canarycaia How is that any excellent TV show has been canceled in recent years while horrible shows were renewed year after year? Shows with high ratings and good critics were terminated without hesitating. Some reason that has nothing to do with doing a good job must be the cause. If not, it is impossible to understand that a show like Prime Suspect is finished after a flawless first season.Even the pilot episode was perfect. That's very rare. Typically, a show needs 2 or even 3 episodes until it gets what it needs to be a hit. In the Prime Suspect case,the casting was very good. The direction, also very good. The script,impeccable. The performance, perfect. It was only natural that the public chose to support it. What else might want the TV executives?I guess all those cancelations must be related to a matter of sympathy or not between the executives and those who make the shows. I can't think of any other excuse. But whatever the reason, they destroyed the possibility of giving the public a product that could have lasted at least a decade. What a waste!

Mahmoud Sh This series is perhaps one of the best detective series I have ever seen. It is a rich drama. First, it is not overwhelmingly focused on crime scene investigation. There other series for that purpose. Second, the characters are depicted in a three dimensional frame work. The police officers are not portrait as always perfect. The criminals are also not always presented as incorrigibly nefarious. The good guy does not always win and the strong sometimes cries. I was very impressed with the first episode when the strong lady detective went home and cried in the arms of her husband. She was simply human. Finally, this series has avoided irrelevant office work romance. The main detective is a married woman who only works in her office. This series has provided the balance between a rich drama and entertainment.

IBrakeForTrees I just happened to have watched the first two series of the original UK Prime Suspect around the same time I watched the first two episodes of this series. It may not be fair to compare the two, as one reviewer said, but for the benefit of those looking for a good mystery....1 - This is a police procedural, and not a mystery. The difference is that in a mystery, as in the UK Prime Suspect, we're introduced to several characters, one of whom is the killer, and we ride along trying to figure out who dun it. With a police procedural, we essentially watch the cops do their job, narrowing in on the killer, who is not anyone we've seen before.2 - The UK Prime Suspect took 3 hours to tell a story. This one tries to do it in 42 minutes, so the depth of the story is considerably less.3 - The original show's idea of a female detective coming on board into a group of guys, who think she slept her way to her job, was done better on The Closer than it's done here. Actually, in many respects, the Closer, which borrows some elements from the UK Prime Suspect, is a better written, better acted program. 4 - The idea of a strong female crime-solver is no longer new. We have In Plain Sight, Castle, Bones, Body of Proof.... tSo, this Prime Suspect is an OK show -- and Maria Bello is interesting to watch, though not as tough as Kyra Sedgwick, as sarcastic as Mary McCormack, as hot as Stana Katic, as weird as Emily Deschanel or as bitchy as Dana Delaney.... In fairness, I've only seen two episodes, so maybe the writers can still come up with something to make the show different, other than the thick-headedness of its characters.

aadams I watched the British version with Helen Mirren which was a fantastic series. This new series with Maria Bello is a bit lighter and she is of course, younger -- although not young. Actually, I appreciate that someone 23 wasn't cast in the role with perfect hair, clothes and nails. Jane sometimes looks like an unmade bed. She is a tough character and I like the way she can both take and dish it out. She lives in the real world where life is harsh and she just accepts it. She's in her stride at her job and does it well, if not aways by the book. Well written, well directed, and fun to watch. Maria Bello is excellent in the role. Part of what makes it good is her restraint. The men detectives can be jerks, but is it just culture? They are becoming aware of Jane's strengths. That realization is fun to watch as they are hit in the face with Jane's abilities that they assumed couldn't possibly be there.