finkelstein
William M. Finkelstein
William M. Finkelstein is an American screenwriter, television producer, actor and television director. He has worked as a writer and producer on Law & Order, Brooklyn South, Murder One, L.A. Law, Cop Rock and NYPD Blue. He co-created Brooklyn South with frequent collaborators David Milch, Steven...

 and David Milch
David Milch
David S. Milch is an American writer and producer of television series. He has created several television shows, including NYPD Blue and Deadwood.-Biography:...

. Bochco and Milch had worked together on previous police drama series Hill Street Blues and NYPD Blue. Bochco and Finkelstein worked together on LA Law. Clark served as a supervising producer, writer and technical advisor on NYPD Blue and is a retired police officer. Bochco, Clark and Milch served as executive producers for the series alongside writer Michael S. Chernuchin
Michael S. Chernuchin
Michael S. Chernuchin is an American television writer and producer. He has worked on the NBC crime dramas Law & Order and Brooklyn South...

 and director Michael Watkins. Chernuchin had previously worked as a producer and writer on Law & Order. Watkins had worked with Bochco as a director for NYPD Blue. Clark worked as a supervising producer and regular writer for Brooklyn South. Marc Buckland
Marc Buckland
- Filmography :*Love Bites - Director, executive producer*My Name is Earl - Director, executive producer*Ed - Director, executive producer*The Jake Effect - Director, executive producer...

 was the series other supervising producer and a regular director.

Retired Chicago police officer Edward Allen Bernero
Edward Allen Bernero
Edward Allen Bernero is an American television writer, producer and director. He co-created the series Third Watch and has worked as an executive producer on Criminal Minds...

 was a regular writer for the series. Scott A. Williams
Scott A. Williams
Scott A. Williams is an American television writer and producer. He has worked on the NBC crime dramas Brooklyn South and Third Watch. He worked as a co-executive producer and writer for the Fox procedural Bones from 2006 to 2009...

 and Matt Olmstead
Matt Olmstead
Matt Olmstead is an American writer and producer for television shows.-Early life:Olmstead graduated from California State University, Chico. He is an alumnus of the College of Humanities and Fine Arts. He went to Hollywood in hopes of being a script writer. Olmstead eventually worked with an...

 were the series other regular writers. During the 1997-1998 television season Bochco premiered another new series names Total Security. The series was canceled prior to the mid-season break. Writers Doug Palau
Doug Palau
Doug Palau is an American television writer and producer. He has worked on the ABC crime drama NYPD Blue and has been nominated for an Emmy Award and an Edgar Award.-Biography:...

 and Nicholas Wootton
Nicholas Wootton
Nicholas Wootton is an American Emmy Award-winning writer for and producer for television.He has written to various TV shows, including Chuck, Prison Break, Law & Order, NYPD Blue.- External links :...

 moved from Total Security to Brooklyn South in January 1998 and were regular writers for the seasons second half.

Episodes

Episode # |Director |Original air date A&E Home Video
A&E Television Networks
A&E Television Networks is a U.S. media company that owns a group of television channels available via cable & satellite in the US and abroad...

 released the complete series on DVD in Region 1.
DVD Name Ep # Release Date Additional Information
Brooklyn South: The Complete Series 22 October 28, 2003
  • Commentary with Co-Creator David Milch on the Pilot Episode
  • Cast and Crew biographies
  • Police "Ten Codes"

Awards and nominations

Year Award Result Category Recipient Notes
1998 Art Directors Guild
Art Directors Guild
The Art Directors Guild is an American labor union and branch of the International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees representing almost 2,000 motion picture and television professionals....

 
Won Excellence in Production Design - Television Series Paul Eads and Lee Mayman
-
Casting Society of America
Casting Society of America
Founded in Los Angeles, California in 1982, the Casting Society of America is a professional society of about 350 casting directors for film, television, and theatre in Australia, Canada, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States. The society is not to be confused with an industry union. The...

 
Nominated Best Casting for TV, Dramatic Pilot Junie Lowry-Johnson
-
Directors Guild of America Award  Nominated Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Series' - Night Mark Tinker For pilot episode
Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...

 
Won Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series Mark Tinker For pilot episode
People's Choice Awards
People's Choice Awards
The People's Choice Awards is an American awards show recognizing the people and the work of popular culture. The show has been held annually since 1975 and is voted on by the general public. The People's Choice Awards air on CBS and are produced by Procter & Gamble and Survivor magnate Mark Burnett...

 
Won Favorite Television New Dramatic Series
-
-
1999 Edgar Award
Edgar Award
The Edgar Allan Poe Awards , named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America...

Nominated Best Television Episode Steven Bochco, Bill Clark, Allen Edwards, William M. Finkelstein, David Milch, Matt Olmstead, and Scott A. Williams For episode "Fools Russian"
Best Television Episode Steven Bochco, Bill Clark, William M. Finkelstein, David Milch, Doug Palau, and Nicholas Wootton For episode "Skel in a Cell"

External links

  • Remembering Brooklyn South - Formerly titled "Save Brooklyn South," this page originated as part of an unsuccessful Internet campaign to keep the show on the air.
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