Memphis Beat Information

Memphis Beat is an American drama series that debuted on TNT on June 22, 2010 and ended on August 16, 2011. Memphis Beat was officially canceled on October 14, 2011.

Overview

See List of Memphis Beat episodes for more information The show follows Dwight Hendricks (Jason Lee), a police detective assigned to the General Assignment division of the MPD, who loves his mother, the blues, his city, and Elvis Presley and calls himself "the keeper of Memphis". His fierce dedication to his home town is offset by his easygoing approach to his job, an attitude that irks by-the-book Lt. Tanya Rice (Alfre Woodard), his new boss.

Cast

• Jason Lee as Detective Dwight Hendricks
• Alfre Woodard as Lieutenant Tanya Rice
• Sam Hennings as Detective Charles "Whitehead" White
• DJ Qualls as Police Officer Davey Sutton
• Celia Weston as Paula Ann Hendricks
• Leonard Earl Howze as Detective Reginald Greenback
• Abraham Benrubi as Sgt. JC Lightfoot

Production

Jason Lee said he was drawn to the show because the concept was original and the protagonist was fun to play. Lee said, "The whole package was unique and once I came to found the character and the material and the scenarios and his relationships and he's such a great guy and is so multi-layered and cares such a great deal for his city and his family and the people that he's protecting." Lee listened to hundreds of Presley songs in preparation for the role, and said his respect for the artist grew as a result. The vocals for Lee's character are sung by Mark Arnell.

The title Delta Blues was originally considered, but it was eventually changed to Memphis Beat. The show was created by married couple Joshua Harto and Liz W. Garcia, with actor George Clooney and his production partner writer/actor/director Grant Heslov serving as executive producers. Harto and Garcia wrote the first two episodes of the series. Liz Garcia said of the show, "Broadcast TV is being influenced by cable in so many ways in terms of reinventing genres and taking chances, and this is part of it. [...] The forefront of creativity is on cable TV."

Despite the show's setting, the first season was primarily filmed in Laplace, LA and New Orleans, LA with only some key locations and exteriors filmed in Memphis. This has largely been attributed to the better tax incentives by filming in a state other than Tennessee.

On September 16, 2010, TNT announced that Memphis Beat was renewed for a second season, the first episode of which was broadcast June 14, 2011.

On October 17, 2011, TNT decided not to pick up a third season of Memphis Beat.

Reception

Critical Reception

Memphis Beat has received mixed to average reviews, earning a score of 56 on Metacritic. The New York Times said of the pilot episode "This series is to Memphis what the HBO series "Treme" is to New Orleans and "Justified" on FX is to Harlan County in Kentucky "? timeless indigenous music is set against the exoticism of temporal subcultures. The New York Daily News gave another positive review saying that "TNT's new "Memphis Beat" has a great soundtrack and a pretty good cop drama in between.". The Hollywood Reporter also gave the pilot a positive review:

But even as the cop genre seems beyond saturation, along comes TNT's Memphis Beat, a series with a fresh character in a fresh environment with a fresh look and sound that proves, against all odds, that good actors and agile execution trump format every time.

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Actor	Result
2011	NAACP Image Award	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series	Alfre Woodard
2011	NAMIC Vision Awards	Best Performance - Drama	Alfre Woodard
2011	Gracie Allen Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actress - Drama Series	Alfre Woodard

International broadcasting

Country	Network	Series Premiere
	Super Channel	September 9, 2010
	CNBC-e	September 23, 2010
	AXN	November 25, 2010
	Viasat 4	April 11, 2011
	Mnet Series	April 27, 2011
	AXN	June 23, 2011
	TV Puls	September 5, 2011
	LTV 7	September 30, 2011
	HOT3	2011
	MTV3	October 6, 2011
	Nine Network	December 29, 2011
	OCN Series	2010
	Premium Crime	March 1, 2012
	TNT Serie	May 7, 2012