Huzzah! On the heels of introducing Kings‘ Prince Jack character — a whiny, power-obsessed gay lad who only wants attention from his father, the king — NBC will be bringing us another primetime homo. Except Southland‘s John Cooper (played by Michael Cudlitz) isn’t the type of swishy homo you’ve come to expect from the network that brought us Will & Grace. Rather, Cooper is bad ass.
NBC’s press materials describe Cooper as “hard-core LAPD” and a “cops-cop.” Co-starring opposite The O.C.‘s Benjamin McKenzie (who plays lead character Ben Sherman, the rookie), Cuditz’s character is responsible for showing Sherman the ropes of fighting LA crime. Producers say they interviewed a number of actual gay cops to shape the character. And, adds After Elton, “Judging from preview clips, sides (script pages) from the pilot episode as well as our source, Cooper is a fairly standard cop archetype. He’s tough, gets to the point, and uses words like ‘pussy’ and ‘numbnuts’. He doesn’t take grief from anyone, especially not slick Hollywood types or fellow cops not pulling their weight. On the surface he’s gruff, able to tell gruesome work stories that make him laugh out loud, and his no-nonsense, seemingly callous attitude is partly responsible for leaving the younger man questioning whether he is cut out for the life of a cop.”
Hot. Especially when compared to the cop character on Will & Grace: Bobby Cannavale’s Vince, who gets in trouble for trying on gloves during a police chase.
Southland premieres April 9 at 10pm EST on NBC.
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James
Last time I checked, Will and Grace was a comedy and Bobby Cannavale’s character wasn’t supposed to be taken that seriously.
Jock
Wonderful. I just hope he takes his shirt off on a regular basis.
Erick
Thank you Queerty for “outing” the gay cop. I was doing my best to find out who he was with majority of other mortals, by watching the show.
Doesnt Queerty have a spoiler policy in consideration for those who, heaven forbid, want to find out things as the creators intended. Obviously not, but you should.
Obviously, there is nothing wrong about writing about it, but dont make his mug the first thing one sees when they come to the site. A little discretion maybe.
atdleft
@Jock: My thoughts exactly! Heh. 😉
atdleft
Well, at least the teevee execs are FINALLY willing to portray us beyond the usual “gay” stereotype. Believe it or not, there are many different types of gay people. Some of us are drag queens, some of us are business people, some of us are rabblerousers… And yes, some of us are cops.
Rob
@Erick: If I didn’t know about this, I would have written the show off as another ER. Now, I’ll watch.
Erick
@Rob:
Im not saying dont write about it or say who he is, just put a disclaimer for those who dont want to now before the show airs. And yes, dont put his picture as the first thing you see.
Vinman
@Rob: My thoughts exactly!
Nick
Yea, but is he going to be a eunuch?
Jacob
…. I don’t know. I think he’s kinda hot. reminds me of my high school gym teacher. . (Sorry Mr. Mcdonald.) ……….. Nice to see the networks dealing with it at all. better than putting thier heads in the sand and pretending were not even here.
Jacob
I agree about the spoilers alert.
rogue dandelion
another cop show? excuse me while i change the channel.
i’d take kings or will and grace any day. I am hoping the gay son in kings will evolve into a character with a more depth little depth.
this obsession with straight-acting, hyper-masculine, homo-normativity is disturbing to see on this site.
kevin (not that one)
I prefer Reno 911.
My Other Car's the Tardis
He’s sort of giving you that Sean Astin cuddle-bear vibe…
Nick
I bet he’s going to be asexual.
gay numbers
@Nick: No, they don’t plan to make him asexual. It’s a cop drama so personal is not going to be the focus, but personal lives, including this characters aren’t going to be ingored.