Shades of Blue

:

Season 1
  • Network: NBC
  • Series Premiere Date: Jan 7, 2016
Season #: 3, 2, 1
User Score
8.1

Universal acclaim- based on 217 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 174 out of 217
  2. Mixed: 13 out of 217
  3. Negative: 30 out of 217
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User Reviews

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  1. crawlord
    Feb 26, 2016
    1
    This cop procedural is as nauseatingly bland as unoriginal. The actors are ken and barbie cut outs , the storytelling is laughable. Procedural s like detroit 187 and my favourite SOUTHLAND set that bar way up there.
    My opinion? go seek another show .
  2. spud
    Mar 6, 2016
    1
    Did someone forget to tell Jennifer Lopez that she cannot act? Quick, someone do us all a favor and drop her an email. Ray Liotta offers a slightly better performance than he was in years (which does not mean, by this point, much) and the series does attempt (mostly unsuccessfully) to tackle some problematic and potentially interesting subject matter, but that is not enough to make ShadesDid someone forget to tell Jennifer Lopez that she cannot act? Quick, someone do us all a favor and drop her an email. Ray Liotta offers a slightly better performance than he was in years (which does not mean, by this point, much) and the series does attempt (mostly unsuccessfully) to tackle some problematic and potentially interesting subject matter, but that is not enough to make Shades of Blue anything but a poorly cast, badly-written, cliché-ridden, mediocre (irrelevant, even) TV show.… Expand
  3. brutyflop
    Jan 29, 2016
    0
    wow there can't be a good show on without perverted sex really come on!! why why why Hollywood I expected more entertaining tv. I guess as much as I was looking forward to watching this show I definitely will not be able to watch any more. really a cop getting a blowjob from a random man in a bar. what are you people teaching the youth watching this show. really disappointed. not a show for me.
  4. Bgrod
    Jan 7, 2016
    0
    Move over Laura, "The Mysteries of Lopez" is here.. Uninspiring cop procedural that feels way too familiar. Lopez fans might find this appealing but this is more Shades of Dull and Generic for everyone else.
  5. GerardMan
    Feb 12, 2016
    2
    The shows first episode was really good and has gone backwards each week after.
    Not worthy of a hour of my life anymore...
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  6. schonder
    Feb 2, 2016
    1
    The show totally had my interest until the homosexual stuff ?? Please tell me what the purpose of that was ? For your information, most people object to those kind of scenes on television... Our kids are watching ?? Really J Lopez ? Totally tasteless , especially for one of my favorite bad guys getting a blow job in an alley ? I have deleted the show from my DVR programming and willThe show totally had my interest until the homosexual stuff ?? Please tell me what the purpose of that was ? For your information, most people object to those kind of scenes on television... Our kids are watching ?? Really J Lopez ? Totally tasteless , especially for one of my favorite bad guys getting a blow job in an alley ? I have deleted the show from my DVR programming and will NOT watch it again. I'm sure it won't get a 2nd season.… Expand
  7. reviewaddress
    Feb 6, 2016
    0
    The acting is not bad. I enjoy Jennifer Lopez. The writing is horrific. What I thought was going to be a potentially good series took a dumb turn on the most recent episode & there is no recovery at this point. I will never watch again. I wish I could unsee what I have seen. I don't have much free time to watch TV & this wasted my time.
  8. tpotz
    Jan 28, 2016
    2
    Liotta gay??? Gimme a break! Started out with great potential, super star power, but is steadily sliding into a script with no credibility and no redeeming value. Too bad. Not worth sticking with.
  9. metacriticgirl1
    Jan 24, 2016
    0
    Jennifer Lopez is compelling as a single mom. The problem I have is NBC's decision, as well as all the actors involved, in painting such a terrible portrayal of police officers. Within the first few minutes, an innocent boy is fatally shot while playing a video game and a cover-up ensues. All the cops are on the take, and are criminals. This is not only a false depiction of ourJennifer Lopez is compelling as a single mom. The problem I have is NBC's decision, as well as all the actors involved, in painting such a terrible portrayal of police officers. Within the first few minutes, an innocent boy is fatally shot while playing a video game and a cover-up ensues. All the cops are on the take, and are criminals. This is not only a false depiction of our officers, but the timing is terrible. When officers are loosing their lives just because they are wearing blue, why would anyone in their right minds participate in any project that would create more heartache? I'd say you all have blood on your hands for deciding to travel down this path.… Expand
  10. jaw102895
    Feb 5, 2016
    3
    What is happening to my new favorite show??? You've got these incredible actors and an amazing story going on here. We look forward to thursday nights because of this show. Last couple episodes have us uncertain with the distasteful scenes of oral sex. It quickly became clear this will not be a family show with our high school students. Especially last nights episode. I turned itWhat is happening to my new favorite show??? You've got these incredible actors and an amazing story going on here. We look forward to thursday nights because of this show. Last couple episodes have us uncertain with the distasteful scenes of oral sex. It quickly became clear this will not be a family show with our high school students. Especially last nights episode. I turned it off. That is where i draw the line. I am not going to allow this to be shown in my household. Please please please can this be done without the oral sex.… Expand
  11. ShinobiJutsu
    Apr 3, 2016
    2
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I gave it 4 episodes, and found it very difficult to get through all of them. Here's why:
    1. J-Lo does a passable job as the lead actress. For a show that is character-driven and features her in every other scene, passable isn't good enough. She sure is nice to look at, though, and they deliver copious amounts of tight pants shots, reminding us why we love her. But the writing is so bad that she must tell pointless lies, so she has to tell more lies to get out of them. Like when she tells Liotta that her daughter got in a car accident to get out of a later meeting with him, when she could have just as easily told him that her daughter had a super-important recital later. But no, the truth would have been too easy there.
    2. The writing is some of the worst I've encountered on any show, ever. I know that sounds hyperbolic, but there are too many idiotic turns to name, such as:
    3. The FBI agent (Stahl) who seems determined to get her killed; calling at all times of the day and arranging meetings too close to the precinct like he doesn't understand how using an informant works. He shows up at her house and adds an unnecessarily creepy vibe to what would be a routine operation if he just dialed it back. Instead, he's hanging out in plain sight of Ray Liotta's character and not even attempting to be discreet about an operation that hinges on discretion. Writers manufacturing drama by making characters do stupid things.
    4. The FBI agent's boss (the black lady, forget her name because she's irrelevant), who imposes 24-hour deadlines every 24 hours, as if she's determined to ruin the case. Sending feds to an informant's house without telling her handler about it. Sure, that's how the feds work. The writer's are using these arbitrary deadlines as a means to increase drama, when, again, law enforcement 101 tells us you can't build an informant-based case in a single day, or two, or even weeks.
    5. The girl from Supranos who moves a body and covers up a murder so she can sell her house. Seriously? This is after she sexted her husband's alleged lover, met up with her, and had the best sex ever, even though the lover had no idea it was a woman the very next day. Seriously? She is obsessed over her husband's potential cheating, so her solution is to cheat on him? Dumb.
    6. The rookie, who has to remind us literally every time he's on screen that he's not OK with shooting an unarmed man in the first episode. I get it, but let the guy talk about something else for a scene so he seems like a real person and not a vessel of guilt. Also, why wouldn't they just say the guy had a shiny controller in his hand that looks like a gun and he was playing a game with loud gunshots? Is IA that unreasonable that they wouldn't say it was clean after finding a loaded weapon and heroin right next to the guy? Again, the truth would have saved everybody a headache.
    7. I don't know the name of the generic urban black cop who the producers felt we needed to say things like "My man is hittin' it! Give me the details, playa!" but everything he says sounds like a caricature of a person rather than an actual person. Nobody who makes detective talks like a failed rap artist who refers to himself as "King Pantydropper". Kill him off, please.

