The Rookie isn’t just another TV show, it’s every TV show – soap, comedy, romantic drama and high-octane action thriller – all rolled into one
Everyone who lives with a partner will be aware of the dire penalties of daring to watch a few episodes of a show that “we’re watching together” on their own. With a partner that regularly travels overseas for work, that’s forced me to be quite inventive, from time to time, when it comes to my evening entertainment.
So, mooching through NOW TV’s crowded menu for something that might fit the bill one day last month, my attention was captured by the show that’s been sitting at No.1 in the Sky-affiliated streamer’s ‘most watched’ chart for weeks.
After giving one episode of The Rookie a chance, I really only had one question: “Why haven’t I been watching this all along?”
Fast-forward a month and I am almost up-to-date with a seven-season show. That sounds like something between a marathon binge and a worrisome addiction, but it makes more sense when you realise that The Rookie is not just another TV show. It is every TV show.
On the surface it’s just another police procedural, but The Rookie is also a soap, a comedy, a romantic drama and – on some rare occasions – very nearly science fiction.
With its rose-tinted portrayal of the LAPD, a police force that has had a dark reputation for institutionalised police brutality, corruption and civil rights violations and discriminatory policing since the 1940s, The Rookie has that same effect that The West Wing had on our perception of American politics. It’s a glimpse into a parallel world where everything was reassuringly OK.
Indeed, one cast member reportedly quit the show because its attitude is slightly too sunny, given the current state of American society.
At the show’s centre is Canadian-born actor Nathan Fillion. Known for his work in cruelly-cancelled cult science fiction show Firefly, he’s also a close friend of director James Gunn, and has turned up in all of his Guardians of the Galaxy films, following Gunn to Warner brothers to take part in his Superman franchise as well.
Fillion plays John Nolan, a calm, unflappable everyman who walked away from his home, his marriage and his career as a builder (which proves surprisingly useful in his new job) to become the LAPD’s oldest rookie cop.
Empathetic, capable, and surprisingly effective in a firefight John Nolan, also has a gift for attracting immensely attractive women. It’s hard to see why the show has such a strong appeal for middle-aged men like me.
Over the course of seven seasons, of course, Nolan ceases to be a rookie and is slowly surrounded by an ensemble cast that helps Nolan in his confrontations with evil villains, comedy relief characters, and at least one character that lurches bizarrely between the two.
Because if there’s one consistent characteristic feature of The Rookie, it’s tonal whiplash. One minute our heroes are being pestered by a playful indie band, the next they’re leaping aboard a private jet for an implausible but thrilling showdown with a cartel boss on his home turf.
It’s the very definition of escapism. It would be wrong to describe The Rookie as merely comfort watching, because there’s always the danger of a gut-punch moment when a main character we were just laughing at suddenly catches a bullet.
The only character with impenetrable plot armour is John Nolan himself. Even so, Fillion, now 54, is slowly but surely scaling back his actual screen time, and is credited as executive producer on two spin-off shows focusing on older people getting involved in different aspects of police work.
The show may well outlive John Nolan’s story, as it’s fuelled by a new intake of new rookies every season – ranging from psychics and would-be cowboys to a gender-flipped Amanda Knox with hints of a Kardashian lifestyle.
William Norcross, [L] is the real ‘Rookie’ (Image: Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images)
And, while this unapologetically escapist TV show might be classed as little more than an older man’s wish-fulfilment fantasy, incredibly it’s based on a true story.
LAPD officer William Norcross, a college friend of one of the show’s producers Jon Steinberg, came to his old friend with an idea for a show based on his own story as an older rookie cop.
