The Beat is an American drama television series produced by Viacom Productions. It premiered on UPN on March 21, 2000, and ended after only six episodes a month later on April 25. Seven additional episodes were produced although they were never broadcast.
Contents
Premise
The series focuses on the day-to-day experiences of two uniformed police officers, Mike Dorrigan and Zane Marinelli, of the NYPD and their attempts to deal with day-to-day life with their girlfriends Elizabeth and Beatrice, and work in New York City.
Cast
Main
Derek Cecil as Mike Dorigan
Mark Ruffalo as Zane Marinelli
Heather Burns as Beatrice Felsen
Poppy Montgomery as Elizabeth Waclawek
Tom Noonan as Howard Schmidt
Lea DeLaria as Kathy Speck
Recurring
Jeffrey Donovan as Brad Ulrich
Lee Tergesen as Steve Dorigan
David Zayas as Rei Morales
Production
The series was produced by many people who worked on Homicide: Life on the Street including Barry Levinson, Tom Fontana, Anya Epstein, Eric Overmyer, Irene Burns and Jim Finnerty. Many of the producers also collaborated on Oz including Barry Levinson, Tom Fontana, Irene Burns and Jim Finnerty.
The series is also notable as being one of the many series in which the character Det. John Munch, played by Richard Belzer, has appeared. The others include: Homicide: Life on the Street, Law & Order, The X-Files, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Law & Order: Trial by Jury, Arrested Development, and The Wire.
Reception
The Beat is rated 5.8 on IMDb, and 92% on Rotten Tomatoes.