    That said, Ray Liotta is pretty good and J-Lo sure is attractive, hence the 2 points. The rest of it is pure, color-by-numbers cop drama, and you're better of re-watching The Shield.    … Expand
  12. cuspernicus
    Jul 1, 2018
    1
    The only reason to watch this is to see crazy ray. The rest of the cast is pretty good except for Jlo.
    Terrible performances. By this lastest season three its a ridiculous farce.
    Reminds me of Claire Danes in Homeland, only 2 or 3 emotions in the entire show. She has sad face, tough latina attitude face, and trying to use her sex to get what she wants face. Pathetic. And the dialogue    The only reason to watch this is to see crazy ray. The rest of the cast is pretty good except for Jlo.
    Terrible performances. By this lastest season three its a ridiculous farce.
    Reminds me of Claire Danes in Homeland, only 2 or 3 emotions in the entire show.
    She has sad face, tough latina attitude face, and trying to use her sex to get what she wants face.
    Pathetic. And the dialogue in this latest season is really terrible.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

37
#37 Most Discussed TV Season of 2016
50
#50 Most Shared TV Season of 2016

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
58

Mixed or average reviews - based on 30 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 30
  2. Mixed: 14 out of 30
  3. Negative: 2 out of 30
  1. Collider
    Reviewed by: Chris Cabin
    Jan 21, 2016
    40
    Unfortunately, the truth of the matter is that Shades of Blue has no shading in character or story, and is more interested in reiterating transposed views of family values than dealing with the tough and often very ugly subject matter it purports to confront.
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  2. Newark Star-Ledger
    Reviewed by: Vicki Hyman
    Jan 20, 2016
    75
    Yes, this is "The Shield," with more gloss and less shock, and the story starts to strain as Harlee's FBI handler Warren Kole (Robert Stahl) shows an unhealthy interest in his undercover agent and the series worryingly starts to veer into "Enough"/"The Boy Next Door" territory. But the increasingly fraught dance between Harlee and Wozniak is absorbing and even occasionally nail-biting, and certainly reason enough to give Shades a shot.
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  3. New York Magazine (Vulture)
    Reviewed by: Matt Zoller Seitz
    Jan 8, 2016
    80
    The whole cast is pretty much perfect for the story Shades of Blue is trying to tell. Lopez makes a fine lead--she's tough and unsentimental here, and even though they've made her look gorgeous, you don't necessarily think of her as a glamorous character. But it's Liotta's show.
    Read full review
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