Central Division is a police drama web series

Web series

A web series is a series of episodes released on the Internet or also by mobile or cellular phone, and part of the newly emerging medium called web television. A single instance of a web series program is called an episode .While the popularity of web series is continuing to rise, the concept...

 about detectives in the LAPD

Los Angeles Police Department

The Los Angeles Police Department is the police department of the city of Los Angeles, California. With just under 10,000 officers and more than 3,000 civilian staff, covering an area of with a population of more than 4.1 million people, it is the third largest local law enforcement agency in...

's downtown precinct (known as Central Division). The show premiered on July 20, 2009. Central Division was created by Aleem Hossain and stars Brian Silverman and Clay Wilcox.

History

A lack of gritty cop shows on television in 2009 inspired Hossain to create one on the internet. He had been a longtime fan of programs like Homicide: Life on the Streets, 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...

, and The Shield

The Shield

The Shield is an American television drama series starring Michael Chiklis which premiered on March 12, 2002 on FX in the United States and concluded on November 25, 2008 after seven seasons...

. Hossain wrote and directed all four episodes of Season 1, which were shot on June 27, 2009 in Los Angeles.

Season 1

The first season of the show centers on Detective Alan Edwards (played by Brian Silverman) and Detective Frank Hodge (played by Clay Wilcox) of the LAPD's central division. After leaving an internal affairs interview the two detectives find a body in the trunk of their car and this sets off the major events of the first season.

Critical reception

Season 1 was well received by web media critics:

Tubefilter's review was titled 'Central Division Brings Back the Punchy Dark Cops Show' and had high praise for the show: "Wow. Central Division is one intense cop drama... check this show out, please, you won’t regret it."

Visioweb said "Brian Silverman and Clay Wilcox deliver a tight performance, enhanced by the dark and brooding cinematography of Julie Kirkwood... As short as it may be, it is a powerful show."

Dauntless Media called Central Division "a series worth following" with a "truly shocking twist."