Quick Take: IRONSIDE premiere on NBC

Ironside - Season PilotI’m a big fan of Blair Underwood.  I think he’s charming and captivating, and I have enjoyed many a Blair Underwood performance.  Same goes for familiar faces like Pablo Schreiber (god he was good in the SVU premiere, and he’s so creepy-addictive on ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK), Brent Sexton, and Casey Cartwright, I mean Spencer Grammer (GREEK).  Yet something about NBC’s latest drama IRONSIDE (premiering tonight at 10/9c), which brings the group of them together, just doesn’t click for me.

For those familiar with the old show IRONSIDE from the 60s, yes, it’s the same idea – for those unfamiliar – Blair Underwood plays Detective Ironside, a man stuck in a wheelchair after a previous case went haywire (in ’67, Raymond Burr played the lead character).  He’s gruff, he doesn’t play by the rules, and his team is learning by example (the first episode, spoiler alert (though, it’s shown in the previews), involves Casey, I mean Holly (Grammer) shooting a hostage in the leg, instead of shooting the bad guy).

There’s a solid police procedural to be mined from what they’ve gathered together for the series.  Performances are strong, writing is fine, I just wasn’t buying what they were selling enough for it to have any real impact.  I hope that it shakes out quickly, or I’m out after episode 2.  What say you – are you in?  Follow the jump for a look at the cast, and some episodic shots